Those on the Home Front During World War Ii

When America was catapulted into World War II, life on the home front changed in ways it never had before—and probably never will again, according to people who lived through those times.

“So many people don’t know what it was like then. Everything was for the war effort,” said Shirley Compton, a vivacious 80-year-old who lives in Colonial Beach. “Everyone was close and loving and patriotic. I remember that feeling most of all.”

She grew up in Arlington, where families were encouraged to rent out rooms to workers who flocked to Washington to keep the war machine chugging.

Her childhood memories are of air-raid drills at school and blacked-out windows at home. She confesses she “did carry on a bit” when factories that made Coca–Cola and Double Bubble Bubble Gum shifted their focus to war supplies and stopped making her favorites.

But even 6-year-old girls quickly learned to support the cause when everyone else was doing it, she said.

“I never saw such a good feeling about everything, people working together,” she said. “I remember that still.”

So does Wayne Colton, a 78-year-old with an incredible memory for detail. Perhaps he paid so much attention to adults because he was an only child.

His family lived on the outskirts of Fredericksburg when it was still rural enough to be considered the country.

He was only 4 when Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, but he sensed the seriousness of the situation—and the subsequent four-year effort to defeat Japan and Germany.

“I knew it was a life-and-death struggle,” he said. “It made a profound impression on me.”

LIFE WITH RATION BOOKS

To those in the city or country, an account of life on the home front starts and ends with one word.

Those on the home front during World War II did everything they could to support the war effort

picture: http://www.queenieaustralia.com/cheap-formal-dresses

Rationing.

Almost any item that families used was in limited supply during the war. There...