The answer, for those living through World War II, was everything. In this video, Charles tells about the desperate measures he took to enlist in the Navy after flunking the eye exam.
There are probably countless stories of men and women who were so eager to serve their country that they would do anything to enlist or help the troops from the home front. Victory gardens, war bonds, and ration cards, were just some of the ways patriotic citizens supported the soldiers abroad. Others sent magazines and care packages to the troops, bringing excitement at mail call, sometimes to complete strangers. This practice continues today through organizations like Soldiers’ Angels and Homefront Hugs. Soldiers may not be faking eye exams any more, but they are still in need of loving thoughts from friends, family, and fellow citizens back home.
From the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
COLUMBUS - The Ohio Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 243 today to honor the service of the only World War II attack transport ship, according to a news release. The bill was sponsored by Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, and will recognize Oct. 22 as USS Hocking Day in Ohio.
Oct. 22 marks the day the ship was commissioned in 1944.
The ship was involved in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and in “Operation Magic-Carpet,” the massive transport of thousands of troops back home after the war.
Senator Schaffer decided to introduce this legislation earlier this year when the city of Logan had a reunion for the surviving crewmen of the USS Hocking.
Having been approved in the Senate, SB 243 will now be sent to the Ohio House for further consideration.
OTTERBEIN COLLEGE COMMEMORATES WORLD WAR II JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT
The Otterbein College Department of English and The Ohio State University’s Asian American Studies Program will each host a presentation of Calls to Remembrance: Commemorating Japanese American Internment through the Lives and Writings of Toyo Suyemoto and Lawson Inada. The Otterbein College presentation will be held at 4 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2008, in the Philomathean Room of Towers Hall, 1 S. Grove St., Westerville. The Ohio State University presentation will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008, in the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center, 153 W. 12th Ave., Columbus.
Following the outbreak of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order that resulted in the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast of the United States. Suspected of harboring loyalties to Japan due to their racial affinity, these individuals were removed en mass from their homes and relocated to camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. The U.S. government has since apologized for this violation of civil liberties, yet this painful episode remains understudied in our school curriculum.
The presentation will feature the short film, A Day of Remembrance: Toyo Suyemoto Kawakami Remembers Internment, a reading from Toyo Suyemoto’s recently published memoirs, I Call to Remembrance by editor Susan B. Richardson, retired professor of English at Otterbein College and Denison University, and a reading by author Lawson Inada.
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Ohiowarstories.org is funded by the Ohio Humanities Council.
With generous support from the Longaberger Foundation, we are recording WWII stories in Licking County.
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