Summary

I was fifteen years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I joined the Army as soon as I could. I had to lie about my age.

Story

I was fifteen years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I joined the Army as soon as I could. I had to lie about my age.
I was living on a farm on December 7, 1941. We had no electricity, radio, or any modern conveniences, so I didn’t learn of the bombing until Monday at school.

I was trained in Fort McClellan, Alabama, and served in the Mediterranean Theater. I was away from home for three years.
The farm was the same when I returned, except Dad had a new house and electricity.
Ration stamps were issued so that people could have equal chances at acquiring scarce items. Prices were frozen so no matter how much money you had, you couldn’t buy anything without the ration stamps. For example, meat might be 30 cents a pound plus 30 ration points. Each citizen was allowed just 30 meat points per month. This is just an example because I can’t remember exactly how much we were allowed. Rationed items were sugar, coffee, gasoline, meat, butter, oil, tires, household appliances. No autos were available. Ration stamps were used in conjunction with money.

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