Memories From The Home Front

“The Home Front During World War II” was the topic of a recent roundtable discussion at the Grayslake Heritage Center. 

Charlotte Renehan of the Grayslake Historical Society moderated the one-hour reminiscing session attended by more than 30 people, including students from Grayslake North High School.

Don Rousseau of Round Lake, who grew up in Michigan, vividly remembered listening to the radio on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 11, 1941. He was listening to the Lone Ranger and the program was interrupted to announce that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. Being a child, he was upset that his favorite program was interrupted and he never learned if the Lone Ranger caught the crooks. 

Rouseau, who is writing a book on the topic, used his hands to gesture how everything basically turned upside down. All energies became focused on the war effort. Factories changed from making everyday goods to items needed for defense, and new factories were constructed rapidly. 

John Baumgartner told about an airplane factory that was built in a couple of months in Michigan. It was one and a half miles long and able to manufacture a complete a B-24 bomber every three or four minutes. Everyone made sacrifices.

Items such as sugar, meat, coffee, gasoline, fuel oil, were rationed. Families received ration books with coupons for specific items. Joanne Lawrence said that when it was time for her eighth-grade graduation, she wanted high heels like the other girls. Unfortunately, the family did not have enough stamps for her to have good shoes. Instead she got brown wedgies shoes with laces, which were basically made of cardboard.

Members of the audience remembered participating in scrap and paper drives. Some remembered going from door to door collecting used kitchen grease. One person remembered going into farmers’ fields to pick milk weed pods. The silk from the pods was a substitute for kapok, which was used in life preservers. 

Connie Dunbar recalled that at the Grayslake Grade School on Fridays, eighth-grade girls would go to class rooms to sell saving stamps for 10 cents. Other people added that the stamps were used to buy a war bond, which cost $18.75 and were worth $25 at maturity. 

Towns had bond drives with quotas. The Grayslake Times on several occasions wrote that the village exceeded its quota. Even small town Grayslake had air raid wardens and black outs were practiced. 

Terry Norton, who sent his memory via a friend, said that he remembered everyone walking. Those who lived in Grayslake during the War remembered the large bulletin board at the southwest corner of Center and Whitney Streets where those serving in the military were listed. A star was placed next to a name if the person was killed in action. 

One of those killed was Bert Jacobson, who was killed at Pearl Harbor. Many homes had a small, white rectangular flag with a red border and blue star in their front window. This showed that a member of the family was serving the country. If the star was changed to silver, it meant that the person was wounded. Sadly, a gold star told that the family had a member killed in action.

The Grayslake Times had a weekly column about the area’s servicemen. It told where the men were stationed. Often letters that the men wrote home were published in the column. War reports were given on the radio. Black and white news reels were shown before the main feature at the movie theaters.

One of the students, listening intently to the discussion, asked if the news was slanted. A response was that it was but our age determined if we understood how much. 

Another question asked by the students was, “What was your greatest fear?” The answers included, “Our servicemen not coming home,” or “Father being drafted.” The consensus was that no one was worried about their personal safety. 

Barbara Richardson-Cannon mentioned that in the Lionel Richardson family one son was missing in Africa and the other son was a prisoner of war in Germany. The session ended with “How did you hear about the end of the war?” 

Charlene Rockenbach said that she was working at a Chicago hospital and could hear the celebration on the streets. She recalled how the hospital staff opened the windows, which was not a normal procedure, and let the patients be a part of the celebration. 

Another member of the roundtable group stated that in rural areas, when the news was heard on the radio, people shot their shotguns and church bells rang. One participant summed up the hour discussion with, “World War II changed the world.”

This roundtable discussion was the second of a reminiscing series sponsored by the Grayslake Historical Society. It was held Saturday afternoon, May 21 in the community room of the Heritage Center and Museum. Future topics and times will be announced. All discussions are audio-taped and made part of the Grayslake Historical Society archives. 

The Heritage Center and Museum is open Wednesday through Saturdays from noon to four and during downtown events. For more information, call Dave Oberg, executive director of the Grayslake Heritage Center at 847-543-1745 or the Grayslake Historical Society at 847-223-7663.

Contributed by the Grayslake Historical Society.