MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS
Glenna’s Sister Helps with the War Effort
November’s Veterans’ Day and the memories of WWII reminded me of the services that women were able to do. We all saw calendar girls and
knew about the singers and dancers who entertained the troops. In the early 1940s my family had a farm in Enid, Oklahoma, where Dad was building airplanes in the barn, Mom was growing vegetables in the garden, chickens were laying eggs and I was barely two years old. War news was always on the radio every evening, and down the road an army training camp was busy preparing young recruits.
My older sister, Suzanne, was 10 years old. She noticed that often a convoy of army trucks rumbled by our farm, loaded with hundreds of young, freshly trained soldiers piled into the backs. Suzanne was not unaware of the seriousness of the time. She felt the need to do her part for the war, and decided to crawl out of an upstairs farm house window and stand on the veranda roof top to entertain the “boys.”
Suzanne wore Mom’s large black lace hat that hung low and sexy over one eye. She draped her shoulders with Mom’s fox fur, as she adopted a saucy pose for the troops. Recognizing her effort, the new recruits clapped, hollered and whistled while the 10 year old performed her routine of theatrical poses. As the convoy passed the farm house roof top, Suzanne also danced a deliberately slow “provocative” movement for the soldiers. It seemed she was appreciated.
Editor’s Note: Following is a list of books about women who played interesting, dangerous, and pivotal roles in helping defeat the enemy in WWII. I’ve read these and more, and heartily recommend them. I hope you will too. Diane
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini
Last Train to London by Meg Clifton Waite
