Heritage, Fall 2005 Page: 24
39 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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and growing scrap piles near the center of
town that will soon be converted into war
material. In stark contrast, a physically
challenged man in San Antonio works tirelessly
to collect seemingly minute scraps of
aluminum foil for similar purposes.
In Angelina County, a young bride,
expecting her first child, sits with other
women in a Baptist church, rolling cloth
bandages for use overseas, hoping in
silence the bandages will not be needed
by her baby brother, an infantryman in
service along the Italian coast.
Meanwhile, Brenham youngsters participate
in woodcarving contests, turning
free balsa blocks into detailed replicas of
enemy planes. Only later will they learn
their wooden models are used in bombardier
training.
In Amarillo, a serviceman in training
reads a letter from his sister in Brooklyn,
New York, who asks if there are trees in
Texas. In Fort Worth, an African
American worker dutifully reports to his
assignment in a factory off limits to him
only months before. Joining him on the
plant floor are women who are likewise
contributing to the American industrial
workforce for the first time. And along the
Blackland Prairie in Bell County, farmersThose who seek to
know more about the
personal side of the
war's effects on Texas
will find the individuals
and their stories...in
all regions of
the state.
too old for active service work the land as
their share of war production.
In Austin, a candy maker replaces
rationed sugar with molasses in his peppermint
recipe, manufacturing red and brown
candy canes for the duration of the war.
And in movie theaters across the state,
families temper their need for escapism by
carefully watching newsreels of the evolving
battlefront. Only blocks away, others
fill libraries to learn more about the world
outside, researching previously unknown
places like Guadalcanal, El Alamein, Iwo
Jima, the Java Sea, Potsdam, Auschwitz,
Remagen, and Hiroshima. As they do this,
the world grows ever smaller.
Presented here without names, thesestories are nonetheless true, and they
remain relevant as part of our collective
memory. The challenge is not in the reading
but in the personal call to preservation.
It is up to those of the moment-historians,
preservationists, county historical
commissions, archeologists, architects,
planners, students, teachers, museums,
and family members-to seek out such
stories and to preserve the associated
names, places, papers, artifacts, and photographs
to maximize the benefit to future
generations, and thus to an increased
understanding of history.
The home front, like that of the battlefront,
is a complex and stratified story,
with myriad layers and frames of reference.
It is also, fortunately, a story that can still
be told from the personal level-from the
inside out. For those interested in
responding to the challenge at hand,
V+60-the anniversary of the endmarks
an important place for beginning.*
Dan Utley is chief historian for the Texas
Historical Commission, Austin.
I REMEMBER
Ernestine Thompson, now of
Pflugerville, was a teenager in rural
Milam County during World War II.
"We lived in the country, so we had
enough food, but I remember that
sugar was
rationed. So we
switched to
honey and
molasses. My
brothers and
father didn't go
to war, but my
uncle--my ^
mother's brother
did-and I
remember how worried she was about
him. She didn't tell me that she was
concerned, but she was a praying
woman, and I know that she was praying
for his safe return! He did eventually
come home safely."HERITAGE FALL 2005
THE BATTLE OF MEDINA...
THE UNTOLD STORY
Austin writer-historian,
Dan Arellano presents
"Tejano Roots" and
brings to life how Tejano
heroes died for the same
reasons as the heroes of
the Alamo in a battle
many don't know about...
The Battle of Medina.
"Very impressively researched... You have provided correctives
and filled in the gaps that heretofore did not recognize Tejano
contributions to Texas history."
Eliud Martinez, Ph.D
Novelist, Professor Emeritus
Comparative Literature and Creative Writing
University of California
CONTACT: Dan Arellano
Email: darellano@austin.rr.com
Web: www.tejanoroots.org
For a signed copy send $24.00 plus $3.00 S&H to:
Dan Arellano
P.O. Box 43012
Austin, Texas 78704
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Fall 2005, periodical, Autumn 2005; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45371/m1/24/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.