May atmore 2020

Living Through World War II
Nancy
Karrick
Note: This is the first in a series of three articles.
I was born in 1947, after World War II. I never studied
about either World War I or II in school, so the only
information I knew was what I heard from my parents or
gleaned from books from the library.
As an adult, I had the opportunity to live in Europe
and Hawaii, and my knowledge of those war years was
greatly enhanced by my experiences and travels there.
Plus, as the wife of a career military man, I had the
opportunity to visit many of the World War II sites, again,
learning what school failed to teach me. Believe it or not,
but I learned as much as a school teacher, self teaching
myself, so I could teach students, as many learn in
school today.
I lived in Belgium and made many trips to Bastogne
and the area of the Battle of the Bulge. I was in
Luxembourg City and saw Patton's grave, traveled to
Auschwitz and saw the horrors of the death camp,
entered Hitler's Eagle's Nest, and walked across the
beaches at Normandy.
American military cemeteries were always on our
stop-and-visit list, including the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl in Hawaii, where
I observed the grave of reporter Ernie Pyle, and the
only American underwater military cemetery, the USS
Arizona. With all of this said, I did not live through World
War II. However, in a way I did. Keep reading to find out
how.
Over a year ago, my neighbor, Andy Anderson,
brought over a box of newspapers he had found in a
closet at his grandparents’ home, knowing I would be
interested in them. I was excited when I saw what was
inside, but put them aside until I had some spare time
to spend reading the enclosed newspapers. These
papers were old, and not just a year old, but from 1945.
They were yellowed and brittle, flaking each time they
were unfolded or opened out, and to my history-loving
mind, they were a wonderful treasure chest.
The coronavirus gave me the perfect opportunity to
immerse myself in primary source material and read to
my heart's content about not only the war, but about life
on the home front as well. I'm not going into the war as
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