I Remember World War II
(A story about a little girl and World War Two)
Grades 3-6
Story and Links by Natalie Bunch
"Paul! It's your turn! Come on." My brother and I had been playing a game in the living room, when the radio program we were listening to broke into a special report. It had stolen my brother's attention and I was more than a little irritated.
"Just a minute, Hannah!" he said impatiently, then ran into the kitchen to get my mother.
That alarmed me. Paul was my big brother, but he never paid much attention to the reports and hardly ever called me Hannah. I ran into the hall to find out what was going on.
When I stepped outside the living room, I knew something was wrong. What I heard outside the kitchen where I was standing nearly froze me with terror. Paul was telling my mother to come listen and my mother had tears in her eyes. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the United States had declared war on Japan. Many men had died. My uncle was there. We didn't know if he was alive. The room was silent now except the soft crying of my mother and the tapping of my brother's shoes on the floor as he moved to hold my mom.
I trudged to my "thinking spot" and wondered about what all this meant. I was ten years old, and while I knew the news was not good, I did not realize what an impact the news in that report would have on my life.
Paul came and found me sitting on the top stair by the attic where I used to go and think when I got upset.
"Hey, Squirt. What's goin' on in that bright head of yours?" He must have sensed my confusion because when I did not answer his question, he hugged me and began to explain.
Planes had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a place in the Pacific Ocean, where navy men from the United States were stationed. There were no accurate numbers of men who had been injured or killed, but the numbers reaching us were far too large. "How could this have happened?" I questioned.
In the days that followed we stayed close to the radio listening for any news. On December 11 Germany declared war on our country. With each report my brother grew more and more restless. He and mamma had been fighting about his joining the war effort. Paul was only sixteen and not old enough to join. Some of his friends had lied about their age and joined up. I was so afraid that he was going to go. I stayed up late every night and slept in the floor by his bed, so he couldn't get away without my knowing.
One day while we were listening to the radio, the President came on. (click here to hear what we heard) What Paul heard made him all the more determined to go to fight. He stormed out and muttered something about having to go. I figured that if what the President said meant my brother should go, I should go too. Following suit, I began packing my things. When I dragged my teddy bear laden bag into Paul's room, he stopped what he was doing and asked me what in the world I thought I was doing. I told him he wasn't leaving to go some where I couldn't protect him. He tousled my hair and grabbed me in the second hardest hug he ever gave me. I wasn't allowed to go on this adventure with him. That made me mad and sad and very frightened. I knew he had to go. His moods were horrible and his sense of duty to our nation far outweighed his ability to sit at home when his friends and family members were fighting this war.
It was a long time before I saw my brother again, and I spent many sleepless nights in his bed crying and praying for him to come home soon. My mother went to work and we made a victory garden. We saved all kinds of cloth and metal to make into materials the soldiers needed. Terrible nights and dreadful days passed slowly until finally on September 2, 1945 Japan surrendered. The United States had dropped two Atomic Bombs and the devastation had caused them to surrender. The war was over. It took several months, but finally my brother came home! My mother cried for a month and I beamed proudly everywhere we went. He was home!
Sources
This is a fictional story from the imagination of the author using personal knowledge and information from the following sites:Questions
- When did the war begin?
- Weigh the facts about the family and the war. Would you have lied about your age to go to war?
- Name two things that the girl and her mother did to help with the war effort?
- Give reasons for why they might have done those things? (Clue: How might they have helped the soldiers?)
- When did the war end?
Outline
- Introduction
- Paul and sister playing
- Radio Announcement
- Paul tells mother
- Girl Follows
- They hear about Pearl Harbor
- World War II begins December 7, 1941
- Paul wants to leave
- Sister sleeps in his room
- His friends join up
- Mom and Paul fight
- Roosevelt speaks
- Paul is determined to go
- Talks to sister
- Joins the military
- Paul is gone
- Sister and mom cry
- Mom gets a job
- They grow a victory garden
- They save metal and cloth for the war effort
- Atomic Bombs
- September 2, 1945 marks the end of the war
- Mom and sister are happy
- Paul comes home!
Optional Props
- A little flag
- A picture of a young serviceman
- A teddybear
- An old radio
- A collection of old cloth and scrap metal
- A small victory garden sample
Answers
- December 7, 1941 and/or the bombing of Pear Harbor
- Answers will vary
- Two of the following:
- Mother went to work
- Victory Garden
- Saved cloth and metal
- Answers will vary
- September 2, 1945 and/or the Atomic Bombs dropped
- Mother went to work
- Victory Garden
- Saved cloth and metal