Category WWII Exhibit

At the beginning of World War II, the United States Air Force simply did not exist. Instead of being a separate branch, pilots trained and flew missions under the orders of the Army Air Corps. Thanks to an extensive collection… Continue Reading →

The entire nation of these United States mobilized to defeat tyranny in WWII.  Of course, the war effort redirected the paths of the young men who served in the military.  However, without active support from nearly every other part of… Continue Reading →

As WWII ground on through the 1940’s, no one could take the final outcome for granted. The Nazis and their allied regimes in Italy and Japan were a powerful enemy. Many young people found it necessary to put their hopes… Continue Reading →

The fall and early winter of 1944 marked some of the most critical and dangerous bombing missions of the entire conflict. The Allied ground forces in Europe pushed hard to solidify the progress they had made across the Continent since… Continue Reading →

Jack Ginther will tell you that two of the darkest days of his life were 1)when he heard President Roosevelt had died in 1945 and 2)when he learned that his basic training had been extended 2 weeks, causing him to… Continue Reading →

A secretary for the tire rationing board on April29, 1944, young Lois Barden sat in Ithaca’s Courthouse basement, busy at her work. She looked up to see the face of the gentleman who ran the telegraph office in the train… Continue Reading →

Red (Leman) Ingalls joined the U.S. Navy in August, 1944 – even though he was too young. At 17, his mother had to sign his enlistment papers. Sailors earned $17 a month, but with WWII at its height, pay was… Continue Reading →

Duane Beard was a sonar man in the U.S. Navy, posted to the island of Tinian in the Pacific. From that island, one August day, he mailed a letter to his sweetheart Joyce in St. Louis, MI. Of course it… Continue Reading →

The Gratiot County Herald in its August 31, 1944 issue printed directions for gathering and preserving milkweed pods. It noted that “when the Japanese captured the East Indies, our supply [of material normally used for life preservers] was cut off…. Continue Reading →

It is thanks to Romaine Flegel’s daughter Barb Flegel, that we have on loan the items displayed as part of our spring WWII exhibit, along with a bit of their background story.  However, Romaine found it difficult to talk of his… Continue Reading →