For this interview I decided to call my grandma (Blanche McAllister) who lives in St. George. During WWII She lived in a couple of places, first in Phoenix, Arizona as she went to high school. After high school towards the end of the war she moved to Washington DC. Once she married she moved around to other locations such as Ogden Utah, and San Diego California. Now she lives a retired life at home and visits her children and grandchildren.
As far as everyday life goes, she did not feel a shift in how she went about things. She said that she did the same things we do now, she went to school in Phoenix, Arizona and did homework on the weekends. However, as we discussed the times that she lived in - it became apparent that the war truly did affect her life, and even was a major influence in everything they did. The one thing she noticed most was the inability to get some items. Food, such as sugar, butter, eggs and other things, were put on rations limiting the amount they could get. The other major thing missed was gas. She said that most everyone, especially younger people, rode the bus and street car everywhere because they were unable to get gas. The other thing that truly affected her, was the fact that so many men went to the service. She said that as soon as the males graduated they went to the service. She had very few male friends who did not enter the service. She commented that the servicemen were everywhere. On the weekends in Phoenix, they had stake dances. The servicemen all attended, and she said they had a great time. Blanche even met her husband there, who was not currently in the service but joined later in the war.
At these dances music defined the times they they lived in. She said that music had one theme expressed in two different ways. First of all was the Jitter Bug type music, she said that this music was fast, like a swing, only more active. This music was uplifting almost as a way to get by the war and have a good time. It included such songs as "Pistol Packing Mama," "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and "Beat me Daddy Ate to the Bar." These songs were all uplifting, and very fast. Pistol Packing Mama was sung by the Andrews Sisters who were very popular at the time. Other popular singers included Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. They often went to the cities to sing for war bonds. These artists sang romantic songs which were also very popular. These romantic songs included, "I'll Get By," "Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer," and "White Cliffs of Dover." She described them as "war ballads," and keeping warm the home fires. On weekend, she was excited when Frank Sinatra came to Phoenix and she was able to go see him.
During high school my grandma worked for my uncle. She did square dancing during the summer and then moved to Washington D.C. For her it was exciting to be back in Washington D.C. at that time. She noticed that there were many more servicemen there. She rode a car pool into D. C. where she worked for Intramerican Foreign Affairs. She was a secretary, and was excited because she worked for Nelson Rockefeller, who was very famous. Though she only saw him once riding up in the elevator with him, she was very excited to just be working for him. She was also pleased because she was able to go and eat lunch at a park right across from the white house. During the war most women worked because the men were all off to war, so the women filled the jobs often working in factories, or for the red cross, they also made war clothing.
They listened to the radio for war news, or read the newspaper. Even when America appeared to be losing at the first of the war, she always knew that we would win, she said. She said that the war was always at the forefront and there was always new war news. The thing she seemed very proud of was the fact that everyone supported the war, there were no protesters. Everyone made sacrifices to help the boys in the war. When Pearl Harbor was hit, I asked if she was shocked when she heard, she said, "I was more than shocked, everybody was shocked." She called shocked too mild a word to describe what happened. She was at a Church road show practice when she heard about the attack. Boys on the street were calling out "extra" giving out newspapers, reporting the tragic scene. The next day they had a rare assembly in the gym, (they had lots of assembly's but always in the auditorium where only half the school fit) to watch the famous infamy speech by President Roosevelt.
Through the war she knew many people involved in the war. Everyone had flags on their house if they had servicemen, for those who had lost someone in the service they put a gold star on their window. From her own experience she knew many people who died in the war, but only had one relative die, a cousin, who was killed in the Battle of Latae. Another cousin was shot down in the Pacific, and survived an amazing ordeal. He was in the ocean for nine days before being rescued. At the end he became so desperate that he killed a large bird and drank the blood and ate the meat to survive.
People hated Hitler because he invaded people. When they first heard about the concentration camps, people did not believe them. People hated Japan even more than the Germans for their brutal attack. One of the sad points of the war for my grandma was the Japanese camps. She had many Japanese friends in elementary school and felt terrible about the camps. She did not feel they deserved to be put in there. In reverse, a proud point for her was the constant talk of American ingenuity and progress. She said that America was not ready for the war but that through this ingenuity America was able to quickly build the war machine.
Her husband, Ed McAllister, decided to enter the navy rather than be drafted, so in January of 1945 he enlisted. He went to medical training and was a medic. He was trained in San Diego, so she moved with him and worked as a red cross secretary. In his unit in San Diego most of the people were sent overseas, however the commander did not want to lose one of his best medics. so he never would send Ed overseas (Ed and one other man were not sent overseas because they were the two best medics). In that unit they worked on bone injuries doing Orthopedic surgery. After the war he was released in May 1946.
When she realized that we would win on D-day, she among many others across the U.S. and the world went to huge celebrations. After the German surrender, she went downtown for a huge parade. After defeating Japan she went to a similar parade. She was quite proud of the U.S. war effort, it was interesting to hear about her life during the war. Even today she reads novels on World War II and remains interested in it.
Through the war experience I think she became very proud to be American, something that continues in her life today. This assignment was very interesting, it helped me gain insight into how people felt about the war. It was also good to talk to my grandma and learn more of her, because I won't be able to talk to her forever. World War II was an event that changed America but you can also see how it changed people's lives in many ways. It was not something pretty or good in any way except that it strengthened America, and it gave us resolve to always do what is right. It is wonderful to know that my grandma and others supported the war effort and did all they could.
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