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In previous articles, the World War II years were explored through the experiences of a high school teenager. This article will tell the story of how WW II changed his life and an attempt to surmise what his options would have been if the war had not occurred.
I lived through the 1930s on a farm near San Augustine in the piney wood of deep East Texas. We lived in an unpainted house whose roof leaked when it rained. My dad worked at the ice plant in town, so we had a steady income that gave the family a semblance of security.My brothers and I worked for the farmers around us, mainly hoeing corn and chopping cotton, followed by picking the cotton when it matured. I kept my coins in an empty Bull Durham sack, awaiting the annual County Fair.My father’s salary was augmented by the things produced on our small piece of land. We grew chickens for meat and eggs. A cow provided us with milk to drink, to churn for butter and buttermilk and to make the welcomed treat, ice cream in the summer months. My dad could get all the ice we needed free since he worked at the ice plant and we had all the eggs and milk needed. A variety of vegetables were grown in my mom’s garden – cultivated mostly by my older brother and me. Some were eaten fresh and others were canned for winter meals. We grew hogs that provided a change of pace for meat. Popcorn and peanuts were grown to give us welcomed treats. One year, we planted sweep potatoes and reaped an abundant crop.Those readers of my generation will chuckle when they read this because most of them experienced the same lifestyle as described here. This was a common way to grow up. We were poor but didn’t realize it because we never went hungry and had many self-made ways to entertain ourselves.My first six years of education were in a one-room school house with one teacher. It was located about a quarter of a mile from our house. There were about 25 students each year for Miss Esther to educate. The education I received in that little one-teacher school is considered by me as one of the advantages I had over the town kids. I received more one-on-one attention. She kept in close contact with my mom to keep her informed about any problems in learning I might have. However, the best thing in my mind was, she would go to the county library and bring back a load of books, the kind she knew I would enjoy reading. I learned of Canada while reading Silver Chief. The South Pole came alive when I read Admiral Byrd’s account of his solo winter sojourn at Antarctica. The jungles of Africa became my home as I read Frank Buck’s Bring 'Em Back Alive. The west, once a reality, was imprinted in my brain by Zane Gray. Thomas Edison became my live-long idol (still is) when I read the biography of both his early life and his adult experiences. That was probably when I decided to make the field of science my life’s work. I owe Miss Esther a debt of gratitude for pointing me in that direction.This all sounds like I lived in an ideal world – not so!The question is, without World War II what avenues were open for me in San Augustine in the years following the Great Depression?My older brother, Lewis "Red," did work in a dime store when in high school, but what kind of career comes from that? There were a variety of stores necessary for life to be sustained in a small community, but those were usually family-owned and the sons and daughters moved up to run the family business. My family business was not farming even though we had a small farm and that was not on my list of career options. My aspirations were to be a family doctor, and my chances of achieving that goal were less than none. Stephen f. Austin State College was 30 miles to the west in Nacogdoches. But, who could have given me a scholarship for four years of college, much less all the years required to become a physician? Maybe Miss Esther could have figured out a way. I wonder!Well, one can see how bleak my future looked and justifiably so. Something beyond my control came into play, something I would not have chosen had I had the power.The next article will describe what did happen, and how drastically my life was changed along with the rest of the world. You already know the answer, but not my story.
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