Chapter 19 - Gibbon's Secrets - December 1941

December 1941  
      The Christmas of 1941 came during a time of mourning for the many service men and women lost in the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Dale Pitke's ship the "USS Arizona" sustained a loss of 1,100 lives.  Dale lost many friends that tragic day.  He also lost all of his own personal belongings that were left on the ship when he came home on leave.  He was very fortunate to have been home at that time, and the Gibbon townspeople all adopted him as their personal hero.  Bud started writing Dale soon after he returned to active duty.  He pledged that a weekly letter would be sent to Dale, until the day he came home again.  The "Five Friends Forever" helped Bud with the letters, and a strong bond was developed between this sailor and these five boys.

This short memory from my book "Gibbon's Secrets" points out the difference between our patriotic attitude then and now.  The closest thing to a "Patriotic Attitude", shown that Christmas 1941, came after the 911 attack on our soil by fanatic terrorists when citizens all over the country rallied around President George Bush.  The differences shown by President Bush vs. President Obama was a profound caring attitude toward our great country.  President Bush never made excuses for our actions as a great country, either in the past or in the present - you can't say the same now.  I am proud of our country, but do not like the excuses made recently in foreign countries about how uncaring or too aggressive we were in the past.  If it wasn't for our aggressive actions during World War II many of the people in Europe would be speaking German rather than French or whatever language found in their country.  How can we again show pride in the USA?  One way we can accomplish this is to continue our fight against the current administration's actions toward us becoming a socialistic country.  Stand up and be counted - make your voices heard regarding your feelings against the Health Care Bill or the Cap & Trade (Tax) Bill that will be the next up.


I'm going to share one more Christmas memory from World War II - this is a factual memory from a GI that was in "The Battle of the Bulge" in 1944.  This memory was shared with me by Frank Chambers, a GI from World War II, who allowed me to include his true memories in my book "Gibbon's Secrets".


December 25, 1944 (from Frank Chambers' Journal)
     I had a decent Christmas meal from my mess kit.  It got a little cold by the time I ate it.  I have a heater for my truck can...I took my steel helmet and placed it on the truck can floor, then lit my K ration wax box..it does not make smoke and can keep warm when I'm driving.  I put the cans of beans and stuff on my truck manifold...that works well until a can of beans exploded and made a real stink.
     Today we had blue sky for the first time.  Our bombers and fighters were really busy.  We saw dogfights very near us.  Also saw gliders being towed by planes.  I hear that they are heading for a Belgium city called Bastogne, just east of us a few miles.

This was just a simple entry in a GI's journal - about what was going on the Christmas in 1944.  Simple yes, but all of Frank's entries were the simple kind that really touches your heart.  


I feel that I am very fortunate to have grown up during the World War II times and felt the experiences of how it was then on the "Home Front"should be shared through my book "Gibbon's Secrets".  We have a new "Home Front" today, and we are fighting different battles -- but I still am praying for our men and women in the armed services defending our freedoms -- again in countries far away from home.  God Bless them and keep them safe.


Merry Christmas to all of you reading this blog.