FOREWORD
You may ask, “Why another book about World War II?"
My answer: "Why not?" There’s a large and aging generation of citizens who, of necessity, had to remain at home, and whose story has not yet been told.
My library already contains upwards of fifty WWII books which reaches almost three feet when stacked, and weighs close to 100 pounds. Over the last 60 years, I’ve spent many hours reading and observing the photographs of the horrible time between 1937, when Japan invaded China, until the surrender in the Bay of Tokyo in September 1945, ending the war.
Life magazine and the other publications including Colliers, Saturday Evening Post, American, Look and National Geographic brought the war news by mail into my childhood home on Swatara Street in Harrisburg. Local newspapers: The Patriot, The Evening News and Harrisburg Telegraph were delivered to our doorstep with photographs, bold headlines and reports of the war effort, both here and overseas.
Our neighborhood movie theaters presented the latest Movietone-News which brought the action to us in ”black and white,” before “living color” became the norm. Then we had radio news with all the personalities whose names would soon became very familiar across America.
During all that time, my generation of school students was much too young to be part of the battle when the United States was forced into action on December 7, 1941.
In the attempt to recreate the wartime years of the early 1940s in Harrisburg, I’ve been asked by more than a few friends where and how I researched the material for this book:
The recollections about growing up on Allison Hill came from memory — with some help from people who lived in the area and had their own recollections of names and scenarios which may have not been clear to me. Family members helped with fine-tuning a few of the personal stories.
Actually, a large segment of the year’s preparation for this book was consumed by researching the many wartime books in my library. My fascination with the death and destruction caused by German U-boats took at least a month to write and rewrite the chapter, “GERMAN U-BOATS.”
Two other stories are very important to me because I actually witnessed them taking place:
* The Pearl Harbor Japanese Midget Submarine passing Swatara Street during a 1943 War Bond Drive.
* The effort by the U.S. Army Service Unit at New Cumberland Reception Center in raising sales of $100 Million in War Bonds with their “soldier show,” “Pennsylvania on Parade.”
I am most grateful to my children, Bonnie, Scott, Larry, Tim and his wife Kim, and grandson Ben, for the desktop computer, printers and many answers to “how do I?” questions. In addition, Scott served as Graphics Editor and Chief Advisor. My thanks also to Barbara, my wife of 51 years, who proofread the text and offered helpful tips to make it more understandable. She also provided feedback of what was being written with the response, “That’s very interesting.” During one proofreading session, her loud laughter caused me to wonder, “What major error did I make, now?” It wasn’t a blunder, but merely her reading of the chapter “OUR MILITARY” and the “carrier pilot” who continued to make mistakes. Her best response — which offers a compliment above all others about a book — has to be: “I didn’t know that!” That’s the reason for these recollections of a Harrisburg schoolboy during WWII.
Leonard A. Portzline March 2007
West Fairview, PA