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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

1944: THOSE SCARY WAR YEARS ON THE HOME FRONT

From the "WWII" folder in the Hamilton Township Public Library Local History Collection comes this very scary article relating to the Nazi plans to attempt aerial bombing of the United States; in this case, New York City. I remember as a boy of 12 how scary it was to hear of the dreaded "Fifth Column" which was permeating industrial centers all over America. Reports were being broadcast on the evening radio news of saboteurs bombing local defense factories and other critical industrial sites. Japan was launching hot air balloons laden with high expolosives in the hopes of the balloons landing in a highly populated area. Off shore on the Pacific coast. Japanese ships were lobbing shells in to Pacific coast refineries. On the East coast, German submarines were coming perilously close to our eastern shores. Stories of Nazi spies and insurgents being put ashore in rubber rafts from German submarines all along the east coast including New Jersey were in the news. All in all it was a scary, unsettling situation.

Anonymous RALPH LUCARELLA said...

HI TOM....A SCARY SITUATION IN 1945WAS ABOARD A TROOP SHIP IN THE PACIFIC. WE WERE OUT IN THE SEA FOR 19 DAYS TRYING TO AVOID THE JAP SUBS AND FINALLY ARRIVED ON AN ISLAND IN THE CORAL SEA CALLED ESPIRITO SANTOS. IT WAS A BIG RELIEF TO BE ON LAND AGAIN. THANK GOD I MADE IT BACK TO FRISCO AFTER THAT ORDEAL. BEST REGARDS,Tuesday, January 17, 2012

It's guys like you whom I call heroes, Ralph. Your generation was one that endured the Great Depression and then went off to fight and die in WWII. Heroes indeed!
Tom Glover






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2 comments:

RALPH LUCARELLA said...

HI TOM....A SCARY SITUATION IN 1945WAS ABOARD A TROUP SHIP IN THE PACIFIC. WE WERE OUT IN THE SEA FOR 19 DAYS TRYING TO AVOID THE JAP SUBS AND FINALLY ARRIVED ON AN ISLAND IN THE CORAL SEA CALLED ESPIRITO SANTOS. IT WAS A BIG RELIEF TO BE ON LAND AGAIN. THANK GOD I MADE IT BACK TO FRISCO AFTER THAT ORDEAL. BEST REGARDS,

RALPH LUCARELLA said...

IT'S ME AGAIN TOM. I'M FAR FROM BEING A HERO BUT I'LL TELL YOU TOM, I WAS AMONG MANY MEN WHO WERE.