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PART I: WRIGHTSVILLE: THE HOME FRONT
- University of North Texas Press
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PART I WRIGHTSVILLE: THE HOME FRONT According to historian Geoffrey Perrett, World War II was the “closest thing to a real social revolution the United States has known in this century.”1 Other prominent historians agree with his assessment. They argue that participation in the war brought economic, political, and social change to an unprecedented degree. Scarcely any community of any size was spared.2 In short, as one historian emphasized, “World War II affected every man, woman, and child in America.”3 How about the river town of Wrightsville? Did these far-reaching changes apply to this small town with a 1940 population of 2,200? Wrightsville’s leading citizens wasted little time in contributing to the war effort. On 19 March 1942, not long after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Borough Council established a Council of National Defense. Members of the Council included the town’s leading citizens: the town’s Chief Burgess John Redman as presiding officer; Prof. Preston E. Ziegler, principal of the Wrightsville public schools; Rev. Jacob Spangler, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church; Dr. B. A. Hoover, physician and founder of the Wrightsville Building and Loan Association; Marlin Etzweiler, morti- 14 SMALL TOWN AMERICA IN WORLD WAR II cian and furniture store proprietor; foundry superintendant Hiram E. Nauss; Clyde Thompson, Borough Council President and manager of the Huntzburger Department Store; clothier Lehman Weitzel; Scoutmaster William Frey; and businessmen Joseph Lyle, Charles Hammer, and Alfred Williams. These men enrolled citizens for civil defense activities . The Council organized a system of air raid drills and blackouts, as well as appointing a network of air raid wardens to enforce these measures on a block by block basis. It also engaged citizens as first aid personnel and auxiliary police. Enlisting the help of the Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, the Council organized scrap and salvage drives and on one occasion showed its appreciation for the services performed by the Scouts by voting a contribution of $5.00 to each troop. At the county level, the Council of National Defense appointed Reuben Strickler, business manager for the Riverside Foundry, as Wrightsville’s representative on the York County Draft Board and the York County Ration Board. Because the two bridges across the Susquehanna River were considered important to the war effort, the Council obtained sentries from the National Guard to protect it.4 Individual citizens contributed in other ways. To help finance the war effort, they bought war bonds and stamps. With more than three hundred men in the armed forces, women took over some of the traditional male positions in the foundries while others sought employment in the defense industries of York and Lancaster. With rubber tires and gasoline on the rationed materials list, some townfolk simply put their automobiles on blocks and retired them for the duration of the war. Those who worked outside town organized carpools to transport fellow workers to job sites. As in other towns throughout the country, housewives saved fats and grease, which could be turned in for red ration points at the local butcher shop and then recycled and used for the production of glycerol, an ingredient in dynamite and lubricants. For the scrap drives, they donated flattened tin cans, rubber items such as hotwater bottles and galoshes, and aluminum pots and pans. Men saved the tin foil that lined their cigarette packages. Wives and sisters organized [3.92.96.247] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:39 GMT) WRIGHTSVILLE: THE HOME FRONT 15 social groups where they made gloves and socks for men serving overseas . In addition to participating in the scrap metal drives, the local Boy Scout troop collected old newspapers for recycling, and they took to the fields and meadows outside town to gather milkweed pods because the fibers made excellent fillers for life jackets. To supplement scarce food supplies, many citizens participated in the cultivation of both individual and community victory gardens. In a town that had endured the Depression years, Wrightsville’s citizens found no difficulty in being thrifty. They took quite literally the admonition: “Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without.”5 By the end of the war, more than 330 of Wrightsville’s men and women served in the armed forces. Ten died while on duty and two others were taken as prisoners of war. Numerous families had several sons in the service. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hake had seven sons in the military , while Mr. and Mrs. Warner Morrison had six...