(This story first appeared in the Leader-News on Wednesday, July 4, 2001, and was written by Kidron Lewis.)

"The days of World War II were filled with uncertainty for the folks of Lamb County. People were forced to make huge sacrifices in order to insure Allied victory in both Europe and the Pacific.

"With an unsure future, those left to hold down the fort had placed upon them a tremendous amount of pressure and responsibility.

"Many Lamb County residents still remember well the days of World War II and the changes it brought, changes that would never reverse themselves.

"December 7, 1941, was a day that would change America forever, with a surprise attack on the Hawaiian naval base, Pearl Harbor, by the Japanese Empire.

"Soon afterward the Americans officially entered the war and millions of young men all over the country were drafted into the Army, Navy, and Army Air Corps.

"Almost overnight the entire country changed. Women who had never worked outside the home were now laboring in factories manufacturing weapons and ammunition for the war. Men who had never even seen the ocean were now stationed on ships in the Pacific.

"Not all men went into the Army and Navy; many men served in different branches of the service.

"Long time Littlefield resident Flannery Newton was a machine operator at Reese Air Force Base during the war. Littlefield resident J. D. Smith served his country as a member of the merchant marine. Both, however, served with one common goal, victory.

"Many area people remember the day to day sacrifices that county residents made as all were made in some form a part of the war effort. Many things were strictly rationed such as sugar, tar, gasoline and tires. You could not purchase any of these items without government issued stamps. Most recalled that each family was issued a small number of stamps each month.

"‘I remember during World War II there were so many things you couldn’t have. Things we take very much for granted now. Everything was rationed,’ says Peggy Ray.

"‘I remember this one time my mother went to pay for her groceries and the grocer had just enough sticks of chewing gum that each customer in the store could have one package of chewing gum. That was very rare, and my mother was thrilled to death.

"‘She went into the movie theater where my father was sitting watching a western. In the dark she spotted my daddy and sat beside him. She held his hand, placed a stick of chewing gum in it and gave it a pat. A few seconds later she spotted daddy sitting in front of her, and the man sitting beside her was gone. She never found out who it was!’‘ recalls Sudan resident Peggy Ray.

"‘I remember my daddy used to use tractor gas in his car so that he could stretch the stamps issued to him as far as possible.

"‘We would use our sugar stamps to make goodies to send to my husband Nolan, who was overseas in the service. He ate better things than we did,’ remembers Sudan resident Louise Parish.

"Littlefield resident Flannery Newton recalls that the speed limit was reduced to 35 mph to save gasoline. ’It wasn’t all that bad. People couldn’t really afford to go many places anyway.’

"He also talked about the heroism of his late brother, Madison Newton, who was a B-51 fighter pilot in the U. S. Army Air Corps. He was shot down in combat and forced to make an emergency landing in then Nazi Czechoslovakia.

"‘He made about 40 or 50 missions; he shot down several planes and was shot down twice himself. He flew missions during the famous Battle of the Bulge,’ continues Newton.

"‘Towards the end of the war, he was shot down behind enemy lines over Berlin and had to make an emergency landing in Czechoslovakia. He hid in the forest because if the civilian population found him, they would kill him with their hoes and rakes. They hated fighter pilots,’ he says.

"Newton also remembered the fear he felt as a little boy hearing about the first World War.

"‘I heard my mother talking about it and it scared me so much. I was so afraid that my daddy would have to go and fight the Germans.’

"‘Of course then you had no television, no radio, nothing. The mail carrier came in a horse and buggy. He came by our farm one day and yelled, ’Hey! H.B. Mr. Newton, the war is over!’ That was in 1918,’ says Newton.

"We used to go to the silent picture show. During the intermission, as entertainment, a tall thin man would come out dressed like Uncle Sam and say, ‘It takes a long, tall man like Uncle Sam to make the German submarine go down!’

"Amherst resident Artie Humphreys recalled the fear she felt as a little girl during World War II.

"‘I was just about six years old when World War II started, but I had a brother who was 14 years older than me and he was in the Army, so I knew all about the war,’ she reflects. "All of our friends and neighbors had sons in the Army and we would all get together and talk about the war.’

"‘I remember being scared; everyone was a little scared. I guess I think it was because people did not have the means of communication then that we have now. All you had was the radio and the newspaper and the paper was very slow.’

"‘My brother was a pilot and he was shot twice, and was missing in action. We didn’t even have a telephone so the government would send you a telegram to keep you informed. The mail carrier would always honk if you had a telegram so you would be sure to get it. Any time that the mail carrier honked we al panicked because we knew it might be bad news.’

"Mrs. Humphreys recalls some of the heroism of her late brother, Richard ‘Buster’ Wilson.

"‘He was shot down twice in enemy territory. One time he was shot down over China, and the Chinese carried him out through the jungle and he survived. He loved the Chinese people for the rest of his life, because they saved his life,’ she says.

"Mrs. Humphreys also remembers the patriotism of the average Americans, and Amherst residents, during the second World War.

"‘It was an interesting time, everything was rationed but people weren’t used to being affluent back then anyway, so people really didn’t mind doing without,’ she reflects.

"‘People were really patriotic then. I’ve never seen that kind of patriotism since. Mothers had a little flag that they would hang in their window and a gold star meant one of your sons had died. It was just a different world. Everyone had someone they loved in the service. And they all kept up with each other’

"‘Everyone had a hard time during the war. We were all really glad to see it end, and to see all of our loved ones come back home,’ she concludes.

"Despite the fact that they were basically fighting two difficult wars at the same time, the Allied forces, which the Americans dominated, came out victorious after four long years of war.

"The people of Lamb County who both served in the war, and who stayed behind, made tremendous sacrifices, and will be remembered throughout history for both their bravery, and their sacrifices."