Continued:   A number of years ago when I decided to go back 75 years and just go along, month after month, I was not sure how long I would continue to write that history.  When I hit my birthdate in March of 1938 back in 2013, I decided that I would continue through the end of WWII.  Well, here we are.
It has been a fascinating experience.  Looking back, I realize that I have been most impressed by the difference in how we view time.  When I was writing about the experiences of our church’s early missionaries to China, letters took over a month to reach their families here in Girard.  Even in WWII, almost half a century later, a three-week lag between casualty and reception of the report to the family in Girard was typical.

Now, cell phones have made the daily news truly accounts of things that actually happened that very day.  We go about our daily lives knowing that at any time, someone with a phone could capture our actions.  Our lives have changed in so many ways from the lives of our early church families.  And, yet, our faith remains the constant.  When we look back at their lives, we can see how similar their values were to ours. 
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 This is my last Glance At The Past.  If someone wants to volunteer to take the story through the late forties, the amazing fifties, the turbulent sixties, the long- haired seventies, the eighties, the nineties, the millenium, and on to ???   I will be happy to give guidance on where to find our archives.  I could probably help to organize them.  Someone else is just going to have to do the writing.  I have really enjoyed my years as your historian.  Thank you all!        

Last month I had to report on the June events from 75 years ago through the pages of the New York Times.  Now, however, I was able to visit Girard Free Library in person and spend an hour researching the Girard News from the month of July, 1945. 

The articles in the News were a welcome change from just a few months before.  The paper was back to headlining local news, and there were very few articles reporting deaths of Girard boys. In the entire month of June, the paper only reported the death of one Girard boy.  Of course that was still devastating to his family.  He had been killed in a plane crash in England, not war related.  Much happier news was the many who were reported home with their families on a 30 day leave.  Even though the war in the Pacific was on, there was a lull after winning the Island of Okinawa while the preparations were made for the invasion of Japan.  President Truman had promised the nation that when the invasion came it would consist of a force double the size of the entire current Pacific force.  Thus, many of the men who were now enjoying their 30 day passes from the war worried that they would be shipped to the Pacific to participate in that invasion.  So, the local paper was filled with local news.  The headline for the  Friday, July 6th edition was “Girard Local Post Office Rated First Class”.  The article went on to explain that since 1916, Girard had been a second class post office.  Apparently, the classification depended upon the amount of receipts collected per year.  The annual receipts since 1940 had increased from $22,678 in 1940 to $45,224 in 1944.  Being considered First Class certainly felt good.
The July 13th edition of the News reported that over 100 attended the Union Vesper Service last Sunday evening, July 8th, at the High School Stadium.  Our Rev. Maly gave the Scripture Reading.  The Sermon was given by Rev. James Foster of the First Baptist Church.   

The headline for the July 20th issue of the News read “Walls New President of State F.O.P.”  It went on to explain that Harold Walls, Chief of Police of the Village of McDonald was elected Ohio State President of the Fraternal Order of Police, when their organization held their annual War Conference at the Neil House in Columbus last Monday and Tuesday, July 10 and 11.  The article went on to state that Chief Wells is one of the youngest members of the F.O.P. to hold the office of President of the Statewide organization - (Not to mention the size of the Village Police Force)  He beat out Capt. Clyde Kuntz of Cleveland and Chief Cliff Courtney of Zanesville.

The Friday, July 27th edition of the News concerned the upcoming Primary Election for City seats   Most were not contested, but the Republican ballot had what was expected to be a close contest for the Mayor’s race with the incumbent, Mayor Whitford seeking his 4th term.  He was challenged by Louis Sabino, present Councilman at Large and Russell O. Vaughn, current President of Council.
  
There was the following article in the Society Section of the News:  “Mr and Mrs D. W. Bloom announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Betty Lou Bloom to Pfc. Stephen W. Genetta, son of Mr and Mrs Andrew Genetta.  No date has been set for the wedding.  Pvt. Genetta has been serving with the Army of the European Theater Operations.  He is now at home spending a 30 day leave.  He is a graduate of Girard High School.  Miss Bloom, also a graduate of Girard High School is a member of the Cadet Nurse Corps at the Youngstown City Hospital.”

I remember how friendly and welcoming the Genetta family was to Clyde and me when we joined our church back in ’59 and ‘60.  Steve and Clyde became especially close friends, and Steve stood with Clyde as Best Man at our wedding.   As our family grew, and their children were older than ours, we drifted apart sometime during the various teen years, but the happy memories remain.
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This was our town and our church in July of 1945, taking advantage of the respite in the war for lifetime plans which they hoped would materialize for a happy ending.
Our church, our town, and our country in July of 1945 – 75 years ago  

We left our church family, and all Girard families, last month at the end of May in 1945, pondering the words of the Editor of the Girard News in a lengthy editorial which I included for all of us to read and reflect on.  When I made a copy of his editorial back in early November of ’19just before I departed for my winter in Florida, I assumed that when I returned in May, I would have ample time to get to the Library and read through the News on Microfilm at the Girard Free Library to report on the happenings in Girard in June, July, August, etc. of 1945.  However, as you all know, COVID-19, a “tiny little speck of nuthin”,  came along and turned everything upside down and inside out.
Since I cannot go to the library, and the News is only available on microfilm, I had to find a substitute.  As I have an on-line subscription to The New York Times, I naturally went to it.  One of the advantages of a large paper is that it can make its work available on line.  I can go back to 1945 and put in any date, and up comes the paper for that day.   The entire paper passes from left to right, a page at a time, across my screen.  I can zero in on any article, bring it up to readable size, and read it, then send it back to its little self, and on to another one.  The downside is that this is an amazing time-waster! 

After pulling myself back to the present,  (that is concentrating on writing this blog), I decided to look at the headlines from the Times of June, feeling that they would more or less reflect the headlines in the  Youngstown Vindicator, as most people in Girard read that paper regularly, in addition to the weekly News. 
June of 1945 began on a Friday.  The headline was about Okinawa.  “Whole U. S, Army Line Drives Forward on Okinawa  -  Draws Net on Japanese Bastion, Trapping Many of Foe, as Marines Enter City  -- Enemy Dead Mount to 61,519”.
The battle of Okinawa in the Pacific actually began on A
pril 1st.   Okinawa was needed to provide an air strip close enough to the mainland of Japan for the large American bombers to deliver their deadly cargo to Japan’s factories and cities, and return safely to their airfield base which we would construct on Okinawa, after removing the Japanese who were defending it..  To their surprise, when our troops stormed ashore on April 1st, they met . . . NOTHING.  Their enemy on the island seemed to have vanished.  Our troops and their equipment were offloaded with no resistance.  It seemed like a dream world – a beautiful beach vacation on a remote tropical island.   Reality set in when our boys turned to the interior hills.  The hillsides contained numerous caves, which the Japanese had made an important part of their defense.  They waited in the caves under cover with their guns pointing down at the advancing Americans.  Each hill presented a formidable wall of firing artillery.  Now, after almost two solid months of bitter hand-to-hand fighting with heavy losses on both sides, the American boys were winning.  The enemy no longer held the high ground. The battle of Okinawa was the most costly one of the war.  We lost 12,500 men killed in action.  But estimates of the total deaths was much higher, from 14,000 to 20,000.  Wounded in action ranged from 38,000 to 55,000.  The only consolation was that we won the island and the Japanese lost almost their entire army stationed on the island along with about 20,000 conscripted Okinawans.  Their losses were estimated at 110,000.  Also, more than 7,000 were captured.  Thus, the Battle for Okinawa would dominate the war headlines for most of June in 1945.    

On June 1st, President Truman also addressed Congress to explain where we were in the war against Japan and what our future plans were.  Our nation’s defense industry was still working at full throttle. The draft would be continued for the immediate future, and we would assemble a force of double the current size in the Pacific when we invaded the mainland of Japan.  He warned the Japanese government that the devastation of their City of Tokyo would be repeated to all the cities of Japan that harbored any industry that contributed to their war effort.  The President’s message to Congress “combined confidence, determination and realism” according to the New York Times.
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Thus, the entire country was focused on the Island of Okinawa during the month of June, 1945.  By the end of the month, we had won, but at a very high cost.  Everyone wondered what the cost would be of invading the mainland of Japan.  Families of victorious soldiers in the European Theatre worried that they would be sent, not home to them, but to Japan where they would be needed to fight against that enemy who had begun this awful war by waging a sneak attack on our fleet at Pearl Harbor back in December of 1941. 
June of 1945, 75 years ago, a time of muted celebration of victories tempered by worry of a future invasion of Japan.   

We left our church family along with our Girard neighbors, and all of America – mourning the death (on April 12th } of our President, Franklin D Roosevelt  - praying for our new President, the former Vice President Harry S Truman – rejoicing at the news from Germany where our troops had met with the Russian allies on April 25th, cutting the German Army in two – then hearing that the Russians had taken Berlin – also receiving the news but not exactly rejoicing that Adolf Hitler and his new bride (his longtime mistress) Eva Braun had committed suicide together on April 30th and had their bodies burned rather than surrender to the Russian troops.  So much was happening so fast in the last week of April of 1945.
Now, it was May of ’45 seventy-five years ago.  In Europe, it seemed that all the important officers of the German Army wanted to surrender to the United States troops, not the Russians.  On May 3rd, Rocket scientist Werner von Braun and his team of 120 members would surrender to U S forces.  We would hear his name years later at the forefront of our space program.  Then on May 5th, the US 11th Armored Division liberated the prisoners of the Mauthausen concentration camp.  Among those liberated was another name we would hear of later.  Simon Wiesenthal had been imprisoned by the Germans {for the crime of being Jewish) in six different concentration camps.  Each time as our troops got near the camp, the Germans would forcefully march the prisoners to another one further in Germany.  During these forced marches many prisoners died.  Finally, when they were liberated, many, including Simon, were in desperate condition. When he was finally safe, and restored to health, he dedicated the remainder of his life to hunting down Nazis who had fled to other countries and were hiding from their criminal pasts.  He acquired quite a reputation for his successful hunts, before his death at age 96 in 2005.

On Friday, May 4th, the Girard News announced two new Girard casualties.  One boy died in Germany and another was wounded.  Meanwhile, German armies were surrendering en masse.  On Tuesday morning, May 8th, at 9 AM, President Truman announced that Germany had officially surrendered, and this date, May 8, 1945, would be known hence as V.E. Day (Victory in Europe Day).    The May 11th edition of the Girard News headlined that “Girard Takes Proclamation Calmly” and that “Stores and Offices close, Church Services Crowded”.  The News also announced that two Girard men had been liberated from German Prison Camps.

The May 18th edition of the News announced that 113 Seniors would receive their High School Diplomas on May 31st .  Also, it reported two more Girard boys were released from German Prison Camps.  The May 25th Edition announced Plans for the annual Memorial Day service which would begin on Monday at 9 AM on the viaduct with the throwing of the wreath from the bridge to honor the Naval dead.  Then it would form up for the march to the cemetery scheduled for 10 AM.  W, J. Moore would be the speaker at the cemetery. 
In closing this month’s blog, I would like to share with you an editorial from the Girard News that reflects the feelings I have expressed over the past four years writing about WWII in Girard.  It is entitled “Girard Area Great War Contributions”. 
            “Girard and Liberty Township have made one of the most outstanding contributions to war victory of any area of similar population in this country.
            That statement holds water, from whatever angle one wishes to discuss it.
            More than ten per cent of those in service from this area have suffered casualties.  The U. S. as a whole has suffered only seven per cent casualties.  Thus, the sacrifices from this area have been greater.

 Our fighting men have fought the battle of freedom in every part of the globe. In every battle, on all seas, and in every type of job offered by the armed forces; and no matter where they have served, they have given superb accounts of themselves.  They have won practically every honor the nation can bestow – medals by the thousands, true testimonials to their patriotism and bravery.  No sons in the world are better than those of Girard and Liberty!  Let us not forget that.
What Have the Home Folks Contributed?
            Per Capita, possibly as much or more than other communities!
            Every patriotic cause has received overwhelming support – Red Cross drives and programs, USO fund drives, paper drives, scrap drives, rubber drives, old clothes drives.

Our industries, labor and management, have contributed so much war materiel that one can honestly say:  VE Day would not be here, were it not for the war effort of the Girard-McDonald area.  Management and Labor have been harmonious.  They have worked extremely long hours.  Together they have won numerous Treasury Department War Bond Flags for 100% participation in Payroll deduction War Bond purchases. The local picture has been unmarred by discord or strikes.
But the War Isn’t Over Yet!
           
With Victory in Europe now an actuality, there should be a guiding thought constantly with us – to do everything in our power to continue working for victory over the Japs!  A hesitation in our efforts will mean a prolonged war and the loss of many more lives.  Let us carry on with “full steam ahead” until victory is ours!
To Immortalize the Honor of Our Service Men and Women!
          If Girard is to remember all who served in this war, let that expression be a living memorial, whether it be a hospital, a civic center, or what.  It should be something available to all people whenever necessary or whenever desired.  It should have engraved on its walls the names of all who served in this war, so our service men and women will be forever immortalized!”
 
We know that the Girard News Editor’s idea for a memorial never quite came to the grand fruition he hoped for.  However, the Girard City War Memorial, just across the street from our church’s side entrance, has that long list of names and it is available anytime, day or night, summer or winter, for you to view.  It sits in front of the Girard City Building, which houses the city offices and the municipal court.  In the rear is the City Gym which serves many members of the public for basketball games and other recreational activities. I don’t know if this Memorial Day, the Legion and the VFW will be able to have a ceremony of Wreath Laying, Taps, a parade to the cemetery and further ceremonies and Taps, probably not. But, sometime in the future, when we all meet together to worship in our beautiful church building, you ought to journey across the street to look at those names, which now include, unfortunately, names from subsequent wars as well – all of whom made the ultimate sacrifice for us. 
This was our church, our community, and our country – May of 1945, seventy-five years ago.     
 
 
        

We left our church family seventy-five years ago, at the end of March, looking forward to Easter, which fell on April 1st in 1945.  Also, on Easter Sunday, the Wellman Theatre opened its run of the wonderful film, Meet Me In St, Louis, finally coming to the theatres of smaller towns like Girard. months after opening in the larger cities in the East.  I don’t know how many Girard folks went to see the film on Easter afternoon, but Peter Wellman had advertised it heavily in the Girard News, and he wouldn’t have done that if he felt he was wasting his money. 

Back on March 2nd, a Girard sailor, Albert J Betts Jr., had been killed by a hit and run driver near his Naval Base in Richmond, Virginia.  Now, in the April 6th edition of the News, it was reported that the driver had been arrested in Florida – not exactly good news but at least they caught up with him.  The News also reported the deaths of two more Girard boys, in the Pacific theatre of the war, on March 7th and 15th.  The same edition of the News also reported that the City of Girard had exceeded its local Red Cross Fund Campaign Goal of $13,000.  The April 13th edition of the News reported that a boy reported missing in action in December was now reported to be a Nazi Prisoner of War.  And, a second boy, reported to be missing in action in February in Italy, was now reported to be a POW.  A new boy has been reported missing in action over Germany March 22nd.  The April 20th edition reported one boy wounded in Germany and one boy missing in action in Germany.  And finally, the April 27th edition reported two boys killed in Germany and one wounded.  Thus, the bad news kept coming, even as the war was obviously being won by our boys.   

Meanwhile, in our church, the ladies of the Women’s Society of Christian Service (WSCS) were meeting on April 4th to plan a Banquet Dinner to mark their Anniversary on April 20th.  That would be held on Friday evening at 6:15 at the church Fellowship Hall with twelve tables set, one for each month of the year.  Friends and Family would be invited for this mass Birthday celebration.  After the business meeting with the banquet plans finalized, the ladies wrote V-Mail letters to our young men of the church serving overseas. 
As I write this History Blog seventy-five years later, I find myself now, sheltering in place in my winter home here in Florida, leaving it only once a week to purchase groceries early on Tuesday mornings when Publix opens at 7 AM to let people over 65 shop early before the rest of the crowd arrives at 8.  This was not what I had planned to do.  I think of the WSCS ladies planning for their birthday – anniversary dinner, not knowing what competition they would be facing on that date.  How could they know, that on April 12th, our President, Franklin D. Roosevelt would die suddenly, at his Warm Springs, Georgie home.  He had been our President since 1932.  He was the only President many young people had ever known.  There would be a huge Memorial Service in Girard for FDR on the 15th, with many, many in attendance.  Our new President, Harry S Truman would have to preside over the ending of the war.
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When the ladies finally held their banquet on the 20th, the world was changing at a breakneck pace.  In early April American troops had liberated their first Nazi Concentration Camp with the pictures of emaciated living and piles of dead prisoners seen in newsreels and weekly magazines.  On April 25th, American and Soviet troops met together at the Elbe River, thus cutting Germany in two.  On April 30th, Adolf Hitler and his newly married bride, Eva Braun, committed suicide.  The war in Europe would soon be over.         
April 1945 – 75 years ago in our church, our town, and our country.

We left our Girard church family and our other Girard friends in February of 1945, mourning the increased number of casualties of our Girard boys in Europe and in the Pacific, while doing everything possible on the home front to support them by rationing anything that could be used for the war effort (food, tires, silk stockings, etc.), and collecting papers, tin cans, and anything metal that could be melted down and recast, and donating money to multiple bond drives in support of the war.  It is hard for us to comprehend how much the war influenced the lives of everyone.  One could buy war bonds at almost any retail establishment in Girard – and in those days before large shopping centers and big-box stores, and now Amazon, there were many more small stores or bars and restaurants in Girard than there are today.  As usual, for all this information from 75 years ago, I am indebted to The Girard News, Girard’s Weekly newspaper back then, published every Friday and available today on microfilm at Girard Free Library.  Now, as February drew to a close, Girard folks were beginning another fundraising goal.  This one was so much smaller than the bond drive just finished in January of $535,000 – a mere $12,500 for our local Red Cross.  Still, the money was needed and our Girard families were raising it.

The Friday, March 2nd issue of the News had a much happier casualty report.  Only one Girard man was reported wounded, back on January 10th, a leg wound.  He was expected to return to action soon.  And, the Red Cross Fund drive was officially on.
The Friday, March 9th issue had more serious news.  One Girard boy was killed by a hit and run driver near his Naval Base in Richmond, Virginia, just a week prior on Friday, March 2nd.  One boy was also killed in action on an air mission over Germany several weeks before, but his next of kin only receiving the news in the past week. 
The March 16th issue reported two Girard boys killed in action, one in Italy and one in Germany, both deaths occurring back in February.  Two were also wounded, one in Luzon, Philippines, one in Germany.  The March 23rd issue reported no war fatalities, only two wounded, one in Iwo Jima and one in Belgium.  And the March 30th issue, happily, reported no war casualties.
 
I have been reporting on the pre-war and war years in Girard every month for quite a while.  I have always included the casualties as reported in the News, not by name, just where and when.  One thing I have learned from writing this blog is just how violent and vicious the fighting was until the very end.  Both the Germans and the Japanese had leaders who believed in fighting until the death.  Only after Hitler’s suicide could the Germans surrender.  Only after Japan’s Emperor surrendered, overruling his military, could the Japanese stop shooting.  Thus, the most awful battles occurred at the end when the enemy was surrounded but any man who tried to surrender would be shot by his own commander.  We, in hindsight, know        that the war with Germany had only a month and a half until its end.  But, that last month would be as deadly as any. 

In the last part of the month of March of 1945, our Church Family was preparing for Easter.  March 25th was Palm Sunday, which also featured a Baptismal Service.  That afternoon at 4 PM, we had a Vesper Service featuring a Cantata by our choir, “From Olivet to Calvary” by Mauder.  During Holy Week, we Methodists would hold an evening service from 7:45 to 9  Monday evening through Thursday evening.  The subject of each sermon was as follows:  Monday, “Judas, Who Defeated His Environment”, Tuesday, “Pilate Who Dodged His Duty”, Wednesday, “Caiaphas Who Drove Christ To The Cross”, and Thursday, “Longinius – The Man in Charge of Christ’s Crucifixion”. Then, on Good Friday, our church would host the Girard Union Service from 1-3 Friday afternoon.  Friday evening we would hold our own Communion Service with the sermon title “Dismas, Who Spoke To Jesus About The Error of His Own Ways”.
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Easter would fall on Sunday, April 1st in 1945.  Also, on Easter Sunday afternoon, The Wellman Theater would feature a matinee movie running from Easter Sunday through Wednesday, April 4th, “Meet Me in St. Louis” starring Judy Garland and featuring the wonderful song “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”  At last that wonderful movie that played to New York audiences during the Christmas season would now reach small town theatres such as Girard at Easter.  At last!
That concludes our Glance back at our Church Family and our Girard friends, in March of 1945, seventy-five years ago.   

We left our church family and our Girard friends in late January of 1945, receiving news of casualties almost daily, most from the European Theatre of the war, from the Battle of the Bulge although the Pacific Theatre also sent bad news to some families as the sailors there were regularly encountering kamikaze bombers.  Yet, for all the fighting and dying, life went on.  President Roosevelt had been inaugurated on January 20th to his 4th Presidential Term.  No other President before had been elected that many times, and none ever will, thanks to the 22nd Amendment. 

Now, in February, in addition to the rationing, the scrap drives, the paper drives, and the bond drives, Girard was faced with a shortage of coal.  COAL?  Yes, until well after the war, most people heated their homes with coal.  Girard folks were serviced by 5 local coal dealers.  Four of these had no coal at all. The fifth one had 20 tons on hand.  The “Critical Coal Situation” was headlined in the February 2nd edition of The Girard News, Girard’s weekly newspaper, delivered every Friday.  The coal crisis must have been temporary, as later issues of the News never mentioned it.  Of more immediate concern was that two local boys had been injured in France, and were recovering in England.  One other boy had been seriously wounded in Belgium.  The next issue of the News, on February 9th, had bad news, indeed.  One Girard boy had been killed in Germany, two in Belgium, while two were wounded, one in Germany and one in Belgium.   Thankfully, the rest of the News issues for the month of February were without reports of death or injury of our fighting men.
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Meanwhile, our church family continued to worship regularly and the ladies of our church were engaged in their monthly meetings of their little groups.  The WSCS (Women’s Society of Christian Service) had at least three groups.  The Feb. 2nd edition of the News reported that Group 3 had met on Monday evening, Jan. 29th, at the home of Mrs. Charles Wormer at 236 E. Kline St for election of officers.  Mrs. Elmer Long was elected President.  20 members attended.  Also, Group 4 of the WSCS met on Thursday evening, Feb. 15th at the home of Mrs. E. E. Heinzman of St. Clair Avenue.  Their next meeting would be on March 8th at the home of Mrs. Cletus Phillips of Hazel St.  That meeting would feature a covered Dish Dinner. And on Friday evening, February 16th, the Wesleyan Class met for their monthly meeting at the home of Mrs. E. O. Hood, of East Prospect.  Twenty-one members were present.   In addition to the ladies’ meetings, the February 16th issue of the Girard News announced the newly organized Church Basketball League which would play on Tuesday nights at the City Gym.  The games would occur at 7 PM, 8PM and 9 PM.  The first would be on Tuesday, the 20th, and the games would be as follows:  7 PM  St Rose vs the Lutheran Church, 8 PM  Christian Church vs Methodist Church, and 9 PM  Baptist Church vs Presbyterian Church.      Of course, our church held our regular Sunday morning Sunday School and Morning Worship, with an attendance of approximately 200 people each week.  And our youth groups met regularly on Sunday evenings.

Also, in February of 1945, our town took on a new Red Cross Drive to raise $12,500 for our local Red Cross.  Remember that our town had just finished a bond drive in January where they met 125% of their goal of $535,000.  I am constantly amazed at our town’s record of support for our country in World War II.  From December 7th of 1941 our town, indeed our country -  everyone worked together to defeat our enemies.  In doing so, we would later emerge as the strongest industrial nation in the world. 
That was life in our church, in our town, and in our country – 75 years ago – February, 1945.

We left our church family in the month of December, 1944 aware of a massive battle occurring in a heavily forested section of Belgium known as the Ardennes.  With the advantage of 75 years in the future, we know today that it was the last offensive carried out by the German Army, desperate to create a break in the Allied Lines that were rapidly approaching the German border.  The German Army would be attacking from a position of weakness {no air support – their air force had been eliminated for all practical purposes) and lack of fuel for their armored divisions due to the allies’ control of the port of Antwerp.  Therefore, the Germans relied on a surprise attack occurring during a period of stormy overcast weather at the most lightly defended part of the allied line.  The attack had come on December 16th, with the surprise part a complete success.  However, the size of the German attack , initially 410,000 men and 1,400 tanks, proved unwieldy to control and coordinate effectively.  Because the attackers {the Germans} were at a disadvantage numerically, they took no prisoners during the attack, executing entire companies of men who tried to surrender.  The allies reciprocated.  This along with the intensity of the fight caused this battle to be the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II.  The Girard News issue of Friday, January 12th reported that 3 Girard men were Missing In Action, two in Belgium and one in France and two were wounded, one in Belgium and one in France. More casualties would continue to come in one at a time by wire to the next of kin an average of three weeks after their deaths or injuries. The Battle of the Bulge would officially end January 25th.  The Germans lost somewhere in the range of 75,000 men either killed, missing, wounded in action or captured.  The Americans had roughly 610,000 men involved in the battle.  Of these, approximately 19,000 were killed with 70,000 injured.  As I noted earlier, the “take no prisoner” strategy, coupled with the bitter cold and stormy weather, made the battle a nightmare for all who were involved in it.  The deaths or wounding of Girard boys would continue to come in to Girard, one by one, at least through the month of March. 

When I wrote last month about the month of December, 1944, I had to choose between writing about the Battle of the Bulge or writing about a song.  Of course, I couldn’t skip over one of the costliest and most significant battles of the European theatre, so I devoted the December issue to the battle, and touched upon it again in this January issue.  Now, however, with December almost over, and that song still rambling throughout my mind due to lots of repetition, I want to tell you the story of that song.  It was written in 1943 by songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine for a movie to be released in 1944.  It was to be about a father in St Louis who is given a big promotion, but would have to sell the family home and move the whole family to New York City. They would spend one last Christmas there and then move.  The family’s youngest, a five-year-old named Tootie, played by Margaret O’Brien, took the planned move very hard.   On Christmas Eve, she fell apart emotionally, and her older sister (Judy Garland) consoled her and sang this song to her.  The song, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, instantly struck a chord with all of America.  After all, it had been four long years since they had said goodbye to their loved ones.  Everyone could sense how different things felt since that awful time right after Pearl Harbor.  The words of the song reflected the hope of all Americans that, somehow, after all the fighting and dying by our men over there, and all the rationing, the scrap drives, the bond drives, the blackouts and everything that went with being at war, somehow everything would be better  . . .   

The song is still being sung regularly, 75 years later.  It rates as the third most played Christmas song over the years.  Our Girard families were probably singing it in December of 1944.  The song swept the country before the movie could.  That movie, Meet Me In St Louis, would not make it to Girard’s little Wellman Theatre until sometime in the late spring of ‘45. 
 
Besides the Girard men fighting the war, and being wounded or dying, the rationing, the scrap and paper drives, our families also supported bond drives.  Back in the middle of November, the sixth bond drive had kicked off.  The goal was for the combined towns of Girard and McDonald to raise $535,000 in bond sales.  It had been completed in early January.  Girard and McDonald raised 125% of their goal of $535,000.  It is amazing how very much our families and our neighbors sacrificed for us back during the war Years of ’41 through ’45.  They were called the “greatest generation” for a reason.
Our church family, our town and our country – 75 years ago, January of 1945       

            We left our church family at the end of July, 1940, pondering the effect that the new Military Draft Bill would have on their lives, and listening to Rev. Hilberry preaching on “The Violent”.  For that information and for much of the details provided in this month’s Glance,   I am indebted to the Girard News, our town’s weekly newspaper, available on microfilm at the Girard Free Library.            

      August 4th was the first Sunday in August in 1940.  That would have been my late husband, Clyde’s tenth birthday.  He would not have been in our Girard church at that time.  He lived in McKinley Heights and he used to tell me that his Dad would drop him and his brothers off at the Methodist Church in Niles for Sunday School, which was located in downtown Niles at that time.  Anyway, on August 4th, in Girard, our Sunday School had an attendance of 243 people counting teachers, scholars, and visitors.  The Sunday School collection for that day was $12.42, reflecting the fact that our country was still in the grip of the great depression, although some men were being called back to work in our town’s steel mills.

            On August 6th, the Friendly Class held a weiner roast in Liberty Park on that Tuesday evening.  Glen McCoy and Lloyd Moncrief were chairmen of the event.  Eighteen members were present.  During their meeting they made plans for a Hike in Mill Creek Park on August 20th.   That would probably be their last outdoor event of the summer.

            Meanwhile, our church family and all America were bombarded with war news coming over the radio and in the papers.  England was being bombed continuously by German planes.  Ships were being sunk in the English Channel.   Opinion in America was divided about what to do.  America was technically Neutral, although most American sympathy was with England and France.  General John J. Pershing, our World War I war hero was calling for all-out aid to Britain in order to defend the Americas, while, at the same time, Charles Lindbergh, our flying hero, was holding Isolationist rallies.     

            Last month I wrote about Tom Mix coming to Girard at the New Mock Theatre, and Guy Lombardo playing at Idora Park in July.  Now, on August 7th, The Sons of the Pioneers played at the New Mock Theatre.  This would have been another of my Dad’s favorite entertainers.  His favorite song of all time was “Tumbling Tumbleweed” written by Bob Nolan of that group, along with another famous song, “Cool Water”.  Whenever my Mom sat down at the piano to play a few, Dad would always request “Tumbling Tumbleweed”.  Our family lived on the lower Southside of Youngstown.   I wonder if he knew they were playing in Girard.  That Wednesday would have been a work day for him so he couldn’t have attended, but I bet he wished he could.  I was only two then, so I would have been oblivious to the whole event.

            The August 16th edition of the Girard News had a nice article on the hiring of a new coach and Phys Ed instructor for boys in the Girard Schools.  His name was Phil Koppel and he had previously coached at Newton Falls the previous year and at Brookfield before that.  He would go on to teach and coach at Girard until his retirement, while living here and, along with his beloved wife, Dorothy, raising a wonderful, lively bunch of kids , all active members of our church family.

            The August 23rd edition of the News had a front page story about a proposed five story modern hotel to be built on the corner of Liberty and State Streets.  Well, we know that didn’t happen!   But on a page further back in the paper was a story about the youth of our church and the Lakeside Annual Conference.  Our Epworth League sent the following delegation:  Marjorie Davidson, Marjorie Keller, Barbara Griffith, Barbara Emerick, Jean Merriman, Milly Jean Ebbert, Marilyn Miller, Val Jean and Hazel Muffley, Robert Crooks, Robert Miles, Jack Heinzman, and Robert Kingston.  The chaperone for this group was Mrs. Rees Emerick.  That is a pretty large group for one person to handle.  Maybe kids were better behaved seventy-five years ago.  Today we would have more than one person in charge.

            On August 25th, morning worship was devoted to a Communion Service.  Then on the following Wednesday, the Women of our church spent the day reorganizing.  This was due to the union of The Methodist Episcopal Church (our branch of Methodism) with the Southern Methodist Episcopal and the Methodist Protestant Churches.  Then on the first Sunday of September, the morning worship service was mostly devoted to the launching of the Charter Meeting of the Girard Branch of the Women’s Society of Christian Service.  Rev. Hilberry’s sermon was entitled, “The Guidance of God”.  Our church family had no idea back in 1940, but 28 years later, in 1968, we Methodists would merge with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to become what we are today – The United Methodist Church.

            This was our church in August, 1940 – 75 years ago.

         

 

We left our church family at the end of June in 1940, enjoying the special music offered by Rev. and Mrs. Hilberry during the morning worship, which provided a brief respite from the war in Europe which dominated their newspapers and radio news.  As always, the information comes from our church archives supplemented by items found in The Girard News, our town’s weekly newspaper available on microfilm at Girard Free Library.

July 4th came on a Thursday in 1940.  The News, which was published the next day (always on Friday), reported that Girard would have its first Annual Fourth of July celebration that weekend in Liberty Park.  It also announced that the results for the City of Girard from the Census Bureau showed that Girard had actually lost a few people from the count in 1930.  Girard’s 1940 population was 9,809, down from 9,859 in 1930.  The next week’s edition of the News said that about 3,000 people attended that First Annual Fourth of July celebration in Liberty Park.  That’s almost one third of the entire population of Girard.  Not bad! 

On the 10th of July, a Wednesday evening, the Friendly Class held its summer picnic, also in Liberty Park.  Seventy members attended.  Wilden J Moore was elected Class President for the coming year, Glen Woods Vice-President, and Mrs. Edward Clark Secretary-Treasurer.  That same day, in Europe, the Battle of Britain began.  France had surrendered to Germany in mid-June.  Now the Germans turned their attention to England with massive bombing raids.  On the14th of July in a worldwide broadcast, Prime Minister Winston Churchill vowed that Great Britain would fight alone against Germany no matter what the outcome, stating, “We shall seek no terms.  We shall tolerate no parley.  We may show mercy.  We shall ask none.”  On the 15th of July, the Democratic Convention began.  (1940 was a Presidential Election year.)  The Democrats nominated Franklin Roosevelt their Presidential Nominee for an unprecedented third term.  The following Sunday, July 21st, Rev. Hilberry tried to give some guidance to his anxious congregation.  His sermon title:  “Christ and The World Crisis”.   

Of course, Girard folks didn’t just sit by the radio all day listening to the news.  Our people were much involved in the usual summer activities, along with working, shopping, cleaning house and yard work, washing clothes, and cooking dinner every night.  Sports were always important in the summer.  Baseball fans followed the  Cleveland Indians on the radio , most afternoons or evenings.   There were also visits by nationally known entertainers.  In 1940 in the month of July:  in Girard, the movie cowboy, Tom Mix and his horse, Tony, came to the New Mock theatre; and Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played at the Idora Park Ballroom in Youngstown.  In 1940, I was too young to know if my Mom and Dad attended that year, but several years later, I remember they always went dancing when Guy Lombardo came to town.  My brother, John, and I would have a sitter for the evening while our parents put on their best dress clothes and were gone, returning after we were in bed.  This only happened once a year; our parents were not party people.  But Guy Lombardo was very special to them.  He would always play to a sell-out crowd.  Also, a few weeks before, Duke Ellington had come to the Lake Milton Dog Track to entertain with his world famous orchestra.   And of course, our church family held picnics, the youth as well as the adults.   On the Friday the 26th, the Epworth League held an ice cream social on the church lawn. 

But, always, the ominous war news intruded.  Congress was considering a bill to require all men of a certain age to register for a draft.  The News headline of the July 28th issue read “Girard’s Quota Would Be 425”.  That was the number of men that the current version of the bill would require to be conscripted into the armed forces from the city of Girard.  The bill would pass and be signed in September, with the numbers changing with world conditions.  Being drafted would be a life changing experience for many Girard men, including, of course, those in our church family.  Even with the United States a neutral country, this war was going to impact people’s lives.

On the last Sunday of July, Rev. Hilberry’s sermon topic was “The Violent”.  On that note we will take leave of our church family in July of 1940 – seventy-five years ago in our church, in our town, and in our country.