WWII and Wolfgang

My Remembrance

by William L. Schmid, Senior Partner (Retired)

Early in October, 2007 a feature film was presented on PBS entitled �The War.� This was a special production of Ken Burns and featured news film from actual news coverage with comments by living veterans of particular battles from both the Pacific and European Theaters of World War II. I watched most of this series and kept going back into my own memory of what was happening right here in North York, Pennsylvania, USA.

I had just turned six years old, just five days before the Japanese attached attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Obviously, that attack changed life here on the �homefront� very drastically. People�s lives were changed because many of our younger men were drafted or volunteered for all of our military forces. Many older men and women (older than were allowed to be part of any of our military forces) had to work in industries that produced military/war implements, apparel and machinery.

York, Pennsylvania, was a very important industrial city and every manufacturing business was involved in producing something for the war effort. Tanks, Jeeps, trucks, ordinance, ship parts and weapons were all produced here in the York area. Civilians, and I use that term to include anyone not in the military or working in a plant manufacturing war implements, had a lot to do with the success of us winning World War II.

There were many periodic �Scrap Drives� where metals of all kinds were collected. I remember our playground at the Wilson Elementary School in North York turned into a collection ground where students, parents, and other citizens of the borough brought metal scrap that would eventually be turned into products for war. Iron, steel and, especially, aluminum were essential. Vegetable and other food cans were flattened after use with both the bottom and top being inserted into the flattened can. Aluminum foil from chewing gum was saved, never discarded in the trash. Every family was programmed to receive �ration stamps.� Anything that was rationed, like sugar, meat, milk or butter, had to be purchased in accordance with the number of ration stamps allowed by families per month, on the basis of the number of people in each household. (Sunday�s roasted chicken produced �pot pie� for at least two more meals.) We survived on �leftovers.�

Gasoline was rationed, as well. The speed limit was 35 miles per hour in order to save on gasoline consumption. Every vehicle had to have a designated stamp on the rear window. The amount of gasoline that could be purchased for each vehicle depended on the �letter� granted by the government. This, again, was stipulated by the owner�s occupation and need for vehicle travel.

Families were advised to use part of their yards for �Victory Gardens.� My Grandpa Wolfgang owned a small parcel of land in the Northeast corner of North York where he and other family members planted vegetables. Also, the family had a bungalow near Zions View (along the old Susquehanna Trail north of York) and there, too, a parcel of land was utilized for vegetable gardening. Since sugar, a very important ingredient in candy making, was rationed, the amount of candy that the D. E. Wolfgang Candy Company could manufacture was limited. So, the company decided to limit the amount of candy an individual could purchase at a time to two pounds. Chocolates sold for $.49 a pound at our local markets.

We had to protect ourselves from attacks by the enemy from the air. Every community had to have Air Raid Wardens. My dad, William H. Schmid, was one. He had to go to training sessions to learn his responsibilities in case of an air attack from the enemy. We would have periodic, but never advertised, Air Raid Warnings. Sirens would scream through the night air. Every household had to turn off all lights. A small light in a house could be the �guide on� for a navigator of an enemy bomber. Lights could not be turned on again until the �All Clear� was sounded.

Air Raid Wardens had to comb their designated areas to make certain all homes were darkened and no unofficial persons were out and about. They were also equipped with some First Aid Kits and had some first aid training. Wolfgang�s delivery truck and other businesses� small trucks were supplied with a siren, a red light and stretchers. These were to be used in case of an attack to serve as ambulances.

Many households had a small flag in a front window. The flag would contain a star or stars for every member of the house serving in one of the Armed Forces. A gold star or stars indicated a member of the household who was killed killed-in in-action. We had a flag with one blue star for our household in honor of Glenn W. Wolfgang who was drafted and served in the 99th Infantry Division in the European Theater of World War II.

Now it seems like �what comes around, goes around.� Again, we are in a �recycling mode� but for an altogether different purpose� saving our natural resources.