Interviewed by Christine Cadman
Name: Jessie May Culver
Age at start of the war: 23 yrs
Current age: 90 yrs
In the beginning of the war I lived near my mother in law Jessie Elizabeth Moran. I lived in a small cabin on her property. It was way out in the country. I lived there with my two kids for awhile. Back then I was Jessie May Moran. After a while I bought my first house in Clearlake, a small town outside of Sedro Woolley. It was a two room house and it turned out very well. It was a good purchase. The house was closer to my work, and I worked out a deal with my boss so he would pick me up and drop me off before and after work. It was a great deal because we didn’t have a car.
During the war I got a job as a dental assistant. I also had a job working in the general store in town part time. My other job was to take care of my children. We were told to save foil, baking fat, and anything we could use over. The government ordered rationing. We were given ration stamps, which we got in the general store in town. The government rationed things like food, clothing, shoes, and gasoline. If it could be used for the war, it was rationed. The gasoline rationing had the least effect on us because we did not have a car. For work, I needed two pairs of shoes and that was all they gave us. I needed a pair every six months. I needed one pair for work and one pair for at home in the garden and such, so I had to be very careful with my shoes. We had a garden and canned everything, and we had livestock. The food rationing didn’t affect us too much; we always had plenty of food. The rationing that affected us most was the sugar rationing.
When I first heard about Pearl Harbor, I was working at the general store in town, and they had announcements. I was stunned listening to the radio broadcast. I didn’t know anyone there at the time. It was the reason why President Roosevelt declared war, which was the right thing to do. I thought that President Roosevelt was wonderful.
My most lasting memory of the war was of all the people who died. Hearing about all of the people who were killed in those horrible camps still makes me sick. I can’t see how anyone could do such an awful thing. I also remember how everyone in our town pulled together, after all, it was the right thing to do and it didn’t last forever.
There were always film clips that would play before the movies that were of real war footage, or some cartoon that was pro-war propaganda. We also heard about the war in the newspaper. Propaganda was everywhere; in the theater, on the radio, in newspapers, in the town, and even in the school. Everyone in our town talked about the war, especially my old neighbor, Agnes, that old lady who knew everything about everyone. I remember my brother used to call her Old Mrs. Goody Two Shoes. She thought she was better than everyone else in town, and could talk for hours.
My husband Gordon served for two of three years. He was injured in training. He was an engineer. He ended up in one of the hospitals he had helped build earlier. He was considered 80% disabled. He had lost most of his hearing, and he came back before the war ended. I was so glad and so were the children. They were happy to have their dad back, but I had to go to the Red Cross and get his disability payments because they didn’t give them to him right away. They weren’t very much though. My brother and nephew were also in the war. None of them got any awards. My nephew was very emotionally affected by what happened to him during the war, with all of the death around him, and his friends dying right next to him. He didn’t like to talk about I, but after the war, he started drinking heavily. It drove him to an early death he was only 57. How did I feel about the atom bomb? Well it was a very emotional thing. Everyone was glad the war had finally ended, but I felt bad for the people that were there; and so did many others. I still find it hard to think about the people there. Yes, I feel bad for the people who were there, but I think it was our only choice. If we had not bombed them they probably would have bombed us.
When the war ended, all of the children rang the bell in the school yard all day. When we heard over the radio that the war had ended we were all let off work early. It was a bitter-sweet homecoming for our family because every one that left came back, but they were never the same before the war.