Interviewed by Cody Addler
The people that I interviewed for this project are an elderly couple, Kathryn and Robert Blankers. Kathryn moved from Dakota in 1936(she didn’t specify which Dakota). Both of them had 7 siblings. They got married in 1941, a couple years after the war had begun. The couple had become farmers because food was needed for the soldiers, with Robert being 24, and Kathryn being 21. Robert had a brother that was drafted by the Navy, who made it home from the war. He also made a career out of the Navy. The couple described the times as very unpleasant; they had to ration the gas that was given to them by the government for their farming equipment. As well as gas, their food, clothing, etc. was rationed. They couldn’t buy a refrigerator until after the war was over because they weren’t being manufactured. There reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor was that the whole ordeal was scary. They locked up their barn, as well as boarding up the windows and covering the barn up. When asked about how the war affected their social lives, school, and relationships, they recalled on memories about lookout stations that were watching for ships and people coming over from the pacific. Lookouts were important because the people weren’t sure what else was going to happen after the bombing. They also talked about the production slowing down for goods that were being made for Americans, with most goods going overseas to Europe to help out the British in the war. As farmers they got the basic necessities that they needed, such as gas for their tractors. Robert said they needed to know exactly how much gas they needed for the tractors because they only got so much. When asked about the dropping of the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the couple responded that they didn’t know much about the situation. They felt it was awful what was done, but they said that it stopped the war and saved the rest of the American soldiers. Eventually Kathy and Robert went and saw Pearl Harbor, but they didn’t say anything about that trip. One of their most lasting memories of the war years was that they think American people still look down on the Japanese for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Robert reflected on the fact that he had to walk miles to his school as a kid along with his brothers and sisters, because there were no buses to school for them. They had quite a few stories to tell, and were quite interesting people. I enjoyed talking to them about their younger days; this was an interesting and somewhat eye-opening project.