By Jerry Davis
The War, Part I
Fascist Italy invaded and annexed Ethiopia the year I was born, Japan invaded China when I was two, my fourth year saw Germany invade Poland starting World War Two.
My first memory of the war is the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese when I was six, and that memory is foggy.
What I do recall was my parents and another couple speaking in hushed tones about some event far away but somehow frightening.
But I vividly recall our first blackout, watching my father who had been appointed an air- raid warden, patrolling the street in front of our house, looking for violations.
Of course, there was no danger that tiny West Winfield, thousands of miles from the nearest enemy, would be bombed but the mood was one
of uncertainty after the bitter lesson of Pearl Harbor where the Pacific Fleet was decimated by a surprise attack.
The country coalesced almost overnight into a defensive posture.
The war against Germany and Italy was “normal”, something that people could see coming and prepare for.
The Japanese on the other hand were sneaky, did not play by the rules, caught us by surprise and our resulting humiliation almost certainly led to the internment of our Japanese population.
To avoid a similar fiasco a network of plane spotters was established, and I sometimes kept my grandmother company when her four-hour stint came up.
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