Page 16 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine Spring 2021 - Online Magazine
P. 16
HONORING SENIORS
the value of
Remembering
by Bob Lile
orld War II was a scary and worked at Boeing; my mother’s me hoeing weeds as a little tyke.
time for all Americans, youngest sister and a friend of For the war effort, we bundled
Wbut for a small Texas lad hers moved up as well. My aunt newspapers and magazines and
living in Wichita, Kansas, it was and her friend lived with us in an smashed tin cans flat. Many things
also exciting. apartment that had been converted were rationed; we were given
from army barracks, making four coupons for gasoline, tires, sugar,
My dad had worked as an auto apartments. Counting my older butter, etc. Rationing was tough
body repairman and mechanic sister, there were six of us in that on everyone, but, of course, if one
for the Chevrolet dealership small space. knew the right people, there was
in Perryton, Texas. After Pearl always the black market.
Harbor was bombed, he felt it The part of Wichita we lived in was
was his duty to do something for called “Hilltop Manor”. Down My dad and a friend found a
the war effort, but with two small the hill, there was a small creek, beehive in a tree out in the woods.
children at home, the military and a couple of blocks to the south They smoked the bees out and
wasn’t interested. Our family was our neighborhood Victory robbed the hive. We had a wash
moved to Wichita, Kansas, and dad Garden. All our neighbors worked tub full of raw honey and the comb.
started building airplanes at Beech the garden in the evenings and My mother baked a lot from that
Aircraft. His parents moved also on weekends, and they even had treasure for a long while.
16 Amarillo Senior Link
