Service and Sacrifice

In honor of my Mom and Dad on the 4th of July, I'm posting her recollections that include a recap of Dad's time serving in the US Army and more. Thanks for your service to our country, Dad and thanks for standing by him, Mom.

From my Mother's Journal.

November 4, 2011

59 years ago today (11/4/52) my husband had to leave for the army. We had been married for 6 months and were working on the farm with his mother and father. When we got the letter that he was selected we did nothing to stop the process as his uncle Floyd Green was on the committee for the war department at Cavalier and it would not look too good if we used him for an excuse. I started crying as soon as the letter came and kept right on crying ‘til he left. Grandpa George cried with me. That first night I put his work boots by my bed and grabbed one of his shirts and wore it to bed and started a letter than night. I’d write a page a night telling him all the days events. He went to Kentucky and did well as a soldier. We thought he would be coming home for Christmas, but it didn’t happen. So we wrote to each other every day and I’d be standing at the mailbox waiting for the mailman. (His name was Lowell Livingood.) Whenever there was a letter he would blink his car lights a few times and I’d jump up and down and wait. He wrote of all the stuff he was learning and doing, a lot of walking. He had a chance to go to OCS (Officers Candidate School) but some how it didn’t happen and he felt lucky after hearing about all the guys who did make it and went to the front lines in Korea. He was responsible for a lot of guys going through basic training. And then they found out he was good at typing he got the job of Ammunitions Records Clerk in an office with a nice group of men. By the time spring came around we had a little girl and she and I joined him in Kentucky. Laurie became her Daddy’s greatest follower. She would get so excited when he got home at night, and she would say, “There he is!” But it didn’t not sound like that. She would even salute him.

Every day we thought it would be our last day together as men were leaving for Korea daily. Then it was quite obvious that I was pregnant again so soon and we had a May 13^th baby boy. It was that doggone furlough in August of 1953 to combine wheat that I got pregnant again. Oh well, we love kids.

We met a lot of nice people and we seemed very happy. November 4^th, 1954, we came home to the farm. Grandpa and Gran’ma Green went to California for the winter and we took over the farm house along with El Prigge, the hired man that had been here for many years, a very nice fellow. Both he and Manvel worked at the potato plant in St. Thomas washing out spuds or tying sacks. The deep freeze was stocked full of beef and pork and we had lots of potatoes. El would help with the dishes after supper and Manvel played with Laurie and our new baby boy, Robert. We had a fun winter. We had a few people over for meals, played cards, and cribbage.

When spring came Grandpa and Grandma came home and then rented a house in Grafton before buying a home on 7^th street west (451 West 7^th Street) where they lived many years. We were not through having children. We had Pam in March of ’57 and Karen in Feb ’58. We were always lucky to have good help with the washing, ironing, vacuuming and I cuddled my babies, washed, fed and sang to them. I just loved my job of being a mother. Manvel was very helpful with dressing them for bed after baths and reading stories and a good Daddy!

The growing up years went fast. We seemed to be going to someone’s game and school programs (we enjoyed these little people very much) and loved all the activities. We were very pleased with their interests in Christian activities. Rob had perfect attendance in Sunday School. Now when I was growing up at the Lutheran Church, when you had perfect attendance for a year you got a gold tiny cross pin. But, Robert got his whole record of gold stars. He never was ill, but the girls sometimes missed because of illness. I was so proud of Rob being head of Sunday School and working so hard with young Christians. The girls did a lot of singing for church and school. Laurie and her friends had a little group that played guitars and sang called The Farmer’s Daughters. Rob enjoyed playing basketball and the last year of high school he played football. He was always needed at home after school to help on the farm. The gals all took piano lessons and now I wish that we would have had Robert take piano because he liked it so much when he got older. But, none of his buddies were interested.  At that time not very many boys were taking lessons at all. Today I’m sad over this fact. Our 4 children brought us so much joy and fun. We really had some wonderful meal talks. Manvel laid down the law that if the phone rang, the person was told they would be called back after dinner was over. It worked.