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I never saw my father again. Three miles down the road out of Fayetteville, he fell asleep and hit a bridge abutment and the car rolled down the hill. Three soldiers stationed at Ft. Bragg came upon the accident. By the time they drove to Wilmington to seek help (remember, the time of no cell phones) and returned to Dad’s car, he had died.
Years later my mom was working and we had a colored lady help with household duties and take care of us—we loved her. We spent many nights at her house when Mom was sick. Also, we had the wife of a soldier overseas rent a room to help with the expenses. The wife always regaled us with what was happening overseas in the war and explained about the Germans and the part they played. One memorable moment during this time of war was an evening when my mom was going to dinner with a gentleman. While Mom was getting ready for the evening, my little sister Audrey let the gentleman in the house. During his conversations with the three of us, my sister said, “My Mommy said you was a German!” Needless to say, we never saw him again.
“The Day That Shook the Earth”—Seventy-five years ago, on July 16, 1945, when I was ten years old, the
world’s first atomic explosion, code-
named “Trinity,” jolted the New Mexico
desert just before dawn. This nuclear test brought peace in 1945. Dozens of wars and skirmishes have been fought since Nagasaki, killing millions, but no nuclear weapon has been used in anger.
When I was in the 8th Grade at Virginia
Beach, a salesman came to our door selling a very large book about World War II, with lots of pictures. I just knew my mom would love the book and I signed for it. To this day I can’t remember how it
got paid for, but we practically wore it out looking through it. I may have had to put in a lot of babysitting hours for neighbors!
During the summers at Virginia Beach, I helped my brother with his paper route. Early in the morning, we would ride our bikes to
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