Section 1
Through the Eyes of a Child
Insights into âWhy?â1943â
Convoys of soldiers roared down the narrow highway in front of the elementary school. Tanks followed on massive trailers and well-secured bombs on flatbeds.
The soldiers were headed to battlefields unknown and the munitions to the supply line on the sea coast of south Texas.
An adult could understand the life and death struggle of the war and the one hundred flag-draped caskets that had already come home to our small Oklahoma county.
But to a second grader, the trappings of war and the deep emotions that tinctured daily life added up to one big question, âWhy?â
Through the Eyes of a Child
Why?â1943
âSecond Grade, listen to meâstay on the curbâdo not step into the street, understand? The convoy is coming.â
âTeacher, can I wave our little flag? Jasper did it last week and itâs my turn.â
âMy name is Mrs. Miller and yes you may wave the little flag. I wish we all had one to wave.â
âTeacherâMizz Miller,âI got some questions.â
âNot now Skippy, I canât hear you well; weâll talk about it after the convoy.â
âOK, Mizz Miller.ââ
âTeacherâwhy are the soldiers always nervous and smokinââbut they always smile and wave?â
âTheyâve come many, many miles, Skippy.â
âTeacher, why was the Kool-Aid bitter at Maryâs birthday party? It was red but it was bitter. Her mom said, âWait till next year when the warâs overâItâll be sweet I guarantee you.ââ
âSugar is rationed.â
âWhatâs rationed?â
âYou canât have everything you want.â
âMizz Miller, why do we have bomb drills and hide under our desk with our notebook on our heads? Is Hitler going to drop a bomb on us? That scares me.â
âHe doesnât even have a bomb, Skippy.â
âYou sure, teacher,âthat scares me.â
âMizz Miller, why do people get real quiet when they talk about Mizz Vest?â
âMrs. Vest is a Gold Star Mother.â
âWhatâs a Gold Star Mother?â
âIt is a mother who has lost a son or daughter in the war.â
âTeacher, what does loose lips sink ships mean?â
âIt means donât tell secrets, Skippy.â
âMizz Millerâwhy does that old man who prays at church always start cryinâ when he gets to the end and prays about the soldiers?â
âAll of us need to prayâand pray hard.â
âWhat does bombs away over Tokyo mean?â
âTomorrowâSkippyâwait till tomorrow, please!â
Insights into âGranddaddy Lambâ
He was the granddaddy of all granddaddies. Suckled in the Civil War, he was already an old man when he suffered through the Great Depression of â29.
He sat on his porch in a white, homemade wooden chair fluffed with pillows most of the day, except when he ventured out into his garden late in the afternoon. His shiny white beard was half as long as Santa Clausâ and his mustache resembled his contemporaryâs, Mark Twain.
His voice was muffled at 95, but his hand was always ready to wave at passersby, especially if you were a kid on a bike. In fact, most kids had been instructed to âbe sure to wave at Granddaddy Lamb.â
Granddaddy lived with his daughter who took in ironing and with his special granddaughter, Nellie Rose, who would never be able to leave their neat, two-bedroom house.
Through the Eyes of a Child
Granddaddy Lamb
It was a good summer day and Skippy looked for his buddies Jacky and Jasper. Jacky was helping his dad mow the lawn, but Jasper was just sitting on his bike, doing nothing.
âHey Jasperâwant to go to the store and get a sodie pop? Grandma said we couldnât afford one everâ day, but today is sodie pop day.â
âYeah, I got a nickelâletâs go. Want to walk or ride bikes?â
âLetâs walk. Itâs always fun to talk to Granddaddy Lamb. He is always laughinâ under his big beard, even though you canât see it. Him and Nellie are always sittinâ on the porch.â
âWell, I canât understand him too good. Heâs awful old.â
âI can because when I mow his lawn he follows me around and talks to me all day. But itâs a good jobâthey pay $1.50 and Nellie cooks peanut butter cookies and gives you all you want. âThere they are, just like I told you, him and Nellie on the porch, and thereâs Granddaddy already wavinâ at us.â
âWhir go?â
âWhat did he say?â
âHe said, âWhere are you goinâ?ââGoinâ to get a sodie pop Granddaddy.â
âBrang me one.â
âI understood him that time.â
âGot Grr friend?â
âNo, Granddaddyâwe are not old enough to have girlfriends.â
âYe got wrts?â
âWhat did he say?â
âHe said, âYou got warts?ââ
âWhat difference does it make if youâve got warts?â
âJasper, I ainât kiddinâ youâif you got warts he can take âem off. He took mine off.â
âHow does he take âem offâcut âem with a knife or somethinâ?â
âNo knife, he just mashes on âem real hard and then tells you to go bury a dirty dish rag and forget about âem. Look at my armâsee any warts?â
âI donât believe it but I do believe heâd make a good Santa Claus with that big beard, if he could just talk good. Say Merry Christmas and Ho, Ho, Ho, clear.â
âYouâre right, Jasper,âHey letâs get our Pepsis and go to your house and pump up our tires and go spin out in the sand on 10th Street.â
âYeah, le...