In early 1943, the preplanning and superior amounts of arms and power of the enemy forces were taking the larger toll of the Allied resources and men. Civilians at home had to step up to increased responsibilities. Farmers left the cornfields to join the battlefields and I became one of the teens who chose to spend that summer working the land for room and board in the place of a father and son who went to serve their country in the USMC. Some experience, a dairy farm upstate New York raising hay, melons, milking cows by hand, fighting mange with sulphur and petroleum ( ugh ). Learning to ride a workhorse, clean stalls, raise chickens, collect eggs, bale hay, 1940’s style ! You know, cows got milked twice a day. Another “ugh” was artificial insemination ! I have always been a quick learner, thankfully. That summer without the beach, popcorn or the boardwalk, reminded me of the Girl Scout promise I had made to do my duty to God and my country, to help one another and to be prepared ! What wonderful values youngsters learned in the scouting movement, not what you can do for me, but as JFK said, “what I can do for my country”. Why have we forgotten so much, why does everything seem upside- down ? When did we get sidetracked by ME, ME, ME ? The age of Aquarius ? This morning I read Chapter 3 of 2nd Timothy and found one answer, do you think it’s the correct one ? Do you believe that America has lost her way ? I hope not.
Sincerely,
Claire B.
Claire V. Bogdanos 