Legal holidays and other days of interest in December are:
• 12/5 Somalia campaign ended 1992;
• 12/7 – NATIONAL PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY – JAPANESE BOMBED PEARL Harbor in 1941 (Fly your flag at half mast until sunset);
• 12/8 – War declared in Japan in 1941;
• 12/11 – German and Italy declared war on U.S. in 1941;
• 12/15 – Iraq War ended in 2011 & BILL OF RIGHTS DAY;
• 12/20 – Panama campaign began in 1989 & U.S. Space Force established in 2019;
• 12/21 – WINTER BEGINS;
• 12/25 – CHRISTMAS DAY & HANUKKAH BEGINS (Fly your flag);
• 12/26 – KWANZAA;
• 12/21 – Official end of WWII in 1946 & Kosovo campaign ended in 2013.
I usually say a lot about Pearl Harbor Day. I am really thinking about it, remembering all those who went to war.
This week I spent a lot of time with the book Thomas Earl Cleland wrote entitled “World WAR II – THE WAR YEARS – BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA – 1941-1946.” The book is dedicated to the men and women who served during the war years. Some died, some were wounded, some were imprisoned and some came home without a scratch, but with horrible memories of what they saw there.
Some of those listed in the book were my classmates and many others I knew. Earl did a fantastic job with the book and tried to list everyone who served connected with Brantley County, but of course he missed some.
If you would like to purchase a copy, check with the Nahunta Library. The book was published through the Brantley County Historical Society.
The war years were when almost all women who had been homemakers or housewives, whichever you prefer, joined the workforce, and it’s been that way ever since.
I went to work as an underage welder tacker at the shipyard in Brunswick where Liberty Ships were built. You were never asked for a birth certificate back then.
So many things were rationed back then. There was a scarcity of a lot of things at home because they were needed for the armed forces. During the war years, the speed limit was 35 miles per hour. This was to conserve gas and rubber.
After the Homefront Museum was established on St. Simons Island, I attended as one of the greeters and really enjoyed it. But, it was after I was no longer driving and someone had to provide transportation for me, so it was just a short while.
CHRISTMAS IS A COMING - The Christmas music at First Baptist Brunswick will be at 7 p.m., Friday, December 13 and Sunday, December 15. The doors will open at 6 p.m. Please come.
Don’t forget the Christmas lights on Jekyll Island. They keep adding to them and they are worth seeing year after year.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Until later, Dorothy Johns Thomas, [email protected], 912-265-7599
Thomas
