Pietro had disappeared once more, but the police had confiscated his printing press and said they had several leads on finding him. The tall man and the woman in black had been brought in for questioning about a big black-market ring that was operating in the Seattle area. They had been picked up Saturday as they tried to enter Pietro’s hideout.
Pietro had been working the black market for months, illegally selling ration coupons, which he stole or bought at a low price. He had been trying to set up his counterfeit operation for some time but lacked a good engraver to make the metal plates for printing the coupons. The man he called Henry had been his latest employee. Henry was nowhere to be found, either.
Jennie realized that Pietro hadn’t been interested in Boeing so he could pass information to the enemy; it was just a coincidence that he’d been hanging around the airplane factory while he figured out how to establish his racket.
It was an exciting time for Jennie and Tommy. Mama took turns scolding them for trying to catch a spy and praising them for working together at last. Jennie had to take a little teasing over the spy thing, especially from Art. It helped that Tommy didn’t rub in that she had mistaken a counterfeiter for a spy.
The first week of June had been one to remember. The following Tuesday, Jennie was thinking about everything that had happened as she walked home from the Victory garden. It was her day to pull weeds and carry some water to the tomatoes if they needed it. She was also thinking about the scrap drive that she and Colleen still hoped to win, along with Stan and Tommy.
It hadn’t really been hard at all to ask the boys to share the scrap from the car. Stan’s father was helping them work out all the details before he hauled the junk car to the collecting station. It was no longer girls against boys. Catching Pietro had taught Jennie that working together gets the job done better. Not that she intended to tell Tommy that anytime soon.
There was a stir in the barbershop as she neared the corner. Several people were talking at once. Someone ran out of the barbershop and yelled to no one in particular, “It’s started!” Jennie slowed her walk and looked in the window. Five men and a woman stood bunched up near the counter, and others hurried in from the street. What was happening?
The crackling of radio static filled the air briefly. The barber had his radio on the counter with the volume turned up. The people inside the shop quieted. Jennie hurried inside with the others. An announcer came on and said that in a few moments, his station would broadcast a live announcement by an army public information officer. More static followed, and then a steady voice said, “Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.” A cheer rose in the barbershop.
Jennie backed away and ran out the door. She wanted to get home and tell her family. The invasion of Europe had begun!
The mood in the hotel varied from jubilation that the war might soon be over to fear for the soldiers who had undertaken such a task. Mama’s face paled when she heard the news. Jennie saw Mama close her eyes for a few seconds, and Jennie knew Mama was praying for Roger and the others. But then Mama opened her eyes and smiled, ready to share in the excitement.
There was no news about Roger’s part in the invasion, if indeed he had been one of the soldiers splashing ashore on the beaches of France. A few hours later, Jennie and Tommy and the others listened as the famous war correspondent, Edward R. Murrow, reported from London. He said that the bombers going out made the sound of a giant factory in the sky.
Dad said that this was another time when no news was probably good news when it came to Roger. Jennie’s spirits rose a little higher each day that passed without a telegram.
At last it was the day of the war bond rally. Stan’s father had towed the old car to the collection center, and the four friends had made sure that the weight was carefully recorded so they would get proper credit. The winner of the scrap-collecting contest was to be announced at the rally.
“Hurry up,” Jennie said to Tommy. The rally was due to start in an hour, and Tommy was still finishing his chores. For once Jennie had beaten her brother, and she hadn’t even been trying.
“There, I’m done.” Tommy shoved his dust mop back in the closet. “I’ll just wash my hands, and we can go.” He ran down the hall toward their apartment.
Jennie groaned. She and Tommy were supposed to meet Colleen and Stan at Victory Square in ten minutes. It wasn’t far, but Jennie didn’t want to be late.
“Why the rush?” Tommy asked a few minutes later as Jennie hurried him toward downtown. “They won’t announce the winner right away. There are always speeches. You know that.”
“I heard there might be famous people there,” Jennie said. “I thought we should be early so we can get up front.”
“Like who?”
“Movie stars, maybe,” Jennie answered. “It probably was just a rumor. In fact, I’m sure it was a rumor. Forget I said that.”
“What are you so nervous about?” Tommy asked as they turned the last corner before Victory Square. “Which movie star was it, anyhow?”
Jennie pretended not to hear her brother. “There’s Colleen and Stan.” She waved at their friends.
“Did you tell Tommy about Lana Turner?” Colleen asked as soon as the two walked up.
Jennie frowned at Colleen and shook her head slightly, but it was too late.
“Lana Turner!” Tommy said. “So that’s the movie star. Why didn’t you just say it was her?”
“It may be just a rumor,” Jennie said.
“Come on,” Tommy said. “Let’s get a good place to stand.”
“So we can be close to the front when we win the scrap contest,” Stan said.
Lana Turner forgotten, the friends staked out a spot and waited for the rally to begin. It was like the other rallies that Jennie had attended. There were speeches and music and lots of joking around by the people in charge. And always there was the plea for people to buy war bonds and stamps to help pay for the war. Jennie kept her eyes peeled, but she didn’t see any sign of Lana Turner. It would almost be worth the teasing to get to see the movie star in person. She knew that lots of celebrities went all around the country appearing at rallies, but it looked like Lana Turner wasn’t coming to this one.
Finally it was time to announce the winner of the scrap-collecting contest, but as usual, the emcee liked to take his time in order to build up suspense. He told stories and jokes, which sometimes made the audience groan.
“Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for,” he said, and the crowd cheered. Jennie and the others strained forward. An assistant hurried on stage with a note that the emcee read before turning back for a whispered consultation with some other people on stage.
He motioned toward the edge of the stage before turning to the audience to announce, “We have an unexpected guest who will be coming aboard to help with the award.”
There was a stir offstage. A gasp rose from the crowd as the guest walked across the stage. Jennie’s eyes widened. It was Lana Turner!
The movie star moved gracefully toward the microphone, waving and smiling to the crowd, which had found its voice and now cheered loudly. She spoke briefly about the importance of buying bonds.
“And now,” the emcee said, “Miss Turner will award the scrap metal–collecting prize.”
Jennie and Colleen stared at each other for a moment. Would they get the prize from the hands of a famous movie star? Jennie wiped her sweaty hands on her pants just in case.
The same assistant hurried across the stage to hand the emcee a note. Again, he read it and paused for a conference before turning back to his microphone. “We have another entry in the contest that we want to show you. I think she’ll be coming right through there.” The emcee pointed to the back of the crowd. Sure enough, a flurry of movement began at the edge of the square.
Everyone shuffled and leaned and craned their necks to get a better look. Jennie an
d Colleen climbed up on a nearby bench.
“What do you see?” Tommy demanded.
“It looks like a team of horses pulling something,” Colleen reported.
“What is it?” Jennie asked.
About that time the crowd parted to let the horses through. A girl about Jennie’s age walked alongside an older man. Jennie couldn’t see what the horses pulled but could hear scraping and crunching as it moved along the street. Then the crowd moved once more, allowing a clear view. “Why, it’s a steamroller. At least it’s the roller off a steamroller. It’s huge.”
“And made of metal, no doubt,” Tommy said.
“Solid iron,” Colleen said with a knowing nod.
Jennie sighed and jumped down from the bench. Colleen followed. The crowd laughed and cheered at the sight of a big iron roller being towed in by horses.
“It’ll weigh a ton,” Tommy said.
“More than that,” Jennie said.
“More than our car?” Stan asked as he looked from Jennie to Colleen to Tommy.
“Lots more.” Colleen grinned at Tommy. “No Lana Turner handshake for us.”
“We didn’t win the contest,” Tommy said, “but we did get a lot of scrap metal for the war effort.”
“Winning the war is the only contest that matters,” Jennie said. The others nodded, and they all pushed through the crowd to see the lucky person who would get the award from Lana Turner.
Laura’s Victory
Veda Boyd Jones
A NOTE TO READERS
While the Edwards and Wakamutsu families are fictional, the events they faced from July 1944 to November 1945 are real. During the last years of World War II, people of Japanese heritage were released from relocation centers and internment camps and allowed to return to their homes on the West Coast. They often faced prejudice because people who had lost loved ones during the war with Japan took out their anger on their Japanese-American neighbors.
At the same time, Americans were beginning to discover the horrible things that had been done to Jewish people and other minorities by the Germans. American and other Allied soldiers freed prisoners in concentration camps. They learned that millions of people had been tortured, starved to death, and killed in gas chambers in these camps.
Most people call World War II a “just war” because it was a battle against true evil. While we may not be involved in military battles, we can choose to fight against evil every day when we see bad things being done to others in our neighborhoods and schools.
To the memory of my father, Raymond E. Boyd—
World War II veteran. And to my husband,
Jimmie L. Jones—Vietnam veteran. Both are my heroes.
CONTENTS
1. Eddie’s Illness
2. Laura’s New Job
3. Eddie’s Homecoming
4. Madam President?
5. The Elections
6. The Battle of the Bulge
7. The Wakamutsus Return
8. Miyoko’s Story
9. The Plan Backfires
10. Good-Bye to a President
11. The Balloon Bomb
12. Good-Bye, Hotel
13. The End of the War
14. The Homecoming
CHAPTER 1
Eddie’s Illness
Laura Edwards tiptoed across the wooden floor to her brothers’ room. If Eddie wasn’t awake, she didn’t want to disturb him, but Mama had sent her to check on him. He’d had the sniffles and a headache for a couple of days now, probably catching a summer cold, Laura had decided. Nothing like when Eddie had developed rheumatic fever a few years ago, when he was eight and Laura was seven. With a high temperature, achy joints, a skin rash, and constant nosebleeds, he’d been miserable. For months, he’d had to stay in bed—and ended up missing so many days of school he’d had to repeat second grade, putting him in Laura’s class from then on.
Yesterday, Mama wondered if Eddie was having another bout of the fever, which doctors had said could flare up at any time. But Laura didn’t think so. He didn’t have a rash or anything, and his nose looked fine to her. Knowing Eddie, he’d use just about any excuse to get out of making beds and cleaning the hotel rooms. When she’d peeked in at lunchtime, Eddie had been asleep. Unless his headache had gotten a whole lot worse, she expected him to have made a miraculous recovery and be up and playing, now that the last bed had been changed and the final room swept.
Fully dressed, her brother lay in the lower bunk bed with his eyes wide open, but he didn’t sit up when she walked into the bedroom.
“Hey, Eddie, we finished the last room. You can get up now.”
“I can’t,” he said in a terrified voice. “I’ve been trying to, but my legs don’t work right.” He lifted his head a little but didn’t raise his shoulders off the bed.
“What do you mean?” Laura sat on the edge of the bunk. “You want me to pull you up?” She reached for his hands and was alarmed at how hot his skin felt. “You’ve got a fever.” That surprised her. She’d gotten it in her mind that he’d milked his summer cold for all that it was worth. Maybe the rheumatic fever has come back after all, Laura thought.
“Look,” he said. Eddie lifted his arm as if it pained him and pointed to his legs. Laura could see his legs tremble through his pant legs.
But that’s not right. Rheumatic fever wouldn’t make his legs shake. The next thing Laura thought of was the absolute worst thing in the world. Polio. “Oh, no!” she exclaimed. Every summer, Mama warned them to stay out of the heat of the day and away from the water. Wasn’t that how kids got polio? But Laura hadn’t heard of any cases this summer, and just a few days ago, she and Eddie had gone to the wharf to watch a troopship leave Puget Sound. They’d stood in the afternoon heat right by the water, that deadly combination.
“Get Mama,” Eddie said. His voice still sounded terrified.
Laura bolted out of the room, nearly tripping over the cat. A sense of urgency propelled her through the living room and out the apartment door to the lobby. Mama was sitting at the desk in the office, talking on the telephone. Laura ran to the office window.
“Come quick!” she said breathlessly.
Mama held up one finger and continued talking.
“Eddie’s real sick,” Laura gasped.
Mama looked up, concern filling her features. “Excuse me,” she said into the receiver. “Laura,” she said carefully, “does his skin look funny? Is his nose bleeding?”
“No … but he can’t move his legs.”
Mama dropped the phone and then picked it up again. “Emergency!” she said toward the receiver and didn’t even say good-bye before slamming it down. She dashed out through the office door and ran down the hall. Laura followed right behind her.
“Eddie!” Mama slowed down when she got inside the apartment and walked quickly to the boys’ room. “Eddie!”
She leaned down on the bed and touched his face with the back of her hand. “You’re burning up. Can you squeeze my hand?”
Tremors shook his arms. Laura watched the muscle spasms and saw her mother’s face turn white.
“Mama?” Eddie said. “What’s happening to me?” Panic colored his voice.
“Laura, ask Maude to pull her car around, and find Gary,” Mama said.
Laura raced to the hallway again, pounded on Maude’s door, and then ran to the back door. Fifteen-year-old Gary had been in the alley behind the hotel after lunch, and he was still there, talking to some other high school boys.
“Gary! Come quick! Something bad is wrong with Eddie.” Laura didn’t wait for her brother. She left the screen door standing open and ran back down the hall. Maude stood in the doorway of her apartment.
“Eddie’s real sick. He can’t move his legs,” Laura said to Maude. “Mama needs your car.”
Maude Bowers had been living in one of the apartments for some time now, and the Edwardses had grown to love her. Her car was actually her son’s car. He’d left it with her when he went to war.
Maude grabbed her car keys off the key hook by her door.
“How long has he been sick?” she asked as they scurried down the hall.
“He hasn’t felt well for a couple of days, but when he wanted to stay in bed this morning, I … I thought he was just ducking his chores.”
The back screen door slammed shut, and heavy footsteps thundered down the hall. Laura held the apartment door open for Maude and waited a moment for Gary.
Mama stepped into the living room. Her face was still unnaturally white, and she held on to the couch. “Laura, call the doctor and tell him we’re on the way to the hospital,” she said in a hushed voice. “The number’s in the office. Maude, can you drive us? Gary, you’ll have to carry Eddie. He can’t walk.” A sob choked her voice. “He was all right this morning, except for a headache. No signs of rheumatic fever. He didn’t mention his legs hurting. It just seemed like a summer cold, nothing more…. How could this happen so fast?” Mama shook her head, gained control, and held up her hand as Maude moved toward her. “I’m all right. Let’s take care of Eddie. Laura, can you manage the office? Can you handle that? The girls will be back sometime soon.”
Laura sprang into action and raced to the lobby. The office door was still standing open. She went inside the small room and located the doctor’s number on the important numbers sheet that Mama kept beside the telephone.
In a trembling voice, Laura told the nurse about Eddie. She was just hanging up the phone when Maude flew by the office, her car keys held out in front of her as if doing that would cut a few seconds off her task of bringing the car around. She hadn’t been out the front door but a moment when Mama and Gary walked around the corner of the hallway.
American Triumph: 1939-1945: 4 STORIES IN 1 Page 33
