World War II Interview By: Dan Stauffer Interview with Homer Horn Sr. and Constance Horn

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Life after World War I was hard on the American people and the world. Shortly after World War I the world went into a global depression. This depression had severe consequences on everyone. The depression never truly ended until the beginning of World War II. War time was also hard on people. People had to make many sacrifices. These sacrifices were highly liked or disliked. From this time period in our history I interviewed two of my elder relatives that lived through these hard times. Through this interview you can see both views of these times, the home front and the war front.

The first of my relatives interviewed was my grandfather, Homer Horn Senior. He is a 72 year old WWII veteran. When asked his feelings about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he said, "I just knew we would be in the war. " Originally he did not want to serve in the war. To keep out of battle he used a work permit for close to a year. He served in the army from 1944 until he received an honorable discharge as a private first class (P.F.C.) in 1946. He was inducted into the Army at Fort Meade shortly after being drafted in 1944. Atter being inducted into the army he served six weeks of basic traininamp at Camp W in Georgia. When basic training ended, he traveled by train to Ftew Jersey where he went to New York. In New York he boarded a cruiser to France. The shipr 16 days of which he said "I ery ,,/ 9~) ' ) day we were at sea." They landed(.where they marched to S4t ce. As

part ofthe 71st division of the 3rd Army th,eJy'tarted hand in hand combat that continued from :,lWI

S4: Germany through¢taltzburg3tustra. D]ring combat he carried a(Barowing automatic rifle. In Austria they encountered Russian troops. Both the American and Russian

World War II Interview By: Dan Stauffer (continued)

troops took prisoners. "It seemed like the war was partially over for us at that time" he said. After taking prisoners he returned to Burches Garden Germany where he was placed on guard duty at Hitler's underground "hideout" similar to Camp David. While there he did a lot of curfew duty. When doing curfew duty they looked for black market cigarettes. He told me "after confiscating the cigarettes we would smoke them". After he served on curfew duty he was sent to Badtoltes Germany where he was put in a motor pool to teach G.I.'s how to drive 6x6 trucks. While in Badtoltes he was also waiting to be shipped to Japan. During his wait to be transported the war ended. When he heard of the atomic bomb dropping on Japan he felt we had gotten our revenge on them. With the war being over he went to Bramahaven Germany to board a Liberty Ship. The ship was described as "a washtub on water. " His ride was said to be very rough. While eating on the ship he said "I had to chase my food tray from one end of the kitchen to the other. " He also told me about his relatives that fought during WWII. His brother John R. Horn served in the Navy-Air Force as a pilot. John was stationed in Japan and China where he did a lot of secret missions. After returning from the war he worked for Fairchild Aircraft. Their sister Beatrice (Horn) Hurly was also involved in war efforts. She served for the Women's Army Corps (W.A.C.) as a nurse stationed in France and Germany. After WWII she was stationed in Louisville Kentucky at a Veterans Home/Hospital.

The second person I interviewed was my grandmother, Constance Horn. She gave me the home front view of life during the depression and the war. She lived in Sabillesville Maryland

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During the depression and the war they would receive stamp booklets similar to food stamps. These booklets were used to get gas, shoes, tires, sugar, and a lot of other needed items. It was almost impossible to buy new refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, and cars. She said "farmers would receive more stamps than others for their crops and machinery. " Since people were limited to what they could get people would trade stamps with others to get what they needed. She also told me that if a stamp would get you one pound of meat some farmers would give people they knew two pounds of meat for a stamp. During this time if a person had a job they were very lucky because it was so hard to find work. In America many things were bought on the black market. My grandmother told me that her father would bootleg sugar and moonshine to get extra money or stamps. She said she remembered her grandfather saying the depression would not end unless there was another war. When asked about President Roosevelt she said she remembered his wife on the cover of LIFE Magazine smiling to show her new false teeth. S:e is located near Thurmont and Fort Ritchie. Fort Ritchie was used as a training camp for ocers. Living near Ft. Ritchie they had "blackout nights" as exercises for the trainees. These nights were Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday. During these nights if you were caught with any lights on you would be fined. She told me "I can remember when soldiers would sneak into their enclosed back-porch to smoke cigarettes during these nights." I was also told how they would get ice cream and a book to read while sitting on the steps leading to their basement. They would shut the door at the top of the stairs so the soldiers wouldn't be able to tell they had

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lights on. Like my grandfather, my grandmother also had family involved in the war effort. Her uncles Ray and Richard Fitz had helped to build Fort Ritchie. After this Richard Fitz turned half of his house into a boarding house. She told me her father worked at a grit mine that helped make shingles for the forts being built.

Through this interview I have learned a lot about how hard life truly was during the depression and war time. I understand how rough it was to have to make so many sacrifices. This interview has also been very enlightening to life of our past