Traveling Tuesday: Vermont and WWII (Part Two)
Despite being one of the less populated of the United
States, Vermont played an important role in WWII. Having already declared war by the autumn of 1940 they entered the war a full year before the rest of the country.
As soon as the Selective Service Act was enacted,
Vermont men began to receive their draft notices, and within weeks Fort Ethan
Allen was expanded to house the 1,700 draftees, mostly from the Vermont
National Guard. Over the course of the war, 50,000 young men and women would
serve in the Armed Forces-nearly 15% of the state’s population.
The state also “did its bit” to support the war
financially, purchasing $263,500,000 worth of bonds. Like others around the
nation, they practiced air raid maneuvers, acted as plane spotters, collected
milkweed pods for flotation devices, knitted sweaters and socks, rolled
bandages and collected scrap iron, aluminum, paper, and rubber. So tenacious
about their collecting that by the second half of 1943, they led the country with
a per capita rate of 162.9 pounds per person!
Vermont industry boomed during the war, and many
organizations adapted their equipment to produce armaments and parts, packing
boxes, anchor chains, bumpers, boats, and uniforms. The agricultural industry
also increased because of the extra demand for milk, eggs, poultry, and maple
products. In addition to Fort Ethan Allen, used to drill National Guardsmen as
well as train troops for artillery spotting, there were numerous Army Air Force
air fields throughout the state.
High school students were used to fill the void left
by men in the fields. School sessions were held from 8:00 AM until noon, and
then pupils were trucked to the farms to help with the harvest. They dug
potatoes, and picked strawberries, beans, and other produce which was then
shipped to canneries.
From young people to retirees, Vermont served in many
ways.
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Love’s
Belief is now available for pre-order!
Midwife Pia Hertz and her mother Sabine have been
delivering babies long before the Nazis came to power. Now, the Third Reich has
implemented mandates that require Jewish babies and other “undesirables” to be
killed as part of The Final Solution. Is Pia’s new faith in Christ strong
enough to defy the laws of man?
Despite the agony of the injury at the Battle of
Drøbak Sound that took his arm, Dieter Fertig is relieved he’s no longer part
of Hitler’s army. He returns to Berlin and discovers Jews are being deported by
the thousands. When he realizes the Nuremburg Laws require his best friend’s
baby girl to be killed, he must find a way to spirit the child out of Germany
before the Nazis discover her existence.
Inspired by the biblical story of Shiprah and Puah,
the midwives who saved Jewish babies during Pharaoh’s reign, Love’s Belief shows how one person’s
actions can change the world.
Purchase
links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2XUaS4H
Apple Books: https://itunes.apple.com/book/id1459365377
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