The Homefront

Nov 21

Chapter 18

World War II brides put their soldiers on trains.

They cried. They said prayers. They gave them passionate kisses. They donned brave smiles and waved until their husbands were out of view.

Rebecca was no exception. She and Franklin “Doc” Wilder had only been married three days. Their plans and dreams were put on hold.

However, everyone knew she was not one to sit idly by and brood. She was a doer.

Her husband, Doc had just graduated from Mercer Medical School and felt called to help his nation. After basic training, he was being assigned to a duty station that he could not reveal. Rebecca knew in her heart it would be in a dangerous location. But she was brave and prayerfully confident of his return to the start of their lives together.

For his trip she had packed his lunch. It was his favorite. Cold Roast Beef with Russian Dressing, Potato Salad and a homemade biscuit and a piece of Blueberry Pie.

After the goodbyes, she left the train station with his parents. His mom still had the signs of tears from the parting. His father had pride in his chest, but it was heavy with sadness.

They were taking Rebecca back home. However. she requested the first stop was the American Red Cross Building on Abercorn Street. She had seen it for years but had paid very little attention to it. The building was directly across from Clary’s Drug Store where she and Doc had spent many a lazy Saturday sharing a strawberry milkshake.

When she entered the Red Cross building, she was impressed with the orderliness of the operation. A young woman named Anne was the receptionist. She too was volunteering while her new husband Joe was doing his duty in the Navy. He had shipped out of the Port of Savannah three weeks prior.

There was an immediate connection and comradery. They knew each other from their days at St. Vincent’s Academy. After a brief exchange, they realized they were also new neighbors. Joe and Anne had just bought a little Arts and Crafts cottage on 41st Street. It was three blocks from her house on Maupas.

Rebecca was astonished by the variety of volunteer opportunities. However, one division stood out to her. It was the Canteen Corp. It had a focus on providing meals, doughnuts, coffee and snacks for the troops leaving and arriving.

It would be quite a walk for her to go to the train station every day. But in her mind, it was in no way a sacrifice compared to what these young men leaving were making. She knew many of the boys who had been drafted or who had enlisted. They were her childhood friends, playmates. old crushes. It grieved her to know that all of them would not come back. It was her goal make them feel those in their hometown loved them and were grateful for what they were doing. A warm genuine smile and a box lunch was such a simple but powerful symbol of love and support.

Good to her word, Rebecca spent the next four years meeting train after train and provided lunches. She saw their pride. She saw their excitement. She saw their fear. She saw their heartbreak.

For some, she would see their faces for the last time.