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    Pittsburgh Remembers World War II
    Pittsburgh Remembers World War II
    Pittsburgh Remembers World War II
    Ebook200 pages2 hours

    Pittsburgh Remembers World War II

    By Dr. Joseph F. Rishel

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    About this ebook

    Enormous sacrifice on the battlefields and tireless effort on the homefront Pittsburgh answered the call to duty after the news of Pearl Harbor hit local airwaves that infamous afternoon. With its high enlistment rates and booming war industries, the city was instrumental in the Allied victory. Duquesne University professor Joseph F. Rishel has compiled the memories of seventeen residents who lived through the war years, from GIs serving overseas to real-life Rosie the Riveters who kept the mills and factories in operation. From stories of daring in all theaters of combat and hardships at home to recollections of schoolchildren collecting scrap metal, USO dances and wartime sweethearts, Pittsburgh Remembers World War II celebrates the city s perseverance and patriotism.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateJul 21, 2011
    ISBN9781625842046
    Pittsburgh Remembers World War II
    Author

    Dr. Joseph F. Rishel

    A native of Pittsburgh�s Shadyside neighborhood, Joseph F. Rishel is a descendant of Pennsylvania Dutch pioneers who came to America in 1738 and settled in western Pennsylvania after the War of 1812. He earned his PhD in history from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Rishel is a professor of history at Duquesne University, where he has taught for twenty-six years. He has written Founding Families of Pittsburgh: The Evolution of a Regional Elite, 1760�1910 and �The Spirit That Gives Life�: A History of Duquesne University, 1878�1996 and has edited American Cities and Towns: Historical Perspectives. He now lives in Whitehall Borough in the South Hills of Pittsburgh with his wife, Helen. They are the parents of Jonathan, Emily, Marjorie and Elizabeth Rishel.

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      Book preview

      Pittsburgh Remembers World War II - Dr. Joseph F. Rishel

      book.

      Part I

      Those Who Served on the Homefront

      ANYWHERE, ANYTIME—HOWEVER THEY COULD SERVE

      Jean DeDe Barnard Anderson,

      As told to Danae Brentzel

      Jean DeDe Barnard Anderson was a sixteen-year-old high school senior when the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. Until that point, the petite and lively young woman with the chestnut-brown hair had been living a fairly typical existence within the small town of Larimer, Pennsylvania, located east of McKeesport. Her day-to-day life consisted of school, chores, friends and dates, the usual activities for a young woman. For DeDe, however, as with the millions of others who came of age during the war years, the entire focus and scope of her life would be altered by the events taking place thousands of miles away from her hometown.

      Recollecting that day, DeDe says that she heard about the bombing in the same way as many of her friends. She had gone to see a movie that Sunday, and as she and her pals exited the theater, they were met with the news that would change the world as they knew it. She thinks that her pre–Pearl Harbor home was unusual for Larimer in that it was more focused on world events. Her father took an active interest in news reporting on Hitler’s armies as they crossed international borders and conquered new territories. The Japanese, on the other hand, were not even a consideration. Before that, I don’t know that any of us really felt threatened…We were thinking about Hitler, and none of us ever thought that the Japanese would attack—it was so far away from us, I don’t think we realized until the boys started going. Then it was real.

      Real, indeed. In fact, DeDe still remembers the first hometown boy to be killed in action, a young man named Cornelius Cornie Pass. Her life, too, was undergoing changes as she graduated from high school and began to consider her future. A member of a family that prized hard work, simply sitting idle was not an option for DeDe, even if she had wanted to do so. She therefore entered Grace Martin, an academy for young women owned and operated by a Mrs. Cornelius. Located off Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh, Grace Martin offered its young female students lessons in language and other useful aspects of secretarial work. In addition to her schoolwork, DeDe would also go with her fellow Grace Martin girls to what she termed a certain quota of USO dances being held throughout the city in places like the ballroom at the William Penn Hotel. The soldiers appreciated the attention of the beautiful young women, and the dances provided an opportunity to do their part, a desire held by all Americans, according to DeDe. Although she later had a sweetheart in the service, DeDe knew that her beau would never object to her going to the USO dances. It was simply another sign of how the post–Pearl Harbor world differed from the one that preceded it. She feels that people’s attitudes had changed, and changed for the

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