By Maggie Sirakos
To Flora Alicia Shank, the war seemed like what we see in the movies today – a medley of sacrifice, tragedy, celebration, shock, heroes and fright.
Shank was a teenager in El Paso, Texas, when World War II broke out. She recalls many evenings spent dancing at the local United Service Organization, or USO, which she says soldiers still visit for recreation today. According to the USO homepage, its mission is to provide morale, welfare and recreational services to uniformed military personnel. Nearly 120 USO Centers dot the world today.
“We’d go dancing every night,” Shank said.
In an article titled The Dance Hall, Wartime Escape, writer Frank Mee explains the halls played a huge role in keeping up morale during the war: “The lights, the music and the company let you forget the misery, austerity and danger of the war for a few short hours,” Mee writes. “You could live your dreams in a make-believe world on a par with a Hollywood film.”
Movies were also a favorite pastime for young people living at home during the war.
“We never missed a monster movie in our lives,” Shank said.
Everyday life, however, wasn’t as fun as the theatres and dance halls.
“Because I was so young, it didn’t bother me,” Shank said.
One sacrifice she clearly remembers, however, was being unable to purchase nylons. In an article titled My Memories from World War II, Helen Wheatley remembers when her older sister used to paint her legs because she wasn’t able to buy nylons.
“Of course, in the winter that wasn't too practical in these parts,” writes Wheatley, who’s from Norway, New York.
Besides the lack of nylons, Shank remembers having to use books of tickets to make purchases. According to the Memorial Hall Museum Online, every month each household received a book of coupons. The number of coupons depended on the number of people in the house. These books were used for items such as meat, sugar, gas, and tires, and families could only buy the items they had matching coupons for.
“It wasn’t a great big sacrifice,” said Shank, “but there was a lot of trading going on between the families.” It was the norm for families to trade for what they needed, and if you knew a farmer, sometimes you could swap items for extra food he would supply.
Shank recalled how difficult it was to get on a train during wartime. “[I]t’d be packed like sardines with soldiers,” she said. “It was so funny.”
Shank was married to her first husband, Mario Peña, in 1943 in Waco, Texas. Because of overcrowding on the trains, the only attendant at her wedding was her husband’s sister.
Peña, Shank’s first husband, was drafted and attended cadet school. He then became a pilot in the military. Shank recalls the good times she had when he was stationed at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas.
“The wives at night would go out to the field, and when they landed in, [the wives] would run in and get in the planes so they could get a ride around,” She said. “When they’d come down with the gliders, you get out and nobody ever knew.”
Although Shank has fond wartime memories, she notes that the period was also a time of immense tragedy.
“It was a party while the boys were here, and then they’d go over and get killed,” She said. “A world war, it’s something nobody ever forgets. … The kids that lived through it, even me, at 16, 17, didn’t realize how many people were being killed everywhere.”
Mrs. Shank was interviewed in San Antonio, Texas, on March 28, 2004, by Vanessa R. Torres.