Why the Home Front?

Imagine living in a country where gasoline, sugar, and food stamps were rationed in order to provide for the masses. Or think about looking earnestly every day for weeks at a time to get a letter from a dearest brother or loved one while they are thousands of miles away fighting to keep you safe. Then picture having to work from sunup to sundown under the brutal sun and on the most frigid of mornings in order to keep food on the table and clothes on your back.

This is what it was like for Americans like my Grandma Siebring and Grandpa Bolen during World War II. When thinking back on World War II, the first thought of most people is the invasion of Normandy, the Battle for Iwo Jima, or perhaps the bombing of Hiroshima. However, for me, one of the most important aspects of the war was the lives and events of those on the home front. For example, Pauline Mauck pictured to the left, worked in an aviation plant while her husband was away at war.

If I were living during World War II, I would picture myself to be one of the women on the home front working hard in the factories to provide weapons and supplies for our men abroad. Also, being the long-time girlfriend of a Marine, I have a particular interest in how girlfriends, fiancées and wives of men fighting in World War II lived their day-to-day lives during such a hard time.This website provides a unique look into this difficult time in our nation's history and I hope you enjoy learning about it as much as I did.