Home Front

Dick Wolfe moved with his family from Floral Park to Oakdale in 1940. In these excerpts from a longer oral history interview he gave to the Long Island Home Front project, he describes the bucolic nature of Oakdale during his early years. His family lived on Chicken Street (now Dale Drive) and the surrounding area was dominated by dairy farms.

Dick Wolfe (r) and Chris Kretz

Dick recalls following the war news on the radio and through film reels, as well as local landmarks like Bronco Charlie’s on Main Street and the nearby towering windmill, visible from the Great South Bay. His most vivid memories, though, involve the paratroopers who would fall from the sky on Sundays to take place in war games along Brook Street.

Music: Sweet Lily Swing by Tri-Tachyon used under an attribution 4.0 license.
Intro: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Inaugural Address January 6, 1942.

World War II Long Island: The Homefront in Nassau and Sufolk by Chris Verga.

Long Island historian Chris Verga’s latest book looks at Nassau and Suffolk counties during some of the most pivotal years of the 20th century: World War II. On today’s episode, we talk to Chris about life during that time and the role Long Island played in the war effort. You’ll hear about Grumman, Republic, and the vital work of the region’s aviation industry. We also discuss the activities of the German American Bund on the island and the experiences of German prisoners of war in the community.

LIRTVHS has made its own study of this era with the Long Island Home Front oral history project, collecting the stories and experiences of everyday life during wartime.

Links

• World War II Long Island: The Home Front in Nassau and Suffolk by Chris Verga (va Amazon)
• @chrisv1081 Chris Verga on Twitter
• The Long Island Home Front oral histories
  • Recommend someone for an interview
• Bayles Local History Room (Longwood Public Library)

We’re featuring more segments from the Long Island Home Front, our oral history project focusing on the impact of World War 2 on Long Island. Today we hear from Marie Mack, Brooklyn Native and longtime Mount Sinai summer resident.

We spoke with Marie in the same spot where her family started visiting Mount Sinai in 1924. Married by the start of the war, she had to move back into her parents’ home with her young daughter, her husband shipped overseas in the Army Air Force. She gives us a valuable look at what it was like to be a working woman during the war years.

Unfortunately, Marie Mack passed away earlier last year at the age of 100. We are honored to have spoken with her and been able to preserve some of these memories.

Do you or someone you know have their own expereinces of Long Island during World War II? We’d love to hear from you as these stories are slipping away and we are committed to preserving them for future generations. You can get in touch with us online and we’ll follow up on how the interviewing works. We are working in partnership with the National Home Front Project at Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.

Links

• “Longtime Mount Sinai resident celebrates her 100th birthday” TBR NewsMedia (2/23/19)
• Long Island Home Front
• National Home Front Project
• Opening Music
  • Sweet Lily Swing by Tri-Tachyon
  • Used under an Attribution 4.0 License
• Further Reading
  • Wartime Women: Sex Roles, Family Relations, and the Status of Women During World War II
    by Karen Anderson

For the past year, LIRTVHS has been working with the Sayville Historical Society and the Sayville Public Library on a joint oral history project called The Long Island Home Front. It’s an ongoing project to collect, preserve and share firsthand accounts of the impact of World War II on Long Islanders.

We’ll be sharing some of the stories here on the Radio Tower and are pleased to bring you today Jack Beebe. You might recognize him from episode 14 where he described his life in radio and TV broadcasting.

Today we relate an anecdote from Jack’s oral history interview in which he describes how the Dutchies of his native West Sayville contributed to the war effort.

Jack Beebe being interviewed about his World War II memories for the Long Island Home Front at the Sayville Public Library.

Do you or someone you know have their own expereinces of Long Island during World War II? We’d love to hear from you as these stories are slipping away and we are committed to preserving them for future generations. You can get in touch with us online and we’ll follow up on how the interviewing works. We are working in partnership with the National Home Front Project at Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.

Links

• Long Island Home Front
• National Home Front Project
• Opening Music
  • Sweet Lily Swing by Tri-Tachyon
  • Used under an Attribution 4.0 License
• Further Reading
  • Operation Drumbeat : Germany’s U-Boat Attacks Along the American Coast in World War II
    by Michael Gannon
  • The Burning Shore: How Hitler’s U-boats Brought World War II to America by Ed Offley.