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War Babies

Dr. (Ms.) Michael S. Whitt

    One has heard a great deal about “Baby Boomers,” that is those babies who were born from a few months to a year or a little more after World War II. They came along as a result of husbands returning to their wives at the end of that war when they were released from military service. One has heard much less about “War Babies,” that is, those children who were born in the course of World War I1, usually during the middle to late l942 to late 1944. They were born to women whose husbands had volunteered for military service in that war, and as couples wanted to start a family as United States’ participation in the war progressed in its course.
    One of these War Babies was named Amanda Rosaleigh Blake. Amanda was born in May 1943. She was born on an approximate midpoint for war babies. Amanda’s parents were Jacquelyn Virginia and Bradford Paine Blake. Jackie was anxious that Brad get her pregnant before he joined the Navy Seabees, a unit which specialized in building the battle stations for all of the fighting troops which followed them in Asia. Brad owned a building business by which he made his family’s living. He had worked in his father’s building business as a boy, also. He was thus a valuable and experienced builder and supervisor of builders. The Seabees were involved in quite dangerous work since they went ahead of the other soldiers in meeting all of the enemy troops. That being the case, Jackie feared that Brad might not make it through the war. This situation was upsetting in itself, but in the absence of a baby it was excruciating beyond words. However, Jackie knew that Brad’s conscience pushed him into helping in the war effort where he could be of the most value. She would never interfere with his decision.
    Jackie was delighted to soon be pregnant, and Brad subsequently left for the Seabees in late 1942. She was a little more than three months along when he left. On May 9, Mother’s Day Sunday, Amanda was born. Jackie was ecstatic. She took the birth date as a good sign for the future fortunes and fates of the baby, and as a gift to her as the baby’s mother. Brad was elated when he received the news that a young daughter would await him when he returned home to balmy central Florida after the war. It gave him a strong incentive to survive the horrors of that awful war, with the likes of Hitler and Mussolini in the opposition. Also, he loved Franklin D. Roosevelt, and felt honored to serve under him. None of the generals who served in World War II particularly impressed him, including MacArthur, but they were satisfactory.
    When Amanda was several months old, Jackie’s younger sister by a year and a few months, moved in with Jackie and Amanda. Now Amanda literally had three mothers, (including her grandmother who lived nearby). Maria Felecia was married a short time after Jackie to Jeff Pedrick, an amiable and kind young man who was also in the military service. Felecia immediately fell in love with Amanda. For the rest of her life she always considered Amanda to be her second daughter. Amanda returned the love of her favorite aunt. All of her aunts were great, but Felecia was special due to the early contacts. Felecia was pregnant when Jeff left for the war in the spring of 1944, and gave birth to another war baby, Amanda’s cousin Lila Samantha Pedrick. She was born in November, 1944. The women and their babies remained together until the men came home at the end of the war. Jackie and Felecia were good company for each other, and enjoyed the other’s babies. Later, Amanda and Samantha (Sam) bonded with each other and remained close throughout their growing up years, even though they lived in different communities.
    Jackie lived in a community of women, some of whom also gave birth to war babies. For instance, to the back Rosie and Allen (Al) Burnette lived. A few months after the Burnettes met the Blakes, Rosie gave birth to Jenny in late 1942. Just before her birth, Al left for the war. A few months after Jenny’s birth, Caroline Harris was born to William and Madeline Harris. The Harris’s lived across the street from the Blake’s. William was turned down for military service due to his flat feet. In the strictest sense, Caroline was not a war baby. However, William had wanted to go to war to help out, and was disappointed when he was turned down for the service. Thus, in the real sense that Caroline’s father’s heart was in the war effort, Caroline was a war baby. Amanda, Caroline, and Jenny became good friends in their growing up years. They were often seen together, and some people even referred to them as the three musketeers.
    Finally, in mid l945 the war began to wind down in Asia where Brad was stationed. It had already mostly ended in Europe. He considered himself lucky to be stationed there in the Philippines, instead of Europe. The Pilipino people were gentle, loving, and not greedy. Brad loved them. To add to his pleasurable experience he was sent to New Zealand for Rest and Recuperation (R & R) . It was a beautiful country, and the Maoris, the native people, were lovely and serene in their customs and habits. He adored both the country and its people. Brad could not imagine a better place for R&R.
    In fall 1945 as the war was running down in much of Asia, many recruits were sent stateside. Brad was among them. He was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina. Brad and Jackie decided that she and Amanda would ride the train from their home in central Florida to Charleston to visit him. This train ride and visit were some of Amanda’s earliest memories. She never forgot them. She was about two and a half years old when she met her father for the first time. This was not unusual for any of the war babies.
    When Jackie and Brad met and had a long embrace, Jackie handed Amanda to him. The youngster was rather freaked out by the newness of it all. She extended her arms back to Jackie as if to say, “Take me back.” During this time, Brad received notification that he could return home to Florida. He did so with Jackie and Amanda. By the time they reached their central Florida home, she was comfortable being in his arms. However, for the first few weeks, she addressed him as Brad, instead of Dad or Daddy. He was an intruder in her usual world of women, older men, and those men who had a limiting conditions, which prohibited their being accepted into military service. The fact that she called him Brad for a short while was a source of good humor for her parents and her paternal grandparents, Mom and Pop Blake, who lived across the street. At least this indicated that she regarded him as a buddy or friend. She called all of her young friends by their first names.
    At length she came to know her father as the warm and loving person he was. Henceforth, he became Dad or Daddy depending on her moods, all of which were good. In the end and throughout the growing up years, she had a closer relationship with her dad than she did with her mother. Jackie occasionally spanked, a practice Amanda thought was barbaric in the extreme. Brad never resorted to such violent practices. If she needed correcting, he did this with dialogue, a practice to which she could readily relate. The fact that she referred to Jackie as mother did not imply any formality in their relationship. However, with Mom being the name of her grandmother, she did not have many other choices. When she was really small she called her mother, Mommy. However, she soon became too mature for that name and Jackie did not like the name “Ma” It sounded too redneck for her tastes.
    Given the circumstances of her birth on Mothers’ Day Sunday, much was always made of her birthday. This was especially true of the one year out of seven when it fell on Mothers’ Day. Many gifts were bestowed on Amanda, especially by her two mothers, Mother and Mom. Jackie always baked her favorite cake. It was a chocolate one, Devil’s food laced with coffee and gooey white seven minute frosting on top. Both Pop and her Dad always had special presents for her just from them. It was always a great time for Amanda.
    The birthdays were also accompanied by one of Mom’s New England roast beef dinners. Mom and Pop had lived in Worcester, Massachusetts since their marriage, where, of course, all three of their children were born. They had moved to the warmer climate in Florida in the early 1920’s, when Brad and his older sister Pearl were young teenagers, and their younger brother, Richard, was in late childhood. In addition, Pop began to be plagued by painful Lumbago in one of his big toes. This was aggravated by the bitterly cold New England winters. It was almost as if the generations were repeating themselves. Pop’s father, Varnum Paine Blake, suffered with poor health from old war wounds aggravated by the New England winters. Thus, the family moved to Florida several years after the end of the Civil War when Pop was a child. Varnum soon recovered his former vigorous health. Pop remained with his family until he was eighteen. He returned to New England where he remained until he was forty, when he and Mom and their three children moved to the Sunshine State. At first, Mom thought it was dreadfully hot. She had been born in cool Nova Scotia, and later lived in Providence, Rhode Island. In the meantime, with respect to World War II, Jeff came home from the war. After a few days at Jackie and Brad’s, the Pedricks went to Tampa, Florida where he found work, and the three of them secured housing which they rented until they could find a place to buy. They were able to locate a good place to buy eventually in a nice area of Tampa. They remained there for several years after which time they moved to Orlando and later to Jacksonville.
    Amanda was a good student and chose to go to the university after her high school graduation. She graduated with honors from high school. She was the third honor student in her high school class, and could have easily been valedictorian had she been a grind like the first and second honor students. However, that was not her way. She enjoyed her high school social life, especially with her peers, including the boys, and with respect to extra class activities such as women’s basketball, cheerleading, and yearbook editor. She graduated Magna Cum Laude (with high honors) from college. This is something the number one and number two honor students in high schools could never achieve. Their test scores were not high enough for them to get in the University of Florida, Amanda’s alma mater. They had to go to less rigorous universities than Florida. The latter was one of the top state universities in the country. Everyone admired her, some with a degree of jealousy and resentment.

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