Helen Hatch

Helen Hatch was born in 1907 in New Point Missouri. She grew up on a farm with her 5 siblings and attended the school near her home. She briskly mentions how growing up in the rural area was completely different than the urban area. Later she went the Business school in St. Joseph.  When World War Two began Helen began to work for the USDA and she did administrative tasks for over 20 years. She used her education for record keeping and office management to help in the war. Helen recounts her memories of rationing and shortages of sugar along with other household items, but she also tells of her favorite memories of her and her sisters gardening in canning what they grew on the farm. One of her vivid memories is celebrating the end of the war when her husband came home and life returned to normal but they themselves had changed. Helen shows her opinion on the atomic bomb during World War II she says she had mixed feelings about this event but does recognize the concern of the threat of communism. This interview consists of Helen’s highs and lows of her journey through the challenges around World War II.

Richard Barrett

Richard Barrett was born on April 15, 1924, and grew up in Skidmore, serving in the army during World War II. After graduating high school 1942, Barrett attended the University of Mizzou for only one semester before returning home. He reflected on him and his twin brother signing up for the military and leaving on their mother’s birthday. Barrett talked about the aggression of the war and the difference that Pearl Harbor made on the attitudes of American citizens. He spoked on the intensity of going into battle and how this affected other people he was in service with and their mental states. Barrett discussed losing people that he fought with, even after the war was over. After his fighting days were over, Richard Barrett went back to Mizzou and taught agriculture classes for 35 years before working for the USDA. He was married for 52 years and loved the family that he made with her even with everything they had to go through during war time.​​

Robert and Dorothy Moore

Robert Moore was born on June 7, 1921, in Craig, Missouri. Dorothy Moore was born on June 5, 1926. This interview is part of the Oral Histories of Northwest Missouri in the 1940s program and is sponsored by the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council with support of the National Endowment for Humanities. This interview was conducted at the Tiffany Care Center in Mound City, Missouri on March 27, 2009. Robert enlisted in the Navy during World War II, and Dorothy worked in a defense plant in Kansas City, Kansas. The two of them share memories about traveling, the work they did, their relationship and how they communicated while apart, living off a small income, and how the war impacted their lives on a daily basis. They also describe what their lives were like post-war, taking advantage of the GI Bill, and the organizations they joined after they settled down. Robert and Dorothy’s experience during the war and how it affected them provides a unique perspective of a married couple and the challenges and sacrifices many people faced during the war

Eugene Poynter

Eugene (Gene) Poynter was born on February 20, 1924, in Fortescue, MO. This transcript is part of the Oral Histories of Northwest Missouri in the 1940s program sponsored by the Nodaway County Historical Society with the Missouri Humanities Council and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Mr. Poynter discusses life before the war including his marriage and choice to become a farmer rather than a banker.  Even though he wanted to enlist, he could not because of his draft classification. He was finally allowed to enlist when his wife permitted him. Gene describes many wartime experiences including advanced weapons training, the difficulty he had joining his unit in theater, and being at Hiroshima shortly after the bombing. Gene contracted malaria, radiation poisoning, and other ailments including intestinal worms. Mr. Poynter relates stories and details he has gathered after the end of the war by speaking to other veterans. He also describes how he speaks at schools and other gatherings.​​

Max and Lucille Benne

Lucille Benne was born in Jefferson County, Nebraska on March 26, 1918. Her family would later move to Florida and after the Great Depression started, she would go back to Nebraska. She earned her degree in teaching and later meet Max Benne. Max Benne was born on May 15, 1919, and after meeting Lucyle he would accept a job as teacher in Teska, Kansas. Max would enlist in the Navy and had to move to San Diego; place where they got married. Lucyle explains that as part of Max’s job they had to move frequently, and she would take a job in Memphis in a dress shop. Max recalls he became a Seaman First Class and was part of the Medical Corps because of the knowledge he had on chemistry. Some of the events highlighted by Max are his participation on the Mariana Islands in 1942 and the Korean War years later. He finally remembers acquiring a Law degree from the University of Nebraska. Max and Lucyle elaborate on Max’s participation in the Navy, their thoughts about the beginning and end of World War II, and their experiences post war.

Nora Holder

​This interview is a part of the Oral Histories of Northwest Missouri of the 1940s Program and is taking place with Nora Holder and her daughter, Myrna. Nora Holder was born south of Craig, Missouri in 1912. Nora’s family consisted of herself, her parents – who were farmers – and her six siblings. Nora describes her childhood detailing about her mother’s illness and death, which left her responsible for helping to take care of her younger siblings while her father worked on the farm. Despite the hardships her family faced, Nora describes how close of a family she grew up with saying, “And we had many, many family reunions. Our family was really close people. So we come to grow up like brothers and sisters.” Myrna later describes how her mother and father would avoid large crowds because of the risk of polio at the time. Nora was married for 72 years and at the age of 77, she decided she was going to teach herself to paint. Nora says that if she could give advice to people today it would be “They’re soon going to learn what was and what value is, I can tell you that.  There’s a big learning coming for people.  They won’t be making paper dresses and things like that.”