New Guinea

Stories set here

A Child's View of War News and Gifts from Uncle LloydBernard recalls not understanding the stakes of war while playing with metal military toys and imitating racist wartime caricatures. He secretly read Iris' censored letters from servicemen and listened to Gabriel Heater's radio reports with his worried family. Uncle Lloyd served in New Guinea and returned wounded with souvenirs for him; an unnamed sailor boyfriend of Iris also gave him cherished sailor's pants.
Dances, Seven Children, and Grampa’s Helping HandsAfter moving to Moline, Ethel met Floyd through Mary Hill and married him in 1928. They raised seven children, while Ethel worked several jobs and survived goiter surgery. Ed became a permanent member of their household, contributing childcare, housework and money, despite drinking and a serious workplace injury. Lloyd served in the Army Signal Corps, suffered lasting injuries and eventually lost contact with the family, leaving fond memories and a cocoa-dunking breakfast tradition. The passage gives conflicting dates for Ed’s death and funeral.
Gathered Around the Radio: Music and Wartime NewsIris recalls the constantly playing radio and the Moline Daily Dispatch as the family's main news sources, including news that might affect Uncle Lloyd in New Guinea. The family mourned President Roosevelt around the radio, but also enjoyed singing and dancing to popular songs and big bands. She recounts Bill's description of overseas propaganda broadcasts mixing favorite music with frightening, specific military information; she attributes that information to spies within the U.S. government. She remembers divided reactions to the August 6, 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, her father's approval, and Harry Truman's presidency.
Uncle Lloyd’s Visits and Cocoa-Dunked SandwichesLloyd moved to Moline, married and divorced, and later lived in Savannah, Illinois. His Army Signal Corps service included injuries during an amphibious landing in New Guinea, followed later by lung surgeries. The account says a 1965 surgery kept him from his father's funeral, although Ed's death is elsewhere dated 1953. Lloyd eventually disappeared from the family's lives, but his beloved visits left a lasting breakfast tradition of sandwiches dunked in cocoa.

Events here

during the war
Uncle Lloyd serves in New Guinea and returns wounded
Signal Corps service followed by a wounded return home; he gave Bernard a bloodstained Japanese flag and Japanese and U.S. Occupation Scrip money.
military
Uncle Lloyd fighting in New Guinea
The family knew Uncle Lloyd was fighting the Japanese and listened for news that might affect him.
Early in the war until just before it ended
Lloyd serves in the Army Signal Corps
Semaphore expert, injured in an amphibious landing; honorably discharged just before the war ended. War is not named.
early on in the war; discharged just before the war ended
Lloyd’s Signal Corps service and injury
Semaphore expert, honorably discharged. Injuries during an amphibious landing later led to a collapsed lung and two surgeries.

Family corrections

Notes sent in by the family and approved on review. They sit alongside the original record — the book's wording is never changed.

No corrections on file for this record yet.

Suggest a correction