Living through the nation’s upheavals

My life began in the midst of one of the greatest upheavals our nation has endured.

The early 1940s saw the heightening of the disasters and losses of life in the beginnings of World War II. The German armies were invading its neighboring countries of France, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland and Austria, and was attacking England; and the Japanese militaries were invading its neighbors as well.

The United States had stayed out of the war until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. I was almost 2 years old at the time of the air raid on our Navy in Pearl

Harbor. Usually people don’t have memories of the time when they were 2 years old, and that includes me, but I do remember the years from about 1943 with the rationing of many essential goods in our economy. For instance, we couldn’t just go to the store and buy all the sugar we wanted. Sugar was rationed. We couldn’t buy all the gasoline we wanted. Gasoline was rationed so as to make supplies available for the military as the U.S. build-up for wartime.

We were limited on the tires we could buy for cars and trucks. There were no new cars being built by our factories as the factories were converted to the building of wartime vehicles, jeeps, tanks, airplanes, supply trucks, weapons, uniforms, artillery, bombs and so on.

Recently we have been trying to endure and survive a disease pandemic in which our health officers have called for things like masks, social distancing, staying at home as much as possible, avoiding large gatherings, washing hands and doing numerous sanitizing operations to help avoid the corona virus. The times have been most unusual in that no readily available medical remedies and preventions are available for this new malady. Many have likened the current situation to the disastrous flu epidemic of 1918. In the midst of our pandemic, as in the earlier time, there have been many who rebel at the idea of having to take strong measures to protect themselves and to protect others from the possibility of contagion. On the other hand, to some of us, the sacrifices called for seem no worse than those we have endured

during other national or widespread emergencies in times past.

We all want to return to life as normal as soon as possible, although sometimes one wonders if the times of strain and trial are as normal as the times when all is well in the world around us. World War II was hardly over when we were confronted with Korea, and there has been Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other wars that have strained the fabric of our nation.

In the beginning of my life, the country was still straining to get through the Great Depression, and to establish policies, legislations and institutions that would help prevent another such economic disaster. By 1950, we were beginning to feel that the country was becoming prosperous again, and that people were getting a better opportunity to better themselves and their families. But we seem never to consistently eliminate those things that sometimes lead to economic downturns and losses; and the problem of inequality remains.

Some have great advantages while others continue to struggle along with limitations, hindrances and disadvantages.

The struggle to remedy or eliminate or prevent the disruptions of our lives seems always to be an ongoing thing. We never entirely achieve the ideal of a perfectly peaceful function of our personal and family lives, or a perfectly peaceful function of our society at large.

Someone has said that “Life is just tough!”

We seem always to be contending with challenges, strains, worries, disruptions in relationships, stresses on the job, problems across our communities and unexpected illnesses to deal with. As one of our local financial advisers sometimes puts it, life has it’s “Suddenlies!” Apparently none of us are immune from life’s “Suddenlies.”

In the midst of our current difficulties, some have taken the tack of pushing the idea that their refusing to do things like wearing masks, avoiding crowds and otherwise making personal sacrifices is an assertion of their personal freedoms. This is shortsighted. Freedom is not a right to endanger others or to deprive one’s fellow citizens of peace and safety. But at the same time, we can’t just shut down everything. We have essential workers who can’t just stay at home.

People have to eat. People need doctors and nurses working in the hospitals and clinics. We have to have people providing food and essential services. We have to find ways of handling the necessities while we also deal with the precautions.

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Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at joe369@ century tel.net , or call 621-1621.