The youngest members of the “Greatest Generation” stepped up in their own way during World War II, collecting scrap metal, rubber, newspaper, even milkweed pods in support of the war effort. Some of them shared their memories of wartime scrap-metal drives, including Henry Doorly’s first competitive drive in the summer of 1942. Here’s a collection of their recollections, which have been edited for style and length:
The comedy team Abbott and Costello was performing at the Orpheum Theater. A teen-aged boy named Jerry Young went to see them and asked them to perform in our neighborhood to assist the war effort. They performed on the back of a flatbed truck parked in the alley between 32nd Avenue and 33rd Street on Martha Street. The street was packed with thousands of people. – Terry Haney, Omaha
I lived in a house with a lower level that was once a bar. It had a cave in it that went down quite far. We found steel beer signs. We somehow put them on the back of our bicycles and drug them all the way to school, 1 mile. – Dolores Buxter, Omaha
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I lived on a farm 1 mile north of Uehling. Old discarded farm machines would have been parked around farm buildings or dumped into a ditch on the farm. We hauled these items and old cans and nails — anything of metal — into Uehling, where the railroad had parked an open train car that I remember was piled high with scrap metal. – Eldon Gustafson, Omaha
I remember searching through every farm shelterbelt or vacated places on farms for anything that resembled metal or rubber. I don’t remember if there was any monetary compensation, but people were just happy to do their part. – Joseph Reestman, Oakdale
The main street in Blair had a very large collection of scrap metal. I was poking around in the pile. I saw coffee pots, toasters, and frying pans — things we used every day at my house, and here it was. Gulp! This was probably my moment to realize the seriousness of the war. – Ruth Muchemore, Omaha
I lived in Malvern, Iowa. If we would bring 5 pounds of scrap metal to the theater, we could see the movie for free. I remember it clearly because I took some things my mother wanted to keep, and it was a long time before she let up on me about it. At least I got to keep my dime. – Lois Wohlner, Omaha
Mom worked at the Martin Bomber Plant. My brother and I were in grammar school at Rose Hill in Benson. Our school kids collected scrap metal from all over town and piled it on the school fence at 56th and Corby. No door went un-knocked, and every empty lot was checked for scrap metal. We took it to school in wagons. – William Brandt, Papillion
The kids in the Minne Lusa neighborhood scrounged vacant lots and garages for scrap metal. Our greatest find was at the end of North 24th Street down to Pershing Road. We found most of our scrap metal in car parts. The road to Hummel Park was also great for finding abandoned cars and parts. We felt we were doing our patriotic duty. – Bob Murray, Omaha
We took a wagon and searched the neighborhood for scrap metal so we could get into the Lothrop Theater (in North Omaha) for free. I saw a lot of free movies. – Mary Sullivan, Bellevue
Our small towns — and Fordyce was one — had an open iron rail car parked on a vacant track. Everyone including town people and the surrounding farmers filled it with scrap metal. – Don Roth, Omaha (Served in Navy during World War II and the Korean War)
I went to Dundee School and participated in various newspaper and tin can drives. Off we went with our little red wagons full of paper and cans and walked to school to deliver the items. There were two large Victory Gardens across the street from my house between California and Cass on 48th Street. We saved grease; we donated silk stockings. – Medora Elliott Harper, Omaha
We children were expected to participate in the war effort. So we pulled our little wagons around the neighborhood, door to door, asking for contributions of scrap metal. We were expected to contribute to the war effort in other ways. We had Victory Gardens. I worked in my little Victory Garden next to my Dad’s, growing peas and lettuce. – Mary Ann Lamanna, Omaha
Oh, how I remember the scrap drives! As a grade schooler, I would take a basket, go to the neighbors, and ask for anything metal. Then I would take it to school. These drives made me feel that I was helping win the war, as my three older brothers were all in the service. – Teresa Cavanaugh, Omaha
My dad, Herman Lutjemeyer, and two neighboring farmers gathered all the scrap iron they could find and filled a spring wagon. The heavy load was pulled by dad’s team of horses, Duke and Billy, for 3½ miles on a dirt road to the railroad in Otoe, Nebraska. These farmers were past the normal age for active duty in the military but were determined to do all they could for the war effort. – Arva Lutjemeyer Herman, Omaha
One day, (radio personality) Leana Drifmeyer from Shenandoah, Iowa, spoke of the scrap metal drive to reuse for the war effort. She pleaded with all her listeners to take part. My sister and I took up the challenge. Can you picture two small girls pushing and pulling our cantankerous coaster wagon with iron posts 2-3 feet long and also trying to balance our load all at the same time? Our patriotism for our great country has never wavered. We would do it again! – Arlene Sonksen, Kearney
My wagon got a good workout as I walked from door to door in various neighborhoods collecting items for a specific drive. It was a good feeling for all of us kids to be a small part of the war effort — and also, good memories when we became adults. – LeRoy Andresen, Omaha
We collected all the metal we could find in our sheds and barns, and took it to a collection place in Valley. Most of the families in the area did the same. My 18-year-old brother had enlisted in the Navy, so I felt like I was helping him. – Donna Seevers, Omaha
The local people responded very generously. They brought their scrap to town and piled it around the flagpole in Inman. Somebody painted a sign in big letters that read, “Scrap for the Jap and Gifts to Mussolini and the whole damned crew.” – Jim Gallagher, O’Neill
We were diligent and delighted to be helping. We all searched our homes, our backyards, and our neighborhoods to scrape up the scrap iron and lug it to school. Not only did American school kids provide a lot of metal for armaments, but it also very cleverly and appropriately engaged our physical and emotional participation in our nation’s efforts in a necessary war. – J. Keith Cook, Omaha
I attended J42 country school north of Valley, in an area known as Fowler. The schoolchildren took part in the scrap drive. I felt sad when our school bell was thrown in the pile. It had been stored inside the school under the basement stairs. Maybe it was broken. Four of my cousins served in the war. One of them died. – Lois McArdle, Elkhorn
We had a school-wide scrap drive, and I contributed my tricycle. – Dick Kleiber, Hastings
We would ride our bikes with Mom downtown to the grocery store so we all could haul bags of groceries home in our bike baskets. But before the trek home, we three siblings would amble to the monstrous scrap pile to see how high it was. – Susan Brown Perry, Holdrege
When we attended school in Bellevue, students were asked to bring their scrap metal and place it in a pile on the school playground. It grew very fast! A small plane from Offutt flew over the pile and “bombed” it with a “flour-bomb”! – Melba Glock, Rising City
Our school decided to have a contest to see who could bring in the most scrap metal. There were only two boys in the eighth grade. We decided to go after the big stuff. We had several retired farmers in our district that had groves full of horse-drawn equipment. We had one prospect left, Harry Bergstrom. Neither one of us had ever seen the guy. We finally got up enough nerve to go see him. He was the nicest old man you could ever meet. He gave us every old piece of junk machinery that he had. We won the contest. – Dick Waugh, Valley
I remember picking up every empty cigarette pack or gum wrapper I could find on my way to and from school in California where I grew up. I soaked them in water in our service trays in the washroom. Then, after carefully peeling the paper off, the aluminum was added to a shiny growing ball. Very slowly, the ball grew until it was maybe softball size, then taken to school and added to piles of other balls of aluminum similarly collected and soaked and shaped by classmates. If this was a way to help schoolchildren feel useful in a war in which our dads and brothers and uncles and cousins were risking their lives, it worked. – Marylyn Felion, Omaha