Sacrifice and Prosperity:
Tullahoma's experience during World War II (continued)
Roy Hensley of Lynchburg grew up in rural Moore County during the depression. During that time, his family had no electricity or telephone in their home. As a young boy of ten when WWII began, he recalls he had never even been to Lychburg before his tenth birthday.
Mrs. Anita Kohl worked at the Telephone Company for six months without pay while a lady was on maternity leave just to have the chance at a job. She did eventually acquire a job at the telephone company, and she was working at the switchboard when the news came that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. She worked many, many hours placing calls to the families of soldiers who were suddenly being shipped to areas unknown.
With the coming of Camp Forrest, the community of Tullahoma experienced a welcome influx of jobs and opportunities for just about everybody in the surrounding communities. Floyd Huskey recalls that traffic was so bad coming up to Tullahoma from the Lynchburg-Fayetteville-Huntsville highway that a traffic light change in Tullahoma would "stop traffic in Lynchburg."
Bob Couch of Tullahoma recalls a sudden wealth of "carpenters" in the area even though they had no tools or training. He recalls that to get a job as a carpenter, men had to be a member of the carpenter's union. The union office was located on Wall Street in downtown Tullahoma. He states how men would go into the union office and announce that they were carpenters looking for a job. The union officials would ask," where are your tools," and the men would reply, "don't they furnish tools?" The men would then go to Lawson's hardware on the corner and buy a hammer or a nail apron. They would then return to the union office and join the union.
Peggy Burton's parents lived on a farm in the Beech Grove/Noah area during the war, and her parents worked nights in the laundry at Camp Forrest to make extra money. Peggy and her sister Joan often stayed with their Aunt Orene while their parents worked. Farmers played a critical war in the nation's fight for freedom, and their contributions must no be forgotten.