Moving Along on the Timeline

The year of learning about modern history is progessing nicely. We're now in the 1940's and World War II is the big news of the day.
We recently had a stake conference via satelite from Salt Lake where Elder Packard spoke. He talked about his time during WWII. I found it amusing to see Connor's eyes pop out of his head, chin drop and exclaim, in whispered tones, to Ryan, (who had just come back to the chapel from the hall) "He was in World War II!!"

Cailin's presentation was on the Home front during WWII. She learned what people did here at home during the war. Paper, tin, rubber drives. Growing victory gardens and then canning the food for winter so that commercially grown food could go overseas to feed the soldiers. Lowering thermostats to conserve energy and money. Making quilts and bandages for the soldiers. She read the American Girl books --Molly and loved them all.
Ryan loved to learn about the battles of war. He and Barry spent many hours discussing these battles; the Generals and their decisions, how they impacted the war, what went wrong and what went right and how the outcome of the war affects us now (as all history does). Here he shares the major battles of the European front.

Delaney learned how important dogs were to the military and the roll they played in helping the soldiers. Many families donated their family pet to help with the war effort overseas. The dogs were trained to obey commands and overcome the loud noises of war. They were used to guard posts and beach fronts, relay information back and forth from the front line, and protect wounded soldiers till medical help arrived.
They were trusted and beloved companions--one soldier said of his dog, that he was better than having 7 other soldiers. At the end of the war the dogs went back home to their owners.

Connor talked about the amphibious military vehicles. These armored vehicles were used in the Pacific ocean front.

After all that hard work it's, time to eat. Let's pass out the K-rations. I brought a MRE left over from Barry's military days. Barry says that some of them are good to eat--some aren't. Apparently, this one that the girls dug into wasn't one of the good ones. They didn't like the 'brownie' ; "Yuck" and "Gross" were the common words to describe it.

Grandma and Grandpa Stumm were in for the weekend and were able to see the presentaions.