esrosedotblog

WAR KIDS

In one of those odd Netflix/Best Film coincidences, we have just seen two films that concern the impact of WWII on young boys. They share an alphabetical connection.

Empire of the Sun and Europa Europa chronicle the extraordinary skill and resilience of two young men in the face of sudden catastrophe, loss and extraordinary hardship.

I was the same age as these kids during WWII. There is not a doubt that the experience was traumatic. Yet, by comparison my own experience would appear somewhat trivial.

Yet, in our own minds, we do not compare in the midst of unsettling events. My father went away for three years and came back mentally affected. It took him decades to shed the upset of his experiences; North Atlantic winters on a small ship and later kamikaze attacks in the waning Pacific campaign.

For our part, my Mom and I endured rationing. We saved tin cans and grease and couldn't use the car much. We got puffy from the carbo loading of our diet. I got scarlet fever and my mother had to handle it all. We had no anti-biotics; it was frequently fatal. I remember being pretty sick. They had to burn everything I had touched and we were quarantined.

But that didn't have a lot to do with the war, even though I have folded it into my wartime memories.

No one shot at us or took us prisoner. No one was tortured. We didn't lose our home or our country.

It is hard to dredge up the memories now. As we get older we mostly forget pain. A good thing.

It was good to see these films and know that each of the boys grew to be productive men who were able to write about their experiences in a compelling way.

Good powers of example; no matter how severe our experiences might have been.