This is the type of authentic research that we hope to inspire as teachers and writers. Inspired by my visit to the WWII museum in New Orleans (one of the best museums, if not THE BEST, I’ve ever been to) I interviewed my father this morning about my Grandpa Ira’s role in WWII. When I was growing up, my grandfather spoke very little about his time in the war (as I believe was the case for many men who served). I knew a few snippets here or there, but was inspired to learn more once at the exhibit.
It started with a text to my dad while we were at the museum, “We are at the WWII museum. Wish I knew more about Grandpa Ira’s service. Maybe you can tell us more?” He texts back, “He spent the last 15 months of the war in Europe in the headquarters of General George Patton. If you can follow Patton in the museum, you could get a sense of my dad’s service in the war.” “Remind me of his role,” I text back. He writes, “He was the top non-commissioned officer – essentially the head of Patton’s military office staff in the field.”
Fast forward to this morning when I am home and having breakfast with my parents who had stayed at our house while we were away. I got the chance to interview my dad and learn even more about the missing pieces of Grandpa’s service.
My grandfather, Ira Weisbart, was drafted into the army in 1942. While many were enlisting at the time, he did not. He was 26 and slightly overweight and maybe not the best cadet for battle. However, he was smart. Very smart. With a background in finance and a college degree, he was sent to Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indiana for training. Ft. Benjamin Harrison was the finance capital of the army and they quickly figured out how to use his talents. During his career he was promoted to Sargent Major, which is the highest ranking a non-commissioned officer can be. In Feb. 1944 he was sent to Europe.
In Europe, Patton had to issue orders to other leaders, to Eisenhower and my grandfather was part of the internal office that handled these communications and logistics for coordination. When the concentration camps were liberated, Patton insisted that every military personnel go see the concentration camps for themselves. This included Patton’s office team and my grandfather.
While the war in Europe ended in May of 1945, the war in the Pacific with Japan was still going. The units from Europe were on ships to the Pacific to fight that war when Hiroshima was bombed and Japan surrendered. This allowed the boat that he was on to turn around and go home. He returned home in 1945 to meet his then 9 month old son, my father.
During the war, as many women did, my Grandma Bernice, took over my grandfather’s insurance business. She did so with only a HS degree and no other training. Her attitude was, “I can do it and when I can’t do it, I’ll get help!”
Being at the WWII museum while the war in Ukraine has just begun was surreal in so many ways. It feels like history repeating itself again and there is so much that is hard to take in. But I’m glad that I was there and had the time to reflect on my grandfather’s service and find out just a bit more about it. Now to learn about my husband’s grandfather who also served….