For Valentine’s Day, I give you a little 1940’s romance! The song is “I Had the Craziest Dream.” It was first performed in 1942 by the...

A new year always makes me reflect on new beginnings and think back to old beginnings. Songbird begins on May 28, 1943. As we look...

Here is my Christmas present to you, a wonderful 1940's Christmas song by Benny Goodman and his orchestra! I hope you enjoy it. It is one...

Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? If you were buying for a World War II soldier, what would you buy? According to a 1941...

Even in war, art must go on! Edouard Patte, a Red Cross Inspector, was surprised to find an art studio when he visited Fort McClellan’s...

Veterans Day began on November 11, 1919 as Armistice Day to commemorate peace between the Allied Nations and Germany during World War I...

The years after World War II were big years for colleges and universities in the United States. In 1944, the Servicemen’s Readjustment...

Many popular big band songs are featured in Songbird, but others just didn’t quite make the list. During World War II, songwriters used...

In 1939, Gone with the Wind premiered, and women began to wear fuller skirted and more romantic feeling clothing. Nylon stockings were...

This blog is typically focused on retelling and preserving the stories of the World War II era. As such, a movie review of a current film...

When I wrote Songbird, I wanted to learn and write about what life was like for men and, in particular, women on the home front - the...

Post-traumatic stress disorder was a term coined in 1980 but experienced by many returning World War II veterans. The husband, son, or...

When World War II began, television sets were just emerging onto the scene. Manufacturers were busy figuring out how to make the...

Oh, how fun it would be to go back in time to a 1940's dance party! Forget a DJ; give me swing dancing and a live orchestra. One of the...

This past week I have been reading first-hand accounts from soldiers who helped liberate concentration camps in Germany. These two...

Ever wonder what a World War II soldier ate? A soldier at the front lines ate K-rations, which were three individually wrapped boxed...

In the 1940s, radio was entertainment! I asked my grandfather, James Barry, about his favorite radio shows growing up. One of the first...

Last week, I wrote about the book War Letters that I am rereading and shared some personal letters that soldiers throughout American...

I am rereading a wonderful book. It is War Letters edited by Andrew Carroll. The book is a collection of letters, giving special insight...

While World War II produced innumerable soldiers, tanks, and warships, it also produced something else – marriages! With the...