The Satin Flag Or Banner And The Screams, One Of Sadness, One Of Happiness

On Memorial Day, I am sure we all know at least one person who was lost during any of the wars we as a country were in. During World War Two, if you lost a relative, if you wanted to, you put a satin banner in the window. The silver colored one was if someone was missing in action, a gold one was if someone was gone. We had a neighbor who was missing in action. He was I think the oldest child of our neighbors, The Liebermans. His name was Irving Ira. He was a turret gunner on a plane and his plane was shot down.. His mom Anna would never believe he was gone. She would not put up the gold satin banner. She felt that one day he would return. They named an army post after him. It was sad the day she put the banner in the front living room window. These were attached houses, called row homes, now called townhomes. Our porch was next to their porch. You knew everything that went on in the neighborhood.

His plane was called Omar The Dentmaker and he was a S/Sgt. It happened on March 25, 1944 and he was twenty years old. The plane was shot down and crashed near Bouquemaison, France.

The day that the soldiers came to tell her he was missing in action, I heard a scream. She had been prepared in her mind for it happening; she still was stunned when they pulled up in a car, to actually tell her the news. I said to mom why was Mrs. L. screaming and Mom explained it to me. I was about ten or so. I can still hear her scream in my head and it is about 73 years ago. There were other banners in the neighbors’ windows. There were a few silver ones like Irving’s; there were about eight gold ones.

As you walked by, you had this eerie feeling, even if you really did not know the person. Another neighbor across the street was missing in action; actually they came to tell her he was being declared dead. She too believed her husband would come home one day and she would open the door to get the newspaper or the bottles of milk that were delivered daily at your door step by the dairies and there he would be standing in front of her. Can you believe this? It really did happen. It was about three years after the war was ended and the banners still remained in the windows. One day, she opened the door and there was this very thin man with a bit of a beard and she too screamed. Her scream was of joy and disbelief. I heard that one too and was sure it was the same as from Mrs. Lieberman. He explained to her that he had walked away from the army camp in Germany where he was stationed as an army corporal. Somehow, he got lost and disorientated and he lived in the woods and with the help of countryside people, he survived. He did not remember much, he knew his first name, but not his last. After a few years living there and doing handy man work, his memory came back and he went to the officials and they sent him back to the USA and he made his way back home. By then the children had aged about three years. As I recall, the family was overwhelmed, happy and shocked.

So there were the two screams, one of utter joy, one of complete disbelief. Two families with two endings and one ending turned into a new beginning. I can see the returned soldier sitting out on his steps and people coming up to the family congratulating him and them.

Mom had two first cousins who were twins, not identical. One was a lieutenant in the Air Force and the other was stationed in Fresno, California. The one in the Air Force was declared dead from an airplane accident in Europe. I never heard their family’s screams because they lived quite a distance from us. Mom went to the funeral when they returned his body home. His parents, sisters, brothers, the other twin, all continued to remember him and talked about him often.

My teacher, who I have written about, Olga W.Bawden, lost her fiancé in the war and she never married. She wore the earrings he gave her with the Air Force symbols on them all the time. I do not believe she ever wore a different pair in the two years she was my homeroom and French teacher in junior high school.

There were so many losses, so much sadness, and so many satin banners. I read recently where parents and spouses now from the present two wars are reestablishing the gold and silver banners to be placed in the windows of the current deceased from these wars. Somehow, it gives the family pride and maybe a tiny bit of solace to put them there. A young Seal was killed this week after being deployed in Yemen and served another eleven times in that area and this time was the end, leaving a wife and 3 young children.

During the war lots of items were rationed. You had to use your ration stamp booklet to buy sugar, butter, cigarettes and other items. My father-in-law had a store and he sold cigarettes. He would exchange cigarettes and tobacco items with a man he knew that would instead give him sugar and other items he wanted. So the man got the cigarettes and my father-in-law got some staples that were hard to get more of when you ran out of your ration stamps that were sent to you per household. It depended on how many people lived in the home as to the monthly allotment of stamps you could use to purchase these items.

We had different times during the war. You had to have dark window shades and if you had curtains or drapes, they were under the drapes and curtains. You had to pull them down at night, so if there was an enemy raid, they could not see the homes. That was the idea behind the darkener shades as everyone was told to purchase. In school, we had air raid procedures we were taught as little kids. We were told how to kneel down on the floor and other things too, if the school would happen to be bombed. This was kneeling to save our life, not the disrespectful kneel of the football player who made a name for himself for his position.

This was a lot of trauma and terrifying times for little kids to absorb. Our parents tried to present it to us gently and calmly. They in turn were scared for themselves and for us too. Finally, it was over and life went back to normalcy. However, it took a long time for us small children to feel safe and secure.

We managed and survived and the satin banners eventually were taken down and put away in the drawer of a piece of furniture. I believe Mrs. Lieberman never took her banner down. We all moved away in about 1948 and I had not thought about the banners in a long time, until I read the article where they are being revived in honor of the deceased in the current wars.

Through the years, I have seen a few times, one of Irving’s sisters. We chat and when I look at her and we are all seniors now, it is still hard to forget those sad screams, lost hopes and the end of life for so many young people.

The one happy scream is a bright light in those dark years. One neighbor received the good news she always felt would happen and the other did not.

We who are lucky to be here still now will never forget the sad moments and long days of the war. We are here to celebrate our good times, our happy moments, our good luck and to honor those who never returned. My neighbor, my cousin and scores of others did not live to see these times. They will never be forgotten and those satin banners will remain immersed in our hearts and souls.

I have a friend who has to have radiation after chemo. She writes on her Facebook after having radiation for the whole month of May and physical therapy too, the following words “Life is good.” What beautiful sentiments from her and we should all subscribe to them, enjoy them and feel blessed having life now.

My friend Prill Boyle wrote a book called Defying Gravity. She wrote this and even though it applies to women in particular, everyone can apply it to their life now.

“There’s still time to pursue your dreams. Every day, regular women are accomplishing extraordinary things later in life. The daring and determined women chronicled in Defying Gravity prove that it can take years for the right moment to arrive. But when that opportunity finally knocks, when the right mix of courage and it’s now or never bubbles up inside, the spirit overrides the fear and magic happens. Embrace the possibility.”

Let us all have that thought in our hearts, men and women, and keep in mind that we are blessed to be here and let us celebrate our arrival into society and always remember those who did not get this far. We honor their memory of giving their lives for our country and let us never forget their sacrifice. We pay homage to those who passed on, by us being good people and always trying to do good deeds.