Return to Happy Knob: A Memoir of the War Years

By July of 1942, German U-boats had sunk nearly 400 ships off the coast of Hatteras, NC., killing thousands of people. Add to that, millions of gallons of spilled oil. Those of us living further inland were unaware that our compatriots living on the Outer Banks were trapped in a war zone, appropriately nicknamed 'Torpedo Alley."

CREE:._EEK! CRR-EE-K! CR-EE-EE-KK! "What's that?" Mill Flora Belle, sitting beside me, had huge eyes fixed on the casket. She pointed as it slowly sank through the worn-out wooden floor. An unspoken question hovered in the air-ls this a sign? We all knew that hell is down, and that's_ where the casket was headed.

On weekends, Grandpa settled down in his rocking chair with some homebrew and a Zane Grey novel. Clay, Grandpa's drinking buddy, showed up around supper one Saturday. He mumbled, "I've come to lance that there carbuncle!" Before old Clay could get the knife out of his pocket, Grandma picked him up by one arm and the seat of his pants-and pitched him over the porch railing into the backyard ...

To help finance the war effort, we bought War Bonds. When Aunt Ruby and Uncle Jud gave me a dime, they encouraged me to buy a savings stamp. When I finally got 187 stamps pasted in my book, I received a War Bond. That was my way of helping our soldiers.