My dad was about 8 years old when World War 2 began. He told us about the flags that hung in the windows of most homes during the war. The flag with the blue star meant that someone from that home was fighting in the war. If the flag had multiple stars it meant that multiple member of that family were fighting in the war. My father’s home had a flag with two blue stars hanging in the window. If a flag with a gold star was displayed in the homes front window that meant a member of that family lost their life fighting in the war.
Just about every town had a Western Union office. The employees at the local office would call you when you had a message. They would read the message to you over the phone except in the case of a family member being lost during the war. In this case, a western union messenger would jump on a bike and head to the home in person.
There must have been some type of protocol and procedures a Western Union messenger had to follow. My uncle said that the messengers never talked to anyone or made eye contact with anyone except the people intended to receive the message. Their message was always bad when they showed up at your home.
My dad’s family lived in the last house on a dead end street. One day my dad and a couple of his brothers saw the Western Union messenger start down their street. Pop and his brother followed behind the messenger as he passed house after house getting closer and closer to their home. He said they thought which brother had died, Melvin or Johnny? The messenger stop at the second to the last home, my dad’s neighbors had lost their son. The flag in their front window was change from a blue star to a gold star.
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