With the country at war, the words apply not only to the soldiers fighting, but to those who remain at home.
The effects of separation, anticipation and sacrifice on the homefront was the topic of discussion Tuesday night for the Lyon County Historical Society’s Night at the Museum program.
Nancy Boyce, public education director for the museum, told the story of three families with ties to each other who experienced firsthand the effects of World War II. Glen and Marion Clopton, Victor and Virginia Brecht and Ralph and Martha Martin all went through the separation and anxiety of wartime sacrifice and carried their experiences with them for the rest of their lives.
“These three families are representative of couples and families and the impact World War II had on them,” Boyce said. “They represent what families and couples all across our nation were going through.”
The circumstances were the same for each couple, but the stories ended differently, Boyce said. Clopton went off to fight and returned home. Brecht went to serve his country and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Martin went off to war and became a career Air Force man, going on to serve in Korea and Vietnam.
Clopton met his wife, Marion Calvert, when he was working on the Browning Ranch west of Madison and she was in summer school at the teacher’s college in Emporia. Brecht attended College of Emporia, where he met Virginia, Clopton’s sister. Martin knew his wife Martha, also Clopton’s sister, growing up.
The relationships were still young when war broke out.
Clopton fought in Europe in the 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. Brecht served as a Technical Sergeant and Waist Gunner with the 384th Bombardment Group H, 546th Squadron of the Air Force.
Clopton returned from the war to continue his life with his new family.
Martin continued to serve his country as a career pilot, going on to serve in succeeding wars.
Brecht’s plane was shot down over Germany on July 12, 1944.
“For a long time, Virginia thought Victor would come home,” Boyce said. “When it was determined that Victor had been killed, Virginia was notified. She was devastated. ... She would never be the same person.”
Tuesday’s discussion was part of the opening of a new exhibit at the museum that explores different aspects of the war on the home front, from rationing of food and supplies to families forced into separation during the fighting.