Maureen Sullivan American, Homefront, WWII

Margie Labedz

Margie Labedz MP3

Margie Labedz was the daughter of a World War I veteran who did her part in WWII as a member of the Victory Troubadours, a group of singers and dancers who entertained at local veterans’ hospitals. She also remembered other activities on the homefront such as rationing and air raid wardens. Her future husband, as well as her brothers and her two sons, have served in the military. Labedz is a lifetime member of the VFW Auxiliary.

Maureen Sullivan American, Boston, Homefront, Massachusetts, Vietnam

Albert Souza

 

Albert Souza remembers the end of World War II, growing up in the 1950s, the Camelot years of John F. Kennedy, when the Beatles performed in Boston, and the turmoil during Vietnam and Watergate. In 1961, Souza was married with a child on the way when he came close to being drafted into the Army during the Berlin crisis.

 

This interview was recorded by students at UMass-Lowell.

 

Maureen Sullivan Homefront, Korea, USAF

Theodore “Ted” Zicko

 

Ted Zicko was born and raised in Natick. As a child growing up during World War II, he remembered rationing and seeing Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour at the Common during a bond drive. After the Korean War started, he enlisted with the U.S Air Force and spent four years in Intelligence as a linguist (Albanian language), forward observer and photo interpreter. He is a recipient of presidential citations from the United States and the Republic of Korea.

 

 

Ted Zicko and friend Charlie Behanna

 

Ted Zicko on the Okota Raiders baseball team

 

Ted Zicko at the Veterans Wall, Morse Institute Library, Natick

Maureen Sullivan Homefront, Natick, WWII

Sadie Stepner

 

Sadie Stepner was born in Boston in 1914; her father operated the stables in Franklin Park. She remembered Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, as well as life during the Depression and World War II. After the war, she and her family moved to West Natick, and became one of the first families to join Temple Israel.

 

 

Neil and Sadie

Maureen Sullivan Homefront, Uncategorized, WWII

Mary Ida Murphy

 

Mary Ida Murphy was born on Prince Edward Island in Canada in 1914. Her family ran a large farm about 100 miles from Charlottetown. Among her earliest memories was a neighbor heading off to fight in World War I; her three brothers served during World War II in the Canadian Armed Forces, as did her husband, who was born and raised in the United States. Mary Ida talks about raising her family both on PEI and in Natick, Mass., where they moved in the 1950s.

 

Maureen Sullivan Homefront, Massachusetts, Natick, WWII

Virginia McGowan

 

Virginia “Ginny” Kirby Sullivan McGowan is the daughter, sister, wife, mother and grandmother of veterans. Raised in Newton, she worked at the Raytheon defense plant on radio tubes for the military – in those days, top-secret work. She and her sister, Patricia, also performed in USO shows throughout the region, often with their father, Frank Kirby, a professional piano player; they would often visit hospitals and perform for wounded soldiers.

 

 

Virginia Kirby, right, with her family. Frank Kirby, top right, served in the Navy; David Kirby, below, served in the Marines

 

Article on Virginia Sullivan’s family, 1970s. Michael Sullivan, front row, left, was in the Army

 

The Sullivan family, 1960s. Joe Sullivan III, top row, far left, was in the Navy

 

With son, Richard, who was in the Army in the 1970s

 

A Sullivan family wedding, early 1980s. Kevin Sullivan, top row, far left, was in the Navy

Maureen Sullivan Homefront, Massachusetts, Natick, WWII

Effie Hall

 

Effie Erickson grew up in East Natick and graduated from Natick High School in 1938. She talks about life as a secretary and nurse’s aide during World War II, and also about her first cousins, the Liljas (five sons joined the Marine Corps; four fought in World War II; two – George and Ralph — were killed in action). She also talks about her husband, George Hall, who worked at the atomic bomb testing site at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

 

 

Effie Hall at the Veterans Wall, Morse Institute Library

 

Effie Hall taking part in a paper drive in Natick during WWII.

 

Where Effie and her husband stayed in New Mexico.

Maureen Sullivan Homefront, Massachusetts, New York City, WWII

Louise Hale

 

Louise Stone spent most of her childhood in Natick, and was working as a secretary in Boston when the war began. Her husband, Edward L. Hale, was drafted into the Army and stationed near New York City. In order to be closer to him, she moved to a rooming house in New Jersey and worked as a secretary on the Manhattan Project for about a year and a half. Louise tells of her experiences in wartime New York and Boston, from commuting on the subway to rationing.

 

 

Louise Stone, high school yearbook photo

 

Louise Hale, work photo

 

Edward Hale in uniform

Maureen Sullivan American, Homefront, Massachusetts, WWII

Dorothy Capone


 
Dorothy Capone has several relatives taking part in World War II – from an uncle wounded at Anzio, to a brother who served in the Navy, a cousin-in-law who sailed on the Bowdoin looking for German submarines in the Artic, to relatives in Italy who lived in caves after the Germans took over their community.
 

 

Edward DiTullio

 
The Bowdoin

 
Joseph and Richie DiTullio

 
Joseph DiTullio