PATROTISM IN THE HEART OF ILLINOIS

                 PATROTISM  IN  THE  HEART  OF   ILLINOIS

                                         NORMAN  V.  KELLY

I watch a lot of news especially on the Fox Network.   I hear a lot about people being a patriot, but rarely about patriotism.  I think they mean the person they are talking about is a good American but I am not certain.  Sometimes I wonder if those pretty talking heads actually really know what the word means and I also notice that they rarely use the word patriotic.  Now as an octogenarian I know what patriotism means, and believe me if you lived here in Peoria, Illinois in 1940 and all through the fearful war years, so do you.  In fact Peoria, Illinois often bragged, well we living here did that we were the most patriotic little town in all of America.

We had a lot of large and small factories here and almost 6,600 of our lady folk worked in them along side their male co-workers. A very large percentage of those factories produced war products from helmet liners, to gloves and even components to tanks and army trucks, and many more items.  Peoria factories worked three shifts and many of the factories were awarded an E award which was coveted back in the war days. Kids like me spent many hours collecting rags, paper, grease and metal for use in fighting the war and 23,010 of our young citizens went off to fight that war. I always thought that was an awful lot of our young men and women from such a small area and 662 of them never made it back home.

We had all kinds of patriotic parades, and managed to put together 5 USO centers for service men that came to Peoria.  We were a second home for the soldiers from Camp Ellis, and we opened up our own homes to many of them.  I will admit there was a somewhat bawdy side to that welcome as well, which included a bit of gambling and a ton of other special events designed to entertain the GIs and make them understand what it was they were fighting for.  Many of them were quoted in our local newspapers as saying that Peoria was the best liberty town they had ever visited.

Music saw us through that war and there was one lady that Peoria loved, as did most everyone safe and sound here in the United States.  I wonder if you know where these words came from.  Peoria loved this song, understood the words, and in every gathering, believe me we would hear it along with our National Anthem. If you wonder which celebrity Peorians thought was America’s number one patriot, I can tell you it was Kate Smith. Kate was most certainly the most adored singer all during WW 11. Kate sang this song over and over and we sang right along with her.

                            God bless America.

                             Land that I love.

                             Stand beside her and guide her

                             Thru the night with the light from above;

                             From the mountains, to the prairies,

                             to the oceans white with foam,

                             God bless America, my home, sweet home.

                             God bless America, my home, sweet home.

 

The words to that wonderful song came from Israel Isidore Baline, known to us as Irving Berlin.  Actually it was released in 1917, for another war to end all wars.  He also wrote among his other 1,500 songs, “White Christmas.” I had three brothers in the service during WW11 and I can assure you that when they heard those two songs they knew exactly what it was they were fighting for.  Here at home we were inspired as well by those two songs and so many others, including our National Anthem which we all stood with pride in our hearts and sang like patriotic, all Americans: which is exactly what we were.

Kate Smith was the most popular singer America had when it came to lifting the spirits of Americans at home and when she sang “God Bless America,” the Armed Forces Radio made sure that our GIs heard her no matter where they were.  There is a verse that goes with it, more of a prayer I suspect, and Kate often recited it before she sang: “While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free. Let us all be grateful that we’re far from there, as we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.”

America’s ‘Songbird of the South,’ died June 18, 1986 at the age of seventy-nine in Raleigh, North Carolina.  People in the United States and many parts of the world mourned her passing. Kate recorded just over 1,500 songs but honestly I can remember only two of them.  For you older folks who like nostalgia, and you younger ones who are curious go to You Tube and type in Kate Smith sings ‘God Bless America’ It played in Peoria for many years.

Editor’s Note:  Norm is Peoria Historian and author.  norman.kelly@scglobal.net