Chapter 17 Version 1
1942
The car pulled up to 112 Ferry Street before any hint of
light was poking over the horizon where the Connecticut River flowed past Mt.
Tom. It was 5:15 and Joe Zywar was ready with his coffee and lunch and walked
down the cold porch stairs and into the front seat of the car. The car was
making its last stop of the morning to pick up its sixth occupant before
starting down toward East Street for the ride down to East Hartford in
Connecticut. There was a clear division of labor on the commute. The three back
seat occupants slept until their arrival at 6:30. The two riders in the front
style bench seat had the job of keeping the driver awake for the ride. They all
pooled their eight gallons per week of gas ration stamps to allow the group to
make their daily trip. The car sported a green B sticker indicating that they were industrial workers essential to
the war effort. The car averaged just under 35 miles per hour which was Victory Speed designed to save rubber
tire wear. At the end of East Street past the Oxbow, the car pulled onto US
Route 5. Traffic at this time was seldom an issue. There was a half hour buffer
so they were never late as the shift did not start until 7:00 am. Everybody was
awake when Joe started the morning conversation:
“I don’t think we have any chance of being drafted even with
the expanded draft ages. We are indispensable to the war effort in our jobs. If
we get drafted, who is going to make the aircraft engines?”
Until November 1942, the draft included white men 21 thru 36
years old. Of those men, 20 percent were ineligible because they were
illiterate and an additional 30 percent were 4F – unfit due to physical
conditions. Blacks were not included in the draft. Now 18-20 year olds could be
drafted along with men aged 37. Blacks were drafted but for non-combat roles
like being cooks or loading ammunition which was a very dangerous assignment. Joe
was 19 and had been working at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft for nearly two
years. He was working as a machinist making airplane engine gears on a lathe.
Joe’s logic for not being drafted was impeccable until he received a letter
from the President of the United States in April of 1943:
Greeting:
Having submitted yourself to a local board
composed of your neighbors for the purpose of determining your availability for training and service in the
land or naval forces of the United
States, you are hereby notified that you have now been selected for training
and service therein.
Joe answered the phone and it was his cousin Edwin Wojnar:
“ Hi Edwin…you too!...when do you have to report?...me
too!..let’s go together to Springfield…Stanley thinks that because he is
married to Jeanette that he won’t be drafted…so far he has been right…”
and Stanley was not drafted…until May
Even being drafted, there were still options to consider. All
of the recruits were lined up alphabetically by height. They then counted off
by threes. The ones went into the army. The twos went into the navy. And the
lucky threes went into the marines. Joe was a one. Army draftees usually ended
up in the infantry. But there are always options. Joe exercised the option of
signing up for the navy reserve. A two year enlistment could stretch out long
after two years as there was a law passed that all in the armed services would
be retained for a maximum of six months after the end of hostilities. But he
was able to specify training preferences. Joe would also get to go home and
wait to be called up. His activation was swift and by the end of the following
week, both Joe and Edwin were on their way to Sampson Naval Training Station in
the New York Finger Lakes Region near the city of Geneva NY. Stanley followed
suit and arrived at Sampson NTS about a month later for his eight weeks of basic
training. They all started as Apprentice Seamen in the naval reserve.
‘Mail call! Jones…Laprade…Bertollini…Zywar…Zywar?”
Joe spoke up “Is that Z-Y-W-A-R? Zywar” using the Polish
pronunciation Zi (as in igloo) v (there is no v in Polish – the w has a v sound
as in vodka which in Polish is spelled wodka) er (as in water which in Polish
is never mixed with wodka).
“No this is Z-Y-W-A-R. Zywar” using the navy pronunciation
Zi (as in ice) war (as in war which was appropriate for the time).
“From now on sailor, that is how your name is pronounced.”
And that pronunciation was brought back to the family in
Easthampton and used ever since.
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