By Bryan Dean | Staff Writer
Like many veterans, those who contributed to the war effort on the home front often don’t recognize their own contributions, said Matt Reed, a curator at the Oklahoma History Center.
Reed said the nation quickly got behind the war effort, with those at home doing anything they could to pitch in.
“It could be something as common as saving grease for production of ammunition,” Reed said. “To this day, you will have people who will save grease from cooking. They don’t know why. That’s just how they’ve always done it. It all goes back to World War II. The government actually encouraged people to do that because it aided in the production of war material.”
In addition to the rationing that was common across the country, Oklahoma played an important role by hosting numerous prisoner of war camps across the state. Reed said many state businesses hired POW labor during the war.
“There are always stories about people who didn’t have tires for their car or they had to go out and raise their own food through liberty gardens,” Reed said. “Most people when they think of World War II think of the Army and battle stories, but really it’s all encompassing and includes what people did here at home.”
