Boy Scouts collected paper, rubber, and scrap metal to be reprocessed for war materials. Women's charitable groups conducted hospitality rooms for soldiers in transit at railroad stations or folded bandages for the Red Cross. The city power plant simply turned off the electricity for an hour or so. Such were the tribulations of World War II, a time when Americans both at home and abroad, mobilized by the common danger and a renewed sense of patriotism, put others and the common good before their own personal happiness and well-being. When the war was over, the demand for consumer items such as automobiles, radios, homes, and college educations provided through the G.I. Bill of Rights brought renewed and then increased prosperity.
Materials are available in libraries and local historical societies.
Businesses may have records which indicate their involvement in the war effort. Church records may document the war-related charitable activities of the community. Statewide resources are available in such locations as the Indiana State Archives, the Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library, the Indiana Historical Society library, the National Headquarters of the American Legion, and the Ernie Pyle State Historic Site at Dana in Vermillion County. Many college and university libraries or research archives contain files on the war years, including newspapers, photographs, posters, scrapbooks, and in some instances, even movies, newsreels, documentaries, and collections of letters from soldiers.