Evening star., 1943-05-01

QO1l I KNOW
why I should be
Henry McLemore. asking these
questions because 1 am an author
ity on the subject. 1 know what
makes him homesick. I have just
completed the most exhaustive poll
on the matter since DR.. Gallup
started buttonholing people and
asking them what was on their
minds. Even DR.. Gallup would have
given me A markings on the way I
conducted my poll.
I started early in the morning
and stuck on the job until a blaLk-
out made it impossible for me to
distinguish uniforms I worked 10
to IL of the most prominent spots
in London-Grosvenor Square, Lei
cester Square, Piccadilly Circus,
Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens.
Berkeley Square, and the front OF
the enlisted mems post exchange.
And, to the American soldiers who
passed I put the same question:
What makes you homesick the
most? What do you miss most over
here?"
The answers covered a tremen-
dous range and, oddly enough, they
didn't include the big things such
as mentioned earlier in this story.
That's understandable. though. The
boys who are here to fight know
that circumstances make it impos-
sible for them to have any contact
with family and home. They ac-
cept that. They don't fret too
much about such things. They know
they have answered a call that
makes even the biggest things seem
small. So they have become recon-
ciled in way to being separated
from their loved ones and not hav-
ing food that Mama can cook.
Miss Little Things Most.
But they haven't quite grown &C
customed to the little changes. The
changes. that you wouldn't think
they'd notice. I must have talked
to a thousand soldiers and I feel
safe in saying that it is the little
things they miss.
Take the private I talked to in
Kensington Gardens. He was out
for a walk to enjoy the grass under
| III in,
flowers blooming. He was from
Massachusetts,. But the English
park didn't quite satisfy him. IT'S
all lovely and pretty, but it isn't
like home. The grass doesn't look
the same, the flowers don't smell
the same and even the trees are
different. They just aren't Amer
lean grass, flowers and trees
There was the boy from Dallas,
Tex. What he wanted to see was
an American mail box. He just
wanted to see one that was green,
not red, and built along the lines he
had always known.
The corporal from California
missed familiar sounds. His ears
just wouldn't get accustomed to
foreign noises. You know, it may
sound funny, but Id like to hear the
bus at home. The buses here don't
sound right. The same goes for
footsteps on the street and voices
and even the wind and rain. Moth
ing sounds just right. I know it's
all the same, but, gee, I'd like to
listen to American sounds again."
Really Miss America.
So it went as I polled the boys
from all States. The Alabama boy
ached to see wagon and mule with
a bale or two of cotton in the back
and the boy from Idaho missed
being able to walk along without
brushing against people.
To me, the simple wants of these
soldiers provided a grand tribute
to the country they love and are
serving. What they miss is Amer
lea. To them the trees back home
are a little greener, the grass a
little softer underfoot, the footsteps
a little lighter. They all said this
was lovely country and that their
welcome could not be more sincere,
but they all admitted in saying
what made them homesick for the
States that there was no place like
home.
That's the place they are fight
ing for and the love for it will
eventually make our Army the
greatest the world has ever seen.
Ours may be a young country, but
1t has earned loyalty from those
who live in it and love it that is not
surpassed. If you don't think so,
come over here and talk to the bows
who are fighting for it. But don't
choose Hyde Park as one of the
corners from which to conduct your
poll, It's one of the coldest places
this side Of the Antarctic.
distributed by McNaught Syndicate. Incl