Westminster Eagle: There is no such thing as a simpler time

Westminster Eagle: There is no such thing as a simpler time

Kevin Dayhoff

Posted on www.explorecarroll.com 1/07/09

It's the first week of 2009 and, by now, most of us are back to work with the extra pounds of the holidays and the memories of 2008, and we're beginning to focus upon the challenges of 2009.

At gatherings I attended during the holidays, much of the conversation concerned the state of the economy.

On several occasions I heard folks yearning for "simpler days." To which I cringe. The concept of the "simpler days of yesteryear" is a myth perpetuated by the historically uninformed to make a point that we've somehow gone astray.

In the past several years, I have lamented over how the "Internet Age" has resulted in revisionist history obtusely retold in today's context in order to perpetuate a particular political agenda.

Pick a time of economic chaos in history. Or a time of war or great social change. Pick a year, any year, and an accurate portrayal of history will put into context immense challenges and how our nation successfully came together to face those challenges.

To be certain, it wasn't always pretty. However, as any of the great folks who have gone before us will tell you, there was nothing simple about overcoming the challenges of any day.

For whatever reason, in the middle of suffering through one of those soliloquies about how days gone by were simpler, my thoughts drifted to 1942.

It was less than a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, that the dawn of the New Year in 1942 witnessed Carroll County engaged in the work of helping with the war effort.

According to "From Our Front Porch," a history of Carroll County in the 1900s by Jim Lee, "As the new year arrived, Carroll stepped up its efforts to prepare for potential enemy invasions. ... In Westminster, a blackout rehearsal (had taken place) on Dec. 12, at 9 p.m. Following that, a meeting of all county Civil Defense personnel was called for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Westminster Firemen's Building."

As part of the efforts to protect Carroll County from the enemy, members of the Civil Defense units would work shifts "at an air raid lookout post" looking for enemy aircraft flying over the county.

Another local defense initiative saw "more than 1,100 Carroll countians signed up as Minute Men.

"The men wore a determined expression that boded no good for any invaders in Carroll County... Crack riflemen" were among the accumulated defensemen. "One man is keeping his fox hounds in excellent condition (to help) lookout for parachutists ..."

The book also reports that, "in February (1942) the City of Westminster informed residents it would provide sand to homes that could be used to extinguish fires from incendiary bombs."

Carroll County was not bombed or attacked, and by today's standards some of the events of the dawn of 1942 may seem silly for those predisposed to analyze history with a 20/20 hindsight sense of false superiority.

As we look forward to 2009, our own challenges seem overwhelming.

However, by rolling up our sleeves and applying a good dose of common sense, we will rise to the occasion ... just as we have in the past.

One can be sure that our efforts to overcome the challenges will not always be pretty, but we'll get there. It's in our heritage.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. E-mail him at kdayhoff AT carr.org.

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Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/