I was in the sixth grade when the second World War broke out. We had an art teacher who left in the middle of the night. She was a German spy. Our town was Hitchcock, Oklahoma; 235 residents lived there. She stayed at Dr. Bernett’s home. No one knew what had happened to her. We were so shocked.
I lived on a farm with my parents and rode the bus to school. We saved our toothpaste tubes and all our cans. We cut the tops and bottoms out, placed the ends inside and smashed the can flat.
I had to go to the dentist one Saturday; I was 14 and had never been there before. Dad, being a farmer, had to buy things for the tractor. He said, “I guess you will be OK ’til I get back,” and he left me alone in the dentist chair. A few weeks later we heard the FBI took the dentist away as a German spy. It’s a good thing I didn’t know until after my appointment.
Our boys finally came home. My brother was stationed in England. I married my husband after he came home from Guam. The one I was in love with was killed the first year on the Burma Road by the Japanese. They captured the boys under his command and killed him.
We were so glad when the second World War came to an end. I wish people would still love the good old United States.
Henrietta (Hiebert) Fleshman
Enid, Oklahoma
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.
