I gave up my job with the local newspaper, and made plans to marry my Navy sweetheart. I received a telegram on Aug. 10, 1945, stating, "Everything is all set for our wedding. Wire time of arrival. Wish you a good trip. Love, Bill."
At one of my pre-nuptial parties, the place where I was employed printed a small newspaper about me for favors. It was entitled, Extra -- Extra. "The Maryville Fool'em, published only once, at Maryville, Mo., July 26, 1945." Editor: I.N. Doubt.
On Aug. 12, receiving my family's blessings and waving farewells at the depot, I was on my way, happily dreaming of what was ahead of me, as I jogged along in the summer heat on the railroad tracks for two days and two nights, toward my destination of Norfolk, Va.
On Aug. 14, my Navy musician fiance and his buddies gave me a hearty welcome as I stepped off the train at 5:15 p.m. We went directly to a Navy friend's house, where his wife had prepared a spaghetti dinner for all, and I stayed there until our wedding day.
The next day, Aug. 15, news boys were yelling -- "Extra! Extra!" "JAPS GIVE UP" was the headline. People were dancing in the streets, firecrackers were popping. It was a day of jubilation, and rejoicing.
Nostalgia creeps over me as I look over the newspaper clipping of our wedding day. It states, "The marriage of Miss Clarice Schooler to Billy F. Tilson, U.S.N.R., took place at 4 in the afternoon of Aug. 17, 1945 in the Navy Yard Chapel, Portsmouth, Va. Chaplain Peter DeJong performed the double ring ceremony."
It was a sweet wedding, with candles glowing, baskets of flowers on the altar, the organist playing, "I Love You Truly" and "Oh Promise Me," during the ceremony.
The war was over; my husband still had six months to serve.
As he played patriotic songs on his clarinet and saxophone with the band, for different affairs, it was as if a dark cloud had lifted, and we who listened to their beautiful music, realized the true meaning of "America the Beautiful."
