Sunday 31 July 2011

Thank You, America




It grieves me to see so many of my American blogging friends unhappy with the politicians in their own country. I see a good, proud, kind nation tearing itself to pieces and would like to remind you of the big heart and generous spirit you showed towards others less fortunate than you.

Let me introduce you to a little girl, called Eva,  growing up in the years immediately after  WW2 in Germany, in a small village on the left bank of the Lower Rhine. Previous adventures can be found under the label 'Eva's Tale' in the side bar. Each story stands on its own. Sometimes Eva writes the story herself, at other times she asks me to do it.

This is one of those that I tell for her; she would like me to say thank you to the people of America, who, irrespective of political affiliation, clubbed together like one nation of like-minded people, with one gigantic heart, willing to help her and millions like her to survive the chaos of her time.

Dear American reader, you may not know what a CARE Paket is, or recognise the letters GARIOA , neither did Eva at the time, but those letters and what they stood for, meant that she, although often hungry, did not starve to death.

Eva went to the village school; she was fortunate in that her school was undamaged, it had a roof and walls and tables and chairs. Like every child, she picked up any kind of firewood she could find on her way to school.  Very occasionally, she had a piece of coal, or a whole briquette to take; without heating, they were in danger of freezing during lessons in winter.

Eva knew about hunger too. Everybody was entitled to ration cards, children included, but you can’t eat paper. There was very little food, with or without a ration card. If you had a garden, you might have had some potatoes or cabbage for part of the year; if you had anything left to barter, you might traipse round farms and maybe come away with a couple of eggs, a pound of potatoes, some apples.

An American Aid Programme made it possible that children had hot milk soup at school, semolina soup, barley soup, or oat soup. Eva’s favourites were chocolate soup and semolina soup with raisins. Each child had to bring a metal canteen with a lid and a handle, to receive a ladle full of liquid.  Sometimes they had a thick slice of bread, with cream cheese.

Food aid for families came in the form of CARE packages. In November 45, twenty two charitable organizations in the US founded the private Aid Organisation CARE (Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe). To begin with, most parcels were sent to relatives of American citizens in Germany; once help was standardized, other families also received food.

The parcels contained tinned meat, fat, sugar, chocolate, jam, dried egg, powdered milk and coffee.

Distribution was strictly controlled, and Eva’s family never had a full parcel to themselves but it was possible to receive some of the items on ration cards.

For years Eva believed that her favourite food in all the world was horse meat. The reason was that one of the tins her mother opened contained a luscious, dark brown meat, in a thick, savoury jelly. Once the contents had been emptied on to a plate, Eva put as much of her little hand inside the tin as she could, wiping it clean. Licking the traces of jelly off her hand was bliss.

These tins came with the picture of a horse stuck to the outside and the name on the label was ‘Mustang’


Pre-Printed Thank You Cards which recipients
of CARE packages sent to the United States.













57 comments:

  1. Hello:
    We, as children of the immediate post war period, can only wholeheartedly endorse what you write here for without American 'Lease Lend', sent in the form of food and aid throughout the period of conflict and in its aftermath, then so many of our parents, and we too, would not have survived. We doubt that the debt owed can ever be repaid.

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  2. Friko, darling, you have made me cry with gratitude this morning. I don't know how to thank you.

    We are sad and scared and so embarrassed today by our government. No matter which side we're on, Democrat or Republican, we're all horrified by events. We're glued to our news feeds and televisions, straining our stomach muscles to try to help our Congress and our president turn this ship around before it hits the iceberg.

    You remind us that we're not as lost as we feel. This one goes out to my FB friends and I'll feature it in a linked post of my own today.

    May you know that you've made a difference.

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  3. Thank you Friko though I wasn't born til 1950. It certainly is a sorry state of affairs here when the politicians protect their perks while pulling the rug out from under the rest of us. I don't think things will get better in this country until my generation dies. we have become far too polarized.

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  4. Hi Friko .. a heart-felt post and I'm sure so true for so many .. though the first time I've read about this.

    I too grew up after the war - but remember ration cards vaguely - meant little to a small child, who couldn't understand ..

    Thanks for reminding us we have much to be grateful for .. in more ways than one .. Hilary

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  5. What a kind and timely post, Friko. It's hard to sit here, just north of the border and watch friends and family struggle through this time - and its accompanying identity crises.

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  6. Friko, you tell us of a time when we and our elected leaders looked beyond ourselves. That was good. Now, our elected leaders, and those who support them, are looking only at themselves, what power they can grasp at any cost to the nation. We have a drumbeat of recalcitrance coming from unelected, unanointed broadcasters, print journalists and web sources that demand their point of view be adhered to without compromise. Weep for the late, once great, nation that was the United States of America. "We have met the enemy, and he is us." (Pogo) - Jim

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  7. Thank you for sharing this. It is a kindness that touches me. How weighed down we become, under what is wrong with us. Perhaps if we focused on what is right, we could even right ourselves.

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  8. Agree, nice well-appreciated post. I hope and wish that all of us who live in wealthy countries occasionally take our eyes off our own problems and cast them onto the far bigger problems of others around the world who are less fortunate, struggling just to feed themselves, to be free, to provide a decent life for their children.

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  9. I think I remember seeing television ads for CARE. I never understood what happened on the other end though, so thank you.
    I do wonder how much the change in the politics in this country has to do with television and other telecommunications. Everybody's a tv star now instead of a statesman. And for many, it seems, the political gamesmanship is nothing more than another reality show, with all the dreary horror those entail.

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  10. Somewhere, I remember seeing a picture of my mother, along with many of her friends, sending CARE packages at the post office. My sister and I were very young but we were being taught to think of others, even then.

    I truly appreciate this post, and the comments, to raise my eyes to look beyond the present moment.

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  11. What a lovely post!!!!! Thank you!!!!

    I remember the ads for CARE. I'm wondering what happened to some of our leaders' hearts. We will weather our storms as we are a strong and proud nation.

    Thanks for reminding us of our strength and generosity.

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  12. Such a powerful and moving account of how this country has helped and saved so many in their times of need around the world. We should be truly proud!

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  13. thanks for the flash back on what was once a beautiful country...its hard to remember those when the crown eats its constituents....

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  14. The core of this country is still great, the idea still present, the practice needs some adjustment, but thank you, Friko, for reminding me to be grateful for the good.

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  15. What a wonderful post. Thank you. It is so nice to read a tribute to us amid all that is going on at the moment. We are all shaking our heads. Sigh.

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  16. Friko, your beautifully written piece about a time when our country showed its generosity of spirit is just what I needed after days and days of watching our elected leaders think only of themselves and how to get re-elected. The comments show I am not alone in my frustration. I wish I could send all of this to my senators and congressmen but would they "get it." I have my doubts.

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  17. Have not thought about those CARE packages in eons...the US has always opened their hearts to the rest of the world...it is good to see the recipients view point too.
    We will continue to take care of everyone I think...the problem that I see, is somewhere we forgot to take care of ourselves. While we are a nation of riches, our leaders know not how to face reality & right now, don't seem to care...how sad for all of us.
    Thank you Friko for an upbeat message when it is really needed.

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  18. Thank you for this moving post!

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  19. This post has me in tears.

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  20. Thanks so much for your touching post. The thing about our politicians is that I have no doubt that they'll work the thing out, but I just hate all the ridiculousness and warnings of disaster that we have to endure before they do . . .

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  21. Friko: I'm so often embarrassed and ashamed of my country. I honestly don't know how much of what going on is political theater and how much is genuine crisis - things have gotten that surreal. Still it hurts to see the America-bashing that goes on in social media. I accept these criticisms in silence, knowing that we have much - far too much - to answer for. Thank you for the kind word (and the photos. I've never seen pictures of CARE packages).

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  22. I loved this story. America is a great country for sure, and our politicians will do the right thing in the end. They always squabble until the end of the time they have to make a decision, and make something right. We can't keep spending money as if it grew on trees for sure.

    I am happy that when I was younger, I helped pack Care boxes for the Red Cross and they made their way overseas. We will always have enough to help others help themselves. Dianne

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  23. Friko, thank you. Sometimes it is hard for me to remember "the good times," as our nation is wading through so much muck at this time. I'm proud to be an American; but I'd like to feel the old kind of proud, before it all became so messy. You helped me do so today. Thank you again, dear friend.

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  24. Thanks for this post, Friko. These are dark days in America and it's good to be reminded that we once followed our better angels. Now, unfortunately, America is being driven by a powerful coalition of the rich and the ignorant, and it is almost impossible for anyone with ideals or compassion, including our president, to make any headway.

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  25. Perhaps this country may be great again--sometime. In the 50's we had heart and not so much money. Today we have money and have become greedy people. Maybe a default would be a good thing. Who knows?

    Regardless, what a sweet story of the hard times of a little girl who survived. (As a child in the 50's I lived in the village of Parsberg and have fond memories of the village and the German people.) I will have to read more of Eva.

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  26. There are still generous charitable organizations in the USofA; CARE and its successors live on. Individually, Americans have deeply caring hearts. Those who represent us are doing so quite poorly, but the citizenry is there when we need it.... at least it was, for me, as it was for Eva.

    Linda, default would not be a good thing....
    a/b

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  27. Thank you very much for posting this (found via Nance's Mature Landscaping). Please don't think that our country today is represented by the pathetic spectacle unfolding in Congress. In any country, sometimes the worst elements rise to the top.

    Germany's prosperity and strength today remind us that a society can come back, even after going through the worst of times -- an encouraging reminder for ourselves.

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  28. Thank you for this lovely post and thanks to Nance for directing us over here. It gives me hope that we Americans will find our hearts once again and become the caring people we were not so long ago. But even now, the majority of Americans are not as crazy as what I'm sure you're reading about. It's just that the crazy ones are ever so loud and rather tacky.

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  29. Friko, Thank you for the reminder of what a great country America can be. It is embarrassing these days, with our political grandstanding, yet, this country is stil very much full of people who CARE!

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  30. Friko, you've written a generous tribute to the generosity of my America...many years ago. The States were very lucky in many ways in the first couple of hundred years of its occupation by those who sailed from Europe.

    More recently, all sorts of flying feathered bits are coming home to roost. Hard to know if we are in some national adolescence or still children.

    I am so upset about how little some of those elected to power (and those electing them) seem to know about history. Living in New York, amidst folks whose relative might have immigrated here from all over, it's really sad to begin to think that there are so many folks across the country who care only about their own selves.

    (Continuing this could take many e-mails. My friends and I really wonder what is going on.)

    xo

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  31. Thank you so much for reminding us of how America was and could still be with the right attitude in our leadership. The American people have always reached out to help those who are in need. The cynicism heard in the press is not representative of the majority of our citizenry.

    Thanks for this wonderful story. I found you through Nance.

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  32. Such a welcome thing to be reminded of in these times. The US is not alone in getting on a wrong path, of course, but it seems we've been off course for a very long a time. It's hard to see anymore what might change that. Generosity of spirit isn't dead here, I do believe that, but not on a broad enough scale, and it doesn't make what passes for the news.

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  33. Thank you for this much needed story of the kindness this country is capable of.

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  34. Thank you. This is a great remind for a great nation that is all too eager to cater to the narrow-minded members and close itself off to the world (and actually close itself off to the needy of its own). I hope we pull through and manage to not surrender to the base human instinct of selfishness.

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  35. Friko, thank you for recognizing and reminding us and others that we are a country of souls who do think beyond the current picture... who look to help those in need as well as helping our own.

    At times when the news feeds are not always positively reflecting, and politicians are struggling, we sometimes forget what this wonderful country is about.

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  36. Between the intriguing comments you leave on my posts and amazingly detailed and compassionate work you do here, I am finding you endlessly fascinating. Thank you for taking us current-day Americans back to a time of simple pride.

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  37. The Australians did something similar for young mothers and children in England at the end of the war too. My mother always remembered the joy of getting an anonymous parcel from Australia when my Eldest brother was born. Sometimes the kindness of strangers is overwhelming.

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  38. This is a wonderful reminder of benevolent America. As to my country, I can’t thank enough Operation Tomodachi by US armed forces for their warm, powerful and stunning relief missions.

    In my country, politicians and we civilians get detached each other. I wish politicians be wise enough to tackle with the most difficult time remembering when they started their career with good intention before soaked into that toxic world.

    I like your tone of friendship with compassion. Have a happy week.

    Yoko

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  39. Friko. I was a stranger to your site but I will be no longer. Thank you for making my day.

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  40. This post touches the core of humanity - we are all human, we all, as individuals, interact with each other. Coming together in government or organization is meant to strengthen interaction, not weaken it.
    You have written a tale of the best of humanity's interactions - how collectively, much can be accomplished.
    I have read about Care Packages, but never "knew" anyone who had actually received one. Thank you for sharing Eva's story.

    As Pondside wrote, those of us neighbouring the US are watching closely, and wishing our friends well.

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  41. Thank you, Friko. As others have said, we Americans need to be reminded of the things that have brought us together and made us great.

    As a school child in the late Forties and early Fifties, I remember bringing school supplies to contribute to CARE packages. I had on;y the haziest notion of of the suffering in post-war Europe and Asia but always felt hopeful that the package of crayons or pencils or such would make another child happy.

    Thank you for this timely reminder!

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  42. What an informative post, Friko. I had never seen a Care package before and did not know they were sent to Europe after the war. I was in Paris at that time but never saw one of these – maybe they were sent to the country. We did not get any type of food or drink in my school. I would have liked to get one as I don’t remember eating meat ever until I was 6 years old – just one egg a week and some cheese from our cousin’s and that was all. I am sure that the recipients were very happy to receive them and it was nice of the US to send them.

    the verification word is "ration" and that was what we had in Paris - ration not food!

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  43. Oh Friko, you have warmed my heart with your kind tribute to our country. It was bittersweet to remember a time when sanity and compassion reigned here.

    During these dark days it's hard to feel hope that we will return to our roots, but most Americans are kind. I think the problem now is, we are so involved with struggling to survive the economic chaos engulfing us that we forget that there are others in worse shape.

    (I do wish they had put Spam in the CARE packages though and not horse meat. I'm sure that was meant to be the dogs food.)

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  44. Thank you, Friko. It was very kind of you to post this.

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  45. The nation you describe here is the America that I love. I still love this country - I live here by choice -, and its people, but I certainly do NOT love the politics and injustice that seems to dominate these days.

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  46. Little Eva was much luckier than we were for she obviously lived in the American zone. We were stuck in the French zone and, since their own country was so destroyed and short of food, anything they could lay their hands on was shipped home to feed their own relatives while we starved. Only once did we ever get a Red Cross food parcel and in the schools that we went to, there were no food handouts. To this day, my teeth tell the tale of two years of starving while they grew.

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  47. Thanks for sharing such a heart-warming tale, especially at a moment when Americans are questioning their values and worrying about the future. This too shall pass...
    We have family in the Saarland, where many similar stories could be told, no doubt. vielen Dank.

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  48. It is very sad that you would have to reach back over 60 years to find an example.

    As heartwarming as it is (even though we had to pay for those packages for a good 50 years - Lend Lease does not mean free) the bad the US has committed, the dozens of regimes changed, the support of vicious dictators and despots in the name of stability for corporate exploitation far outweigh any good the US has done over the last 100 years.

    To put this into perspective for you: the US has been in constant military conflict for 217 of it's 234 years of existence, has overthrown 163 governments and has been a state sponsor of terrorism for nearly the entire time.

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  49. Scrolling through your blog (to know you better) I stumbled over this post. My family too got care packages, my aunt used to write thank you letters and later married the son of the family who sent the parcels to us. What a story. I was only 2 in 45 but I very well remember the occupation afterwards. We too were lucky to be under American occupation we lived near Frankfurt.

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  50. Thanks for giving me an understanding of what our country did for families in war areas. Your words were warm. I was just a tot then.

    I do have an idea of why our country fell into this dysfunctional state.I can only hope for positive renewal for our country at this point. It will be a tough road ahead for years.

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  51. Thanks a lot for giving everyone remarkably marvellous possiblity to read from this site.

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  52. There are still lot of people like her nowadays, let us help them and the government must do something about this.

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  53. An American Aid Programme made it possible that children had hot milk soup at school, semolina soup, barley soup, or oat soup.

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  54. This is a good posting, I was wondering if I could use this write-up on my website, I will link it back to your website though. If this is a problem please let me know and I will take it down right away.
    Ottawa Daily Deals

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  55. There was very little food, with or without a ration card.

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