Christmas 1941

President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill led a somber ceremony on Christmas Eve, 1941, only seventeen days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. Millions listened from their homes on radio, probably including Clabe and Leora Wilson near Minburn, Iowa. They were tenant farmers, along with sons Delbert, Danny, and Junior.

Their landlord had bought a tractor for them to use, which made the farmwork easier than working with and taking care of teams of horses.

Delbert and Donald Wilson enlisted in the Navy for four years back in 1934. Delbert was dischrged after his four years were up, hoping to find a job in California to help support his family in Dexter, Iowa. After several tries, he returned to Iowa and moved with the family to the Minburn farm.

But Donald reenlisted, attended a Naval school, then was assigned to the crew of the new USS Yorktown (CV-5). In 1941, the aircraft carrier had been ordered into the north Atlantic for Neutrality Patrol. Knowing that the outbreak of war was imminent, he and a crewmate slipped home, AWOL, that November. After the Wilsons got a notice from the Navy about his absence, the navymen headed to Des Moines and were ordered to the brig at Great Lakes, Illinois. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, they spent the rest of their punishment aboard the Yorktown, which was refitted and ordered back to the Pacific.

Now that war had been declared, Dale Wilson knew he’d be drafted. His goal though was to become a pilot in the Army Air Force, and he’d been studying math at home hoping to pass rigorous tests. No birth certificate had been issued for twins Dale and Darlene in 1921, so his mother Leora rounded up a newspaper clipping about their birthday, his baby picture, and a church Cradle Roll certificate. His application for a Delayed Certificate of Birth was notarized December 17, 1941.

Dale’s twin, Darlene, married Sam Scar that spring. Because they farmed near Earlham, they didn’t know whether Sam would be subject to the draft or not. Doris, the other Wilson sister, was a waitress at McDonald’s Drug in Perry, Iowa.

Delbert, the oldest in the family at age 26, knew he’d probably be called back by the Navy. Danny had just graduated from nearby Washington Township High School, valedictorian of his class, and had registered for the draft. Junior Wilson, ten years younger than Delbert, was still in high school.

The Yorktown, darkened each evening and sounding general quarters (battle stations) each morning, headed for the Panama Canal, transiting on December 21.

The Christmas of 1941, the nation prepared for a war of biblical proportions, Donald’s carrier was headed to San Diego to join a task force. It was an uneasy Christmas for the Wilson family, with the nation at war with both Japan and Germany. 

That Gallant Ship: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5) by Robert Cressman

Story from Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II