A short story, our time will come when the war is over.

The year was ninteen forty five. WWll had just ended. The US had defeated Germany and Japan.

Romana was working at the shipyard in Evansville, In. where they built ships and made bullets for the war effort.

When she heard the news, a jubilation arose among the workers. Music was blaring. Work had virtually come to a standstill. They were dancing on the ship's deck and down in the streets.

Ramona's true love Bill would be coming home.

She'd not heard from him for several weeks.

Bill and Ramona had been highschool sweethearts. They both had just graduated in nineteen forty one when they heard the news that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. Bill knew without a minutes hesitation, he must go fight for his homeland. So they put their college plans on the back burner and off he went into the ' wild blue yonder '

Ramona wanted to do her patriotic part so she made bullets at the shipyard.

Each day she waited to hear from Bill.

One evening she was sitting on the front porch when a military car drove into her driveway. A marine captain walked up on the porch holding a letter in his hand. She knew the drill. She'd seen it played out with her neighors, a letter informing them of a son or daughter either dead or missing in action.

Funny how a lifetime can take flight across your mind'

She remembered the first day she laid eyes on Bill. She was six and he was eight. They were choosing sides to play baseball and Bill chose her to play on his side. " He was so cute " she thought kinda skinny with big brown eyes and a head full of curly red hair. Ramona was sorta chubby with big blue eyes and long blond pigtails. From that day forward they were inseparable all the way through gradeschool and highschool. They had applied to the University of Southern Indiana. His major was going to be in architecture, her's in teaching.

Suddenly her mind focused on the here and now again. The captain was handing her an envelope and softly saying the words, " I'm so sorry to inform you that Bill Brown was killed in action on March the 26th, the last day of battle on Iwo Jima.

The world seemed to stop turning at that moment. All of her dreams faded into thin air. She couldn't cry, instead she grew angry. Why oh why? The last day of the war. He was so close to returning home and together they would fulfill their dreams of college, then marriage and a family.

Days passed. She mostly sat and thought about Bill and how much she missed him.

Three weeks had passed when the phone rang, she half heartedly answered " Hello " Bill's voice whispered, " Hello baby, i'm alive. " For a minute she thought someone was playing a sick joke, then he spoke again, " Telling her he was wounded and had lost his dog tags and was comatose for days before he could tell anyone who he was. " He was the only survivor of his ninth division of 112 men. " She screamed and almost dropped the phone. He was alive! He was alive! Her world was once again whole.

The war had ended. Their life was back on track after four long years of delay.

Truely happy days were here again.

Bill remained in the hospital another two weeks, then was discharged home. His head injury healed but he was left with a permanent limp, a bullet shattered his tibia in his right leg, at times he required a brace for needed support. He was awarded a purple star for his injury.

They both started college in the fall. with his government loan they were able to rent a small cottage near campus.

Their love grew stronger each day and their future was planned well in advance. After graduation they would get married and start the family they both wanted so badly.

They knew how very lucky they were. He often thought of his buddies lying scattered on the Iwo Jima hill/mountain. A memory that really never left him for the duration of his life.

Edwin Star war quote-Wikipedia.org. Public domain.

And when he gets to heaven

To St. Peter he will tell

" One more marine reporting Sir!

I've served my time in hell! "