- [Announcer] The electronic field trip, We're All In This Together, how students like you helped win World War II, is a production partnership of wyes, New Orleans public television, and The National WWII Museum.

Made possible in part by The Selley Foundation.

(intense music) - [Roosevelt] December 7th, 1941.

A date which will live in infamy.

- [Tom] President Franklin Roosevelt tells the nation that they are at war.

After the Japanese bomb American warships at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Bringing the United States into World War II, fighting both Japan in the Pacific, and Germany and its allies in Europe.

16 million Americans fought in the war, but more than a 100 million, over 80% of America's population at the time, helped in the war effort at home as civilians.

And that includes the children of America.

In this electronic field trip, we'll learn how kids, just like you, helped the United States win the war, 'cause they realized that we're all in this together.

Welcome to our electronic field trip from The National WWII Museum in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana.

I'm Tom Gregory.

During this field trip, we're going to learn what kids your age did to help America win World War II.

And we wanna hear from you.

You can email questions to fieldtrips@wyes.org.

And we also invite you to answer some questions by taking part in our live polls.

First you have to sign up, text wyesfieldtri069 to 22333 to join.

Or you can play right along on your computer, just scroll down and you'll see the poll questions.

Just follow the instructions during the poll questions to participate.

You know, young people your age did have a role in the war effort, even though they were at home and in school.

During World War II, we were all in this together, working hard to preserve our freedom.

School yearbooks are not only a place for friends signatures and well wishes, they're a place for history.

Yearbooks from the war years 1941 through 1945, give us an idea of how students took part in the war effort.

They helped by saving materials that were needed by soldiers on the war front, like metal for weapons and ammunition.

Or by eating less of the things they really enjoyed, like candy.

Because sugar was in short supply.

The stories of how Americans all came together during World War II are told in exhibits at The National WWII Museum, helping us learn more about these stories, are our student reporters.

Caroline, Chris, Eliana, and Miguel.

They're going to take us on an adventure through time with the help of museum historians, and also some very special folks who know first hand what it was like to be a kid during World War II.

Let's join Eliana, Chris, and Miguel as they start their museum adventure.

- Hey guys, my name is Chrissy Gregg and I'm the virtual classroom coordinator here at The National WWII Museum.

What I do here is I actually connect with students like you but from all across the globe.

I use different kinds of technology to really share with them the lessons of World War II.

But you guys are lucky enough to be here today in person.

- It's really neat that we have the museum in our backyard.

Why is The WWII Museum in New Orleans?

- That's a great question.

It's actually because of this boat here, the Higgins Boat.

- Higgins Boat, what's that?

- The Higgins Boat was an important vessel during World War II, that took our soldiers and our marines to enemy beaches.

They were built here by Higgins Industries, over 12,500 of these boats were built.

You guys take a look at this boat right now, what do you think makes it different than let's say, I don't know, a speedboat or a fishing boat, something like that.

- Well it's got a ramp on the front of it.

- You are exactly right, it does have a ramp.

Why would you want a ramp on a boat?

- Well it would be easier to get on and off of the boat, than having to hop off the side of it.

- Exactly, that is really critical to its design.

So when soldiers would land on those beaches, they could unload the boat within seconds.

It was a design by Andrew Higgins, right here at Higgins Industries in New Orleans.

- Where they important?

- My gosh yes, General Dwight Eisenhower, who later became president of the United States, said boats like these won the war for us.

But you know what?

That's a story for another time, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's go in the vault, where most of the museums collection is held, and learn a little bit more about history and the study of World War II.

All right guys, right now we are in the museum's vault, where we house some of the museums 160,000 artifacts we have in our collection.

Just a little bit of those are actually on view here at the museum.

Now being in a museum that's totally dedicated to history and you all study history for years and years in school, we all know that history is important, right?

But why is it important?

- So we learn from our mistakes and we don't repeat them.

- But also to learn from the good things that happened in the past, so we can repeat them.

- History also shows how much has happened over the years.

- Yeah and I think you guys are all correct on that, but I'm gonna add one more point.

History is full of the best stories ever told.

And on whatever topic that you really enjoy, whether it's art, music, war, sports, movies, science, you name it, there is a history of that certain topic.

And if you research it and study it and learn all about it, it will enhance your enjoyment of that topic.

Another question for you all.

So we know history is important, but what is history exactly?

- Oh, history is what had happened in the past.

- So what you ate for breakfast, is that history?

- Well.

- No.

- Yeah I know, it's a tough one right?

So history actually is not just the past, it's the study of the past.

If no one writes about it, or researches, or studies it, then it's just the past, it's not history technically.

One more kind of tough question for you all.

So we use different kinds of materials to discover the past, what kind of materials could those be?

To learn all about the past.

- Well like all the stuff you have here in the vault.

- Yeah exactly, okay so all this stuff whether it's letters or manuscripts, diaries, uniforms.

We've got leather saddles above us, all these kinds of things, yes.

What do we call those things in school?

- Primary sources.

- Yeah you got it, primary sources.

What are primary sources, what do they do?

- Well there are certain things that were created in the past that we've used to study.

- Exactly, primary sources help enhance our understanding of that certain time period of an event in the past.

Now, here is kind of a cool thing.

Sometimes the best primary sources are living people.

- People can be primary sources?

- Yeah, people can be primary sources.

If they witnessed or experienced an event in history and tell about it, yeah that's definitely a primary source.

And since World War II in the grand scheme of things wasn't that long ago in history, 70, 75 years ago.

Sometimes, as I said, the best primary sources are the people who lived then.

And they're still alive today.

And actually, I have a mission for you all related to that.

What you're gonna be doing today, is going throughout the museum, learning about the lives of students during World War II.

How students were affected by the war, and how they helped out on the home front.

But the thing is, you won't be going at it alone, you'll be going with a museum volunteer who was actually a kid during World War II.

And they'll be leading you through, giving you guys insights on what life was like for them.

And so they are your first primary source and you're gonna encounter many more as you go through.

Are you guys ready to go?

- [All Children] Yeah!

- All right let's go.

- I'm now joined here with Kenneth Hoffman, he's the director of education at The National WWII Museum.

Kenneth, history books are filled with stories of presidents, generals, and adults.

Did kids have a part in history?

- Kids absolutely have a part in history, which is why I'm really glad that all of you kids out there, and your teachers are watching today.

Now, at The National WWII Museum, we tell one of the biggest stories in history.

The biggest war in history, World War II.

And it was a story that affected everybody, old and young alike.

So kids definitely played a part in World War II.

- Kids helped the outcome?

- Kids the helped the outcome!

And that's what we're gonna see.

We're sending our four student reporters through the museum with people who were kids during the war, to hear those stories firsthand.

- Kids are part of history, they're part of this broadcast too.

Before our student reporters head off to different parts of the museum to meet up with their special tour guides, we have a question for you.

How often do you learn about children your age in social studies class?

A, never.

B, not very often.

C, often.

D, all the time.

Text your answer A for never.

B for not very often.

C for often, and D for all the time to 22333.

You can also answer on your computer.

We'll check to see how you responded in just a little while.

But now, it's time to catch up with Chris, who's in the home front gallery with a very special guest.

- Was exhibit, at The National WWII Museum, is all about the home front.

It explains how the people who were home in America, during the war, including kids, kept informed about the war and about how they could do things to help in the war effort.

Museum volunteer, Joyce Dunn, was in elementary school when the war started.

When the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, America was suddenly at war.

What do you remember about that day?

- Oh I remember it so much.

My mother had the radio on, and I'll never forget that day when she looked and said, "we're at war, Pearl Harbor has been bombed."

She told us, "that was part of America that was bombed."

- During World War II, 42 million kids were on home front.

What was it like for kids back then?

- Well one thing we did was, we could write our relatives who were in the war.

And I can remember vividly, writing these V-mails to my uncle, and also to my cousin.

And that meant a lot to them that they would receive mail from us.

- When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, I understand that everything changed.

What type of things changed?

- Quite a bit changed.

First of all, the food we could eat.

Everything was rationed.

My mother would have to go get a ration book, and that was a main concern about the food and the ration.

- Everything changed, including pennies, as I see here.

Instead of copper pennies, back then you used steel pennies.

- That's right, because copper was really needed, a commodity for the war because it was used for wiring.

It conducts electricity and it was very important, so copper was no longer used in 1943.

The government found a way to use steel pennies.

You see right here, I have a steel penny, and if you notice, it's magnetic.

And if we have a copper penny, I could show you that it wouldn't be magnetic.

Oh you have one in your pocket?

- Copper penny right here.

- Yes.

You see.

Okay and then if you see if you try and use it, it doesn't stick because it is not magnetic like the steel.

And that is the reason why in 1943, the government changed to steel penny, in order to save the copper.

- During World War II, I understand that there was no TV, no Internet, no video games, so what did you use to get all your information?

- Well, first of all, we used the newsreel at the movie theater, but also they had wall posters all around.

They called them propaganda posters, and these posters were made to unite us.

- Because so much equipment had to be made, and so many men who worked in the factories were now fighting in the war, the government called on the women to take their place.

They were given a special nickname.

What about the famous propaganda poster about Rosie the Riveter?

- Well you see, during the war the men went off, so they needed someone to service and make the tanks, and make everything.

And so what happened, the women went to war at home.

And it was known as Rosie the Riveter.

- This little girl looks like she would be the same age as you during World War II Ms. Joyce.

Why does she have tea pod, a bicycle tire, and shoes?

- The reason why, we were scrapping during the war.

And you notice rubber from the shoes, and all these things were sent to help the war.

There was also fat, when you fry bacon and other things, the fat would go in here.

Your mom or your dad would take this to the butcher, and then they would send it to a certain place, and they would use it for glycerin, a nitroglycerin later on.

So this was very important, the fats during the war.

'Cause they were used very much for ammunition.

- Bacon fat was used to make bombs?

- Absolutely, isn't that strange?

But it was a very important part of the home front.

These are the things we did to help the war.

- Another way to help out was buying war stamps.

- Oh yes, this was very important during the war.

- How do these stamps work?

- Well Chris, this is how it did, and this is a war bond book.

For 10 cents, you'd fill in every blank.

And when the pages were filled, it was $18.70, and then you'd turn it in and you'd get a $25 war bond.

The savings bond was so essential because just think about all the tanks, the aeroplanes, everything that was needed during the war.

And so how did we get the money?

War bonds.

All the money that were collected from these bonds were used so that we could fight the war and win.

- Thanks Ms. Joyce, you've helped us all understand how even folks on the home front, including kids like me, helped win the war, and how we were all in this together.

- Well Chris it's been my pleasure, and I think it's very important that children in your age remember how it was in those early days, because that was the war that really changed the 20th century.

And here we are free, and a lot of men and women died for our freedom.

So we should always remember that.

- I'm back here with Kenneth Hoffman, director of education at The National WWII Museum.

Kenneth, breakfast to bombs, they took bacon grease and turned it into nitroglycerin, how does that happen?

- This was something that kids definitely participated in.

In the kitchen of most Americans, maybe almost all Americans, they would have something like this, a little grease can.

And you would pour the grease from your frying pan into the grease can, and this filter would get all the little bits of meat out and the grease would go in here.

After a while when it was all filled, you would bring this to school on fat collecting day.

- Fat collecting day.

- Absolutely.

And then they would put it all in a big barrel, send it off to a factory, melt it down and take out the chemicals.

glycerin was the main chemical they would take out, and then they could turn that into nitroglycerin.

- And that turns into?

- That's an explosive, and so you could use that for bombs.

- Another thing that Ms. Joyce talked about was V-mail.

We know what electronic mail is, e-mail.

What does V-mail stand for?

- Well V-mail, you saw the letter V all over the place during World War II.

What do you guys think V stood for?

Victory.

'Cause we wanted to win the war.

And so we didn't have cell phones back then, we didn't have the Internet, so people wrote letters and sent them in the mail.

- Hand written letter?

- Hand written letters and if you wanted to send a letter to someone overseas, or they wanted to send a letter to you.

First you would write it on a regular piece of paper, then they would take a picture of it.

And they would take a picture of all the letters so that on one small roll of film, they could have thousands of letters.

They would send that across the ocean, and then they would develop the film into a little picture of the letter.

So this is V-mail.

- Shrunk the letter.

- They shrunk it down, you would need a magnifying glass to read this.

But it was a way to communicate across the whole world much better than regular mail, they were very creative in how they wrote letters to each other.

- Because they didn't have texts like we do, so let's take a look at how you are texting us.

Let's take a look at your answers to the poll questions.

How often do you learn about children in your age in social studies class?

71% of you said not very often.

14% said never.

Well that has all changed today, hasn't it?

As we are talking about what kids did to help win the war during World War II.

We have a question right now from one of our viewers.

Was Rosie the Riveter an actual person?

This is from the Micro Schools' Students in New Orleans, Louisiana.

- Awesome.

Well it is wonderful to get a question like that, and the answer is, Rosie the Riveter was not an actual woman, she was all women who went to work in factories during World War II to help build the tanks and the planes, and some of the things you see around the museum.

But, you're gonna hear more about that, a little later in the program.

- We'll find out more about Rosie.

We'll also have another question for you in a few minutes.

Remember, to email us your questions at fieldtrips@wyes.org.

But now we're going to the victory garden here at the museum, to meet up with Eliana and museum volunteer, Ronnie Abboud.

- Growing our own vegetables and herbs is a healthy thing to do, but it also tastes fresher, and it's fun.

But during the war, people grew their own gardens, which they called victory gardens.

Not only for fresh food, but also to make up for food shortages.

Americans planted more than 20 million victory gardens across the country.

These gardens produced 40% of the vegetables grown in the US during the war years.

In 1944 alone, the vegetables grown in victory garden weighed more than 8 million tons.

Growing food at home meant there was more food available to send to our troops overseas.

It's estimated that an army of 1 million men consumed more than a million pounds of food every day.

I'm here at the museum victory gardens with Ronnie Abboud who was a kid during World War II.

And I know so many service men and women were sent food during the war, so I guess there was less on the grocery shelves.

So how did everyone get their fair share of food?

- Well there was rationing, there was a thing called a rationing book.

In addition to that, we had a victory garden.

And where you grew your own fruits and vegetables, in the backyard on the side of the house.

And that was pretty common in the neighborhood.

But with the ration book, when you went to the store to buy an item, that was limited or rationed.

You had to have a coupon, and you'd pay the regular item for the price at the grocer, but then you had to give the grocer a stamp out of the coupon book itself.

You had to be very careful because if you used up all your coupons, if you weren't careful over the month how you used them, you'd run out of them and then you couldn't get any more items until the next month.

- So did every American get one, even kids?

- Even kids, absolutely, even kids.

- So was every single food rationed?

- Not every food, but a lot of foods were.

For example, sugar was very valuable.

Sugar coupons.

But even if you didn't have a coupon book, there were limitations on what you could get in the neighborhood.

- Like you said, you also had your victory gardens so you even had your own food at home, so I guess that made things a little easier.

- Well it did help, because my mom in particular, nurtured over the garden making sure that everything was cared for and taken and then when it came time to pick the fruits and the vegetables, we did it, brought them inside.

In addition to that, we had a couple of chickens, and so we had a couple of eggs on occasion.

And we also had a pet duck.

I had a pet duck.

His name was Herbie.

And at one point my dad said the duck ran away, and I never could figure that out.

But I think my dad maybe wasn't being 100% truthful.

- Maybe not.

- Why do you think there was some limitations on some things, for examples, tomatoes.

Some of them were canned, some of them were not, fresh tomatoes were okay.

But canned goods were limited.

Why do you think that was?

- Well I know that canned goods last longer, so you can actually send those overseas to all the people that were fighting.

- And it was a heck of a lot of people, 16 million men put on the uniform of the United States.

Hundreds of thousands of women also went into military service, so it was a lot of people that had to be fed and clothed, and taken care of.

- So did you start your garden before the war or during the war?

- To my memory, we did not start it before the war.

After the morning of December the seventh, after Pearl Harbor.

I can remember my mother cutting up the grass in the backyard and digging a trench, and my dad also helping.

And at the same time, she started planting seeds and I would go out there and help with the garden.

- Now in my own garden, I focus more on herbs and spices, things to flavor my food.

But in your garden, your goal was to feed a family.

- Positively.

Well it was an important part of the contribution to the war effort.

You had to make sure that the more we could do at home, the better we could do to serve our men and women overseas.

- Well that sounds delicious.

- It was a taste of victory.

- I bet it was.

Well thank you so much Mr. Ronnie for sharing your memories of your victory garden.

- Thank you.

- Kenneth, what foods were rationed and why were they rationed?

- Well, foods were rationed during the war because there wasn't enough to go around, that's why you need to ration.

Some of the foods that were rationed.

Meats were rationed, canned vegetables, you heard Ronnie talking about how hard it is to send a fresh tomato 7,000 miles across the ocean.

Sugar.

- No, not sugar.

- Sugar was rationed, absolutely.

A lot of the sugar came from South America, it had to come up by boat and there were German submarines in the Gulf of Mexico that were sinking those ships.

So yeah sugar was rationed.

But they found ways to sweeten their food without sugar.

How do you think they did it?

- Honey, I'm gonna guess honey.

- Honey is a way.

Also molasses is another way.

That's right.

So people were creative in finding substitutes.

- Were families going without food?

Were people hungry because of rationing?

- It was very important that everyone stay very healthy.

The more you eat, the healthier you will be.

So you had to be healthy to win the war.

Either to be a soldier, or to go into the factories to work, or to be a kid to help when the war effort in the way that kids did.

We're gonna hear more about that in just a minute.

- How did they use this ration book?

- Well here's a ration book.

It was given to Joseph Perone, here in New Orleans.

He was eight years old.

And they probably gave this to his mom or dad.

And inside are little stamps that you can tear out.

And when you would go to the grocery store, up on the shelf, if there was a food that was rationed, it would have a sign telling you how much it cost.

Let's say a can of tomatoes.

18 cents for a can of tomatoes back then.

But also, 10 ration points.

So when you went to buy it, you would give the grocer the money, and you would have to tear out stamps out of your book.

- And you'd have to plan ahead.

- That's right.

If you ran out of stamps by the end of the month, you couldn't buy any more of those rationed foods until you got your new ration book.

- Okay, here's another question for you.

Lots of food were rationed or were unavailable during World War II.

What food would you find the hardest to give up?

What food would be the hardest for you to give up?

A, chocolate.

B, hamburgers.

C, pizza.

D, fruit.

Text A for chocolate, B for hamburgers, C for pizza, or D for fruit, to 22333.

We'll check back in a little while, let's see what would be the hardest for most of you to give up.

We're looking for your answers.

We have an answer for your question.

Who is in charge of getting ration coupons to the people?

That's from Country Day Students.

- That's a great question.

Every town, every city, would have ration boards.

People elected or chosen from the community to organize this great effort.

We had over 100 million people who had to get one of these books every few months.

And so you would have to line up at a certain date, downtown in your town or city.

And you would sign for your book, and they would hand it over to you.

And it says on the back, make sure not to lose it.

- Don't lose it.

All part of what was going on the home front.

Here in the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center where we are standing right now, you can see the types of machines and equipment used in the war.

Tanks and trucks and planes, and of course there were ships too.

During the war, more than 300,000 planes were built.

More than 100,000 ships.

Tanks and armored vehicles numbered 100,000.

Vehicles of all kinds totaled 2.5 million.

And guess how many rounds of ammo were made?

41 billion.

That's billion with a B.

Our reporter Miguel met up with museum volunteer Jim Bryant here in the pavilion to learn how all of this equipment was built from materials that kids helped collect.

- In The National WWII Museums, US Freedom Pavilion you can get a close up look at the types of equipment used in the war.

Like tanks and planes.

It took a lot of materials, like metal and rubber to make war vehicles, air crafts, ships, and ammunition too.

And kids during the war helped to collect the materials that were needed to make ammunition and equipment.

Here with me, is Mr. Jim Bryant, who as a kid, spent most of his time collecting materials that could be used in the war.

- Well there was a lot going on in the home front and it was all in support of our effort to win the war both in Europe and the Pacific.

One of the things that the entire country did, was to gather scrap.

Metal, tin, and bring it and give it to the government.

And they would then take that and build wings of some of these airplanes you see here.

Some of the tanks, lot of metal there.

So, to understand, it was an effort, not only from the men that were in the uniform, both in Europe and in the Pacific.

But every family back home.

- So I've heard you say scrapping a few times.

What exactly does that mean?

- Scrapping means gathering all kinds of different things, and turning them into things that could be used in the war effort.

- So scrapping is a lot like what we call recycling?

- A little bit.

It's using all the things that you find and redoing things to make something like this gas mask.

One tire, 12 gas masks.

- What about this big tank?

How much metal would be used for that?

- 18 tons of steel, to put that thing together.

- 18 tons, that is a lot of metal.

So you scrapped other things besides metal and rubber, correct?

- Yes.

As a matter of fact, I can remember mother when she finished cooking the bacon in the morning, pouring the grease into a tin can.

And you can take grease, that's what that was, cooking grease.

And turning it in to nitroglycerin.

- So what did you exactly do with nitroglycerin?

- We made bombs out of it.

Big, strong, heavy bombs that did an awful lot of destruction.

- So did everybody across the country scrap or was it just your neighborhood?

- No everybody across the country scrapped.

I have a scrapbook here all about children scrapping.

It's about a boy named Billy Michal, from Zimmerman, Louisiana.

He went to school in a one room school house with only 11 other classmates.

Well Billy was actually chosen to attend the launch of a liberty ship here in New Orleans, to represent his tiny school that won a statewide scrap contest.

So Billy traveled to New Orleans for the first time, and was treated to an inspection tour of the city in a Jeep, and see the SS Leonidas Polk launch.

- So Billy got into a Jeep just like this one?

- Yes.

Why don't you give it a shot?

Hop in.

- Thank you so much for taking me to the museum, it has been wonderful experiencing seeing what a kid my age would go through during the war.

- Thanks to you, you are very welcome.

Come back to see us, it's a great, great museum.

- I'm now joined by with Kim Guise.

She is a curator here at The National WWII Museum.

Kim, first of all, you're wearing white gloves, why?

- I am wearing white gloves because here at the museum we collect and display historic artifacts, and many times those are fragile and need special care so we wear white gloves to protect them.

- As you saw with Jim and Miguel, a lot of scrapping going on that turned into a lot of factory work.

Who was working in those factories since a lot of the men were out on the battlefronts?

- Well the labor force really changed during World War II, so quite a few women went into new jobs, new opportunities that opened up in the factories.

- Really?

So moms that possibly were stay-at-home, that was the majority of the population back then.

Moms who were staying at home, they ended up going to factories leaving their kids at home.

- Yes, even some moms.

So daycare programs were started during World War II, and women worked in different jobs in factories as well.

- And they wore?

- And they often wore these so this is a scarf right here that women wore not just as a fashion statement but to protect their hair.

So long hair was a risk when you are working with heavy machinery, you didn't want your hair to get caught in the machinery so you would tie it up like a scarf, like Rosie the Riveter.

- Like Rose the Riveter.

Let's check on our poll question, what would be the hardest food for you to give up?

Well actually right now, the tie has been broken.

31% said chocolate.

Pizza and fruit at 30%.

Hamburgers at nine.

Now it's back, three way tie, chocolate, pizza, and fruit all would be very hard for people to give up.

One more question for you.

Students like you scrapped for victory during World War II.

Does your school have a student recycling program?

Text A for yes, B for no.

That's A for yes, B for no.

Send us your answers and we'll get an answer for you, we have a viewer question coming up right here.

Did schools have scrapping drives?

That's from Tessa in New York.

- Schools did have scrapping drives.

So schools were a big source of engaging children to work in these kinds of efforts.

So they had paper drives, they had a program called Paper Troopers, and kids would form paper platoons.

So they were actual units that would form together and collect paper and scrap metal, and even large pieces.

I know a volunteer here at the museum whose friend had a bulldozer that was broken, and they even included the bulldozer in this scrap drive.

- Wait, they recycled a bulldozer?

- An old, broken, bulldozer.

And that of course won the scrap drive.

The other schools could not compete against the school that had the bulldozer.

- Looks like everybody was doing the effort it right there.

In fact, scrapping a bulldozer to make a tank.

Okay let's go to the poll results right now, let's take quick look at your answers to our latest poll, does your school have a student recycling program?

70% say yes.

To the 30% that say no, that's about to change.

That coming up in a little while.

Well let's take a question right now from one of our viewers, since women started working during World War II, did daycare and preschools become very popular?

- They did.

Daycare started during World War II, and really took off so some factories even opened up factory daycares, so you could leave your child at the daycare at the factory, or in the factory community while you went off to work.

- The war changed lives for moms and for kids.

- [Kim] Indeed.

- During the war, people worked together to save things like grease and metal.

That could all help in the war effort.

But there was also time to enjoy music and movies and dancing.

Our reporter Caroline joined museum volunteer Sylvia Murphy at BB Stage Door Canteen for a performance of World War II songs, by the Victory Belles.

Let's go to the show.

- The war changed movies, songs, and even cartoons and comic books.

Here at BB Stage Door Canteen at The National WWII Museum, you can hear some of the music that was popular during World War II.

Places like the Stage Door Canteen were set up all over the country for soldiers to relax and enjoy entertainment.

Famous singers and movie stars of the day volunteered to perform for the troops.

Museum volunteer Mrs. Sylvia Murphy remembers the songs and music and dances of that time.

What were some of the music like during World War II?

- It was fun, and it was also beautiful.

And some of those songs have become classics now, especially the love songs, the ballads.

They were in the movies, they were on the radio.

And we all enjoyed them so much.

One of my favorite songs back then was the songs about the people leaving.

They were leaving their families, they were leaving their loved ones, and so the songs that reflected that.

- Why was dancing so important?

- Well, it brought people together and it was fun.

The dance of the day really was jitterbug and all the high school kids could do that.

And of course a lot of those high school kids became soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen.

And the radio was our big entertainment as were the movies.

And not only did we see movies, we saw the news of the day.

Everybody would look at those pictures of the boys fighting and getting in the airplanes and things, and wonder if they would see a familiar face.

And then of course, they had the cartoons Superman and Popeye.

I remember Popeye was a big Nazi fighter.

- Oh look, the Victory Belles are about to perform some of the songs from World War II.

♪ He was gone with the draft ♪ He's in the army now, a-blowin' reveille ♪ ♪ He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B ♪ ♪ They made him blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam ♪ ♪ It really brought him down because he couldn't jam ♪ ♪ The captain seemed to understand ♪ ♪ Because the next day the cap' went out and drafted a band ♪ ♪ And now the company jumps when he plays reveille ♪ ♪ He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B ♪ ♪ A-toot, a-toot, a-toot-diddleyada-toot ♪ ♪ He blows it eight-to-the-bar - Now we're here with the Victory Belles who just put on a wonderful performance.

What do you feel you've learned from learning all the music and dances from the World War II period?

- It's an incredible era.

They're known as the greatest generation and I think the music reflects that as well.

- And for the most part, to the audience that we're delivering it to, it means memories, like good memories.

And their music brought so much hope and joy to everyone on the home front as well as the boys who were fighting overseas.

- Well for me it was wonderful because the music and the movies kept us all upbeat.

And it kept us focused on what we were doing and it made us very proud to be Americans.

- It feels also like, it was a way of saying, we're in this together.

Which really helps in hard times.

- You know one of my other favorite things about the music of the 1940's, was that it brought everyone together and it wasn't just the music.

Everyone gathered around their radios at home, or if they were our age they went out to the canteens and to the dance halls, because they were all dancing.

So I'm gonna show you a few moves, do y'all wanna dance with me?

So I'm gonna show you this is the truck, and if you just step on one foot, and then let your heel drop, and then bring up the other one.

And then step on your left and then drop that heel, and you can keep going.

And now you're trucking.

Easy, easy.

You can waive your fingers and even switch back and forth.

And if you walk forward, so all it is is you're just going to lean into your right hip, and point that right finger down, and then lean into your left.

And then keep switching.

And you can move forward and back.

It's very cute.

And easy, easy, stuff and I'll show you how you can put it all to music.

Hey Joe, hit it.

Are you ready?

Here we go, we're trucking.

Y'all are doing great.

Well now you're ready to go learn some dances of the 1940's.

- That music is popular today as it was during World War II.

And now, one more poll question for you.

Do you think today's music will be listened to 70 years from now?

Text A for yes, or B for no.

That's text A for yes, B for no.

Will they be listening to the music they listen to today, 70 years from now?

Because the music and entertainment, the movies, it was all about war at that time?

- It was, even the entertainment.

So war permeated every aspect of life on the home front.

Including, I brought an example from our collection, from the museum's archives.

This is a comic book, "Don Winslow of the Navy."

Don Winslow.

So maybe not as famous as Superman or Batman.

But Superman, Batman, and Wonderwoman also fought during World War II through their comic stories.

- And the songs had titles?

- The songs related to the war as well, so "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B," "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition."

- That was an actual song?

- That was an actual song, a hit song.

- And movies too?

- Movies as well.

So the movies all related, cartoons, comics.

Everything related back to the war.

- Now let's take some more questions, you've emailed us at fieldtrips@wyes.org.

Were there any famous World War II musicians from New Orleans?

- There was in fact a very famous musician from New Orleans, some of you may know Louis Armstrong.

So he was active already during World War II.

- Satchmo might be known, and there's actually a Satchmo fest right here every August in New Orleans.

Let's take a look at the answers to our poll.

Will today's music last for 70 years?

54% say they will not be listening to this music so while 70 years from now people will still be doing the jitterbug, no one will be doing the whip and nae nae.

Sorry to say.

Let's go to another question.

Did our troops overseas have entertainment provided to them?

That's from Keith.

- They did.

There was a group called the USO Camp Shows, United Services Organization.

And they had a division formed just to bring entertainment overseas to troops.

So some famous performers participated in that effort including the comedian Bob Hope.

So they would bring whole stage shows, right overseas into the field where soldiers were fighting and providing that much needed break.

- Let's check in with our reporters for a quick recap of what they learned.

- So how was your museum adventure?

- There's so many great exhibits here at the museum that tell the story of how brave men and women served their country during a time of great need.

- [Miguel] Visitors can marvel at big planes and vehicles in the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center.

- [Chris] They can see Beyond All Boundaries, the 4D movie that takes visitors on a journey through World War II.

- [Eliana] And even explore the museums newest immersive exhibit, the Road to Berlin, all about the war in Europe.

- [Miguel] There's so much to see here, you can't fit it in one day.

- You could even learn how folks on the home front, including kids like us, helped soldiers on the battlefield.

- We really learned so much about what it was like to be a young person during the war, not just from the artifacts from the museum, but also from our friends who were kids themselves during the war.

- I think they were all really our best primary source to teach us how things like rationing and scrapping and victory gardens.

- And posters, and war bonds.

- And movies, and the song and dance all did make a difference.

- [Eliana] Even though American students were far away from the battlefront, their efforts supported our men and women in uniforms.

- They were all working together towards a common goal.

- To ensure victory and bring their loved ones back home.

- Because they knew.

- [All] We're all in this together.

- I think all the kids, our student reporters, learned that kids did matter on the home front.

What they did at home helped victory on the battlefront.

- Absolutely.

Absolutely, you saw it from growing the victory gardens to scrapping the metal and the rubber to help make the war materials.

To reading about the war in their comic books and listening to the music about the war.

Absolutely, kids had a big part in the war.

- Did kids know that they were having a big part in the war?

Was that clear to kids of school age?

- Yes I do believe so.

Like I said, it permeated every aspect of American life.

So that was always at the forefront of kids' minds.

- There was a patriotism that the kids were instilled through media and probably through their parents that went in, everything they did all day long.

- Absolutely.

From the time you woke up in the morning.

Can I have some more sugar for my cereal?

No, you can't.

To what you're gonna do after school, after your homework.

Let's take that wagon around the neighborhood and collect all the scrap metal from the neighbors to turn in at the big scrap drive.

- We've learned what kids like you did to help win World War II more than 70 years ago.

Now it's your turn, the museum has a project that you can get involved in, Get In The Scrap!

Here's Kenneth to tell you a little bit more about it, Kenneth.

- Absolutely, well you heard our museum volunteer telling our young reporter about scrapping, collecting things for the war effort.

Today we call it recycling.

Well The National WWII Museum is challenging you and your teacher to Get In The Scrap!

It's a project all about recycling and energy conservation that is inspired by the efforts of kids scrapping on the home front.

It's easy, fun, and you can win a bunch of prizes.

So sign up today at getinthescrap.org.

- And it's more than just a contest, it actually helps the environment.

- Absolutely.

We want the young people today to realize that they can have a positive effect on their world just like American kids did during World War II.

- So kids today, just like the kids in World War II, can make a difference.

They can make history.

- Absolutely, and that's why we're so glad that you all watched today.

- Making history.

We wanna thank you for joining us for this electronic field trip.

We're All In This Together has students like you help win World War II.

And teachers, to get the latest updates about future field trips go to wyes.org, and sign up to receive our news letter.

Also, this field trip will be archived on the wyes website at www.wyes.org/fieldtrips.

And again, also go to The National WWII Museum at www.nationalww2museum.org, to link to this field trip, and learn all about what the museum has to offer.

And I know that many of you had questions that we just couldn't get to.

Well, all you have to do is go to that website and many of those questions may be answered.

You'll probably find exactly what you're looking for at that website.

So remember, Get In The Scrap!, and thanks for joining us here at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.

- [Announcer] The electronic field trip, We're All In This Together, how students like you helped win World War II, is a production partnership of wyes, New Orleans public television, and The National WWII Museum.

Made possible in part by The Selley Foundation.