I was born in July of '41 and my earliest memory is the end of the war and all the jubilation. We lived on Sheridan Road in Chicago then and guys were walking down the street with fife & drum dressed like bedraggled Revolutionary War soldiers--bandages and all. You could hardly see 'em for all the newspaper confetti being tossed by everyone out of their windows. I did my share of ripping up paper & heaving it out the window too. I asked my mother what was happening and she told me, "It's a parade!" For years afterward I thought a parade meant tossing paper out of the window!

The Ruben James (the ship) was sunk by the German submarine U-505 as I recall. But that might be an urban legend. The U-505 is now on display at the Museum Of Science And Industry on the South side of Chicago. You can go through it there. It was captured at sea by our Navy.

Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston and Jimmy Longhi shipped out together several times with the Merchant Marine. They were torpedoed twice. Check out the University Of Illinois Press's recent book by Jimmy Longhi called WOODY, CISCO AND ME. It's a fine read!

Art Thieme