By Robin LaCorte
Eighty years ago, the world was at a crossroads. For Americans—many from small towns like Prescott—the global conflict felt distant yet deeply personal. Young men and women stepped forward to serve, becoming what journalist Tom Brokaw called “the greatest generation any society ever produced.”
North Africa marked the first real shift in Allied fortunes. In his book, The End of the Beginning, Winston Churchill observed, “Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.” From Prescott, men like Albert Crawford and Arch McCabe were among those serving in the Allied effort that opened the way for the invasions of Sicily and then Italy. Their service paved the path to European victory.
In spring of 1945, Allied forces crossed the Rhine as the Soviet Red Army closed in on Berlin. American and Soviet troops shook hands at the Elbe River, a moment when previous enemies unified against the Nazis. Young Prescott men like Allen Aldrich and Norman Arnold were part of the push making this possible. On May 8, V-E Day was declared. John McCain, in his book Arizona Goes to War: The Home Front and the Front Lines during World War II notes that Arizona Governor Sidney P. Osborn set the tone for observance, reminding citizens that “our rejoicing is tempered by the knowledge that the road to peace is yet long; that American soldiers are at this moment enduring all of the war’s hardships and giving their lives in battle in the Pacific areas.”
In Prescott whistles blew as news of President Truman’s proclamation of the war’s end in Europe spread, while the American Legion of Prescott gathered the community on the Courthouse Plaza. Prescott’s Timothy Flanagan and Ignacio Mora served in the Pacific, alongside many Arizonans battling in brutal conditions in the island campaign against Japan until the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Days later, Japan surrendered.
The scrapbook of The American Legion, Earnest A. Love Chapter of Prescott, Arizona, from Sharlot Hall Museum Research Center, shows how some locals celebrated the war’s end. A newspaper clipping from the Prescott Evening Courier, November 7, 1945, proclaims that returning veterans would be honored at the Legion’s “Armistice Dance,” complete with orchestra and waltz and jitterbug competitions. The dance competitions were held at 11:30pm so Prescott residents could also enjoy the Prescott-Mesa high school football game. Another clipping from December 28, 1945, describes returned Prescott veteran Seabees Ted Karnes and Sid Wright of the war in the Pacific helping arrange a Legion “Welcome Home Party” for veterans.
For many veterans, coming home created a new set of challenges—finding work, reconnecting with families that had changed and dealing with memories they brought back with them. Arizona Senator Ernest W. McFarland, often called the “Father of the GI Bill,” co-authored the 1944 Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, transforming veterans’ lives with health benefits, pensions and low-interest loans for homes, businesses and education. Along with Senator Carl Hayden, he helped establish the VA Hospital in Phoenix. In Prescott the VA Medical Center at Fort Whipple—a frontier post turned veterans’ hospital in 1931—was expanded after the war and became a cornerstone of healing for generations of northern Arizona veterans.
The names of Prescott’s World War II veterans still echo—engraved on memorials, preserved in museum archives and remembered in family stories. On September 6 from 2pm to 3pm, join us at the Sharlot Hall Museum Education Auditorium for World War II historian Robin LaCorte’s lecture: “When the Guns Went Quiet: WWII, 80 Years Later,” examining the last days of the war, the legacy of veterans’ service and the challenges they faced returning home.
“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.