During World War II, Irene Michna’s father was called up and Irene was born while he was off at basic training. When they were shipping out, the train that was carrying them to their destination came through Taylor and the train crew did not have permission to stop. But they knew that there were a great many local men aboard the train and so they slowed down and inched through Taylor as slow as they could possibly go. Irene’s mother took her down to the railroad tracks and held her up because that was the first time her father ever saw her.
So the wars don’t just affect the men that went off and served in them, they affect the families back home, too.