Transcript of an interview with William W. Pearsall concerning his experiences on the homefront as a teenager in Elgin, Illinois, during World War II. Pearsall discusses his education and childhood in Elgin; local reaction to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; air raid drills and blackouts; attempts to make people war conscious; spy hysteria; censorship of mail; harassment of German Americans; gasoline rationing; scrap drives; war bond drives; Victory Gardens; rationing of tires; scarcity of automobile parts; black market activities; clothing shortages; Boy Scout activities; effects of having a brother and sister in the military; wartime entertainment for teenagers; high school war bond dances; V-E Day celebrations; V-J Day celebrations; attitudes toward Japanese; and the adjustment of his brother and sister to civilian life. Includes appendix with photographs [3 pages].

Interview with homemaker Janet Blair. The interview includes Blair's personal experiences about being a Red Cross volunteer in the European Theater during World War II, education in Europe, working with "Bundles for Britain," various assignments, rationing and air raids in England, D-Day, and serving troops during the Battle of the Bulge. Additionally, Blair talks about her patriotic motivation, her decision to join the Red Cross, her selection as a clubmobiler, the formation of a lifelong friendship with Diana Marvin and Peggy Bell, the use of Greenliners, relationships between Red Cross women and U.S. military personnel, leave time in Paris, living conditions of France, looting, and the end of the war and her return to the States.