During World War II, me and my husband, James, agreed they we both would save up as much money as we could to build a home for our children once the war had ended. My brother-in-law and his wife invited me to stay with them in Newark during the war years and helped me find a job working for the government with an organization that processed payroll checks for military officers. As a result, I was fortunate enough to save over $2,000 toward the construction of our new home. Unfortunately, my husband wasn’t able to keep up his end of the bargain because lost his meager “mustering out pay” gambling on the ship coming home from Europe.
When he arrived home, he asked me to give him the money I had saved so he and friend of his could start a taxis business, but I refused him and “said you told me you would build a house for the children and us once the war was over”. Reluctantly, he did build the house, but in his anger he said “this is the house for you and your children”.
For several months, he refused to stay in the house with us and stayed in his parent’s house across the field from our house. In the end, it all worked out, but I felt it was important to stand firm and hold my ground. We went on to raise seven children and stayed married for almost fifty years. Black soldiers suffered many indignities both during and after the war. Unfortunately, this is one which I felt I had to inflict on my husband to insure a future for me and our children. Information about the GI Bill and its unfulfilled promise can be find at the link below:
https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits