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November 1936. Continuing the story of Mama's family. "Depression refugee family from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Arrived in California June 1936. Mother and three half-grown children; no father. Says the mother: 'Anybody wants to work can get by. But if a person loses their faith in the soil like so many of them back there in Oklahoma, then there ain't no hope for them. We're making it all right here, all but for the schooling, 'cause that boy of mine, he wants to go to the University'." Photo by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
World War II is only five years off. If you serve, and survive, you will be eligible for something called the GI Bill. That's your ticket to the middle class American dream.
The young man would very likely have went into the service during WWII, so maybe he made it to the University on the GI Bill.
He may have made it to the University, but it's even more likely that he spent some time with a rifle in his hand six or seven years from when this picture was taken.
He looks a little like my own son. I also believe he got to college, likely on the GI Bill after the war. I bet he never gave up on his dream, so he was able to achieve it.
He enlisted when the war broke out.
Lets say he was sent to officer training school and became famous.
He has the right ideas and so does mom.
I hope this young man in the picture lived to tell the tale and - sooner or later in his life - made it to the University!
what happened to this family, and especially to this young man. But I'm willing to bet that he made it to the University, and to a comfortable life for himself and his family.
I sure hope that boy of hers made it to college. Sometimes, the kids with the most working against them are the ones who accomplish their goals, while others waste the opportunities that are handed to them.
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