The fiancé who returned from WWII

By Kathryn DeLadurantey

Dull and dark tones fell, as light from the moon showed across the thick wet dewy grass. From the darkness, a tall strong man in a military uniform stumbled through the trees onto a Texas homestead.

Walking through the yard, he saw an old cistern blocked over with wood. And without a thought, he lay his wearied body flat with exhaustion caused by the 30-mile walk from Austin, carrying in his bones a now-distant memory of a war that would forever be etched into his very being.

The dawn of a new morning broke as a small petite woman started the stove for the morning breakfast. A busy day was ahead.
Stepping over to the window, the small woman looked outside, only to jump back with a strange and staggering horror.

A pair of muddy army boots poked out over the top of the cistern. “What, who, why,” she thought.

Could it be, could it be Ernest? Her heart almost leaped out of her body.

Walking outside, she called softly, “Ernest, is that you?”

The once still body now moved, slowly arising, with some struggle. The face she could only have hoped to see could only be followed by a bright and cheery tone as she exclaimed, “Ernest, it is you. Oh, you’re home.” And there, sitting on the old cistern, sat this brother and sister now reunited and fully embracing each other once again.

You see, in those days, many folks never knew if they would ever see the return of their loved ones from World War II. Almost everyone had a son, brother, husband, or fiancé, in the war, and every day could be that day, the one you might hear of the tragic loss of those you held most dear.

On this same morning, a few miles away, stood a tall, thin girl, over a newly tilled garden bed. “Rick-rack, screech,” sounded the rake, as she swept it over the soil. Her clothes were worn, and her skin was tinted from the Texas sun. A smile almost implanted on her face, but only some would know her true feelings deep down.

This farmer girl, Annie Marie, was the daughter of a German farming family in Uhland, and one of nine siblings.

Truth be known, Marie was engaged to Ernest Schneider. They never married because Ernest was shipped off to war, and day after day she waited in the hope that one day he would return.

Little did she know that this day would be among her happiest.

Screams and shrieks came from the farmhouse. “He’s home, Marie. He’s home.”
As you can imagine, Marie ran with all her might to find him.
You see, when anyone returned home in those days, it was a joy, not just for the returned family, but for the entire community.

Ernest soon found himself surrounded by family and friends, laughing, cheering, and smiling, greeting him with handshakes, hugs, and kisses. Ernest could only feel exhausted from all his travels, and now this entire welcoming committee. But so it must be when we reunite with someone we love.

Time passed the war ended, if you can imagine, with so many dead, and so many hardships from the depression, this was a time of monumental celebration.

A feeling of freedom, of oppression lifted, and hope for the future re-kindled.

It was as if the entire U.S. was in sheer joy, day after day. Every moment was a chance to celebrate to be with friends to remember where they had all come from, and now, given a chance to plan and live with a bright future before them.

But some of this joy became an outpouring of weddings, as new relationships and old were celebrated in matrimony.

Marie found herself standing in The Bloomington Clothing store in Lockhart with a troubled face pleading with the store-keeper.

In a hurried tone, Marie asked, “Do you have any wedding dresses available? With everyone getting married these days, no one in town has one. And I would make my own, but there isn’t any fabric either. Oh please help me.”

The shopkeeper, looking at this poor bride-to-be, said in a kind tone, “I do see your dilemma, Let me see what I can do.”

The Bloomington shopkeeper came back with a simple but elegant white wedding dress, and said with a joking tone, “This is the only one we have, so if it doesn’t fit, you’re out of luck. Oh, and by the way, we’ll be coming to your wedding. And I thought I could bring my parents and uncles’ family, right? I heard everyone in town is invited?”

Marie looked confused, wondering what the shopkeeper was talking about. But her attention had to be focused on whether this dress would work.

The wedding dress for Marie didn’t fit. But with a family of talented seamstresses, Marie knew she could call on her aunt to help out.

She left The Bloomington Clothing store with a smile, and quite forgetting what the lady at the shop had said about the whole town being invited to the wedding.

Marie stepped into her family’s farmhouse and heard many distant conversations. Then her father stated, “Who invited all these people? This is impossible. How are we going to feed everyone?”

Her father, hearing the door open, called in a strong tone, “Marie, is that you? Can you explain all this?

“Marie, it seems with all the excitement of the war ending that the entire town thinks this wedding is a celebration for everyone to come to the wedding, on top of everyone we have already invited. We will now have to feed the entire town. I guess I’ll have to plan on butchering the largest steer we have for this thing.”

And so, on June 4, mid-afternoon, in Uhland, with a modified simple white wedding dress, a huge steer roasting, and smiling bride and groom, cars lined the road. “Honk, rumble, pop.”

The road began to be so crowded that there wasn’t any room left to park as the entire town arrived for this now huge celebration.

The church became overflowing with family and friends reunited as Marie and Ernest said their “I Do’s” at the altar.

As more people started to arrive, the reception was full of familiar faces, laughter so loud, and hugs so long that the joy from this now large wedding was beyond what one could imagine.

That day they did run out of food, and a telephone had to be found to order more BBQ from Lockhart, but in truth, it didn’t really matter because friendship and being known and loved is a type of nourishment that cannot be compared.

Even with all the crazy commotion over this wedding on June 4, all those years ago, it set in motion such a happy life for Marie and Ernest. A link of memories that never broke, but held fast as they lived through the many changing decades raising three young boys, starting an electrical company, and carrying on a legacy of hard-working people, who, when called upon, were a place of hospitality.