U.S. At War: Missing--Illinois

Missing—Illinois

There was no band, no flag, no ceremonial. It wasn't even dramatic. A car honked outside and he said: "Well, I guess that's for me. . . ."

He kissed his mother and held out his hand to me. "Well, so long," he said. I took his hand but all I could say was, "Good luck."

The door slammed and that was that —another boy gone to war.

In January 1942, Howard Vincent O'Brien, Chicago Daily News columnist, wrote this simple story of how a father feels when he says good-by to a soldier son. Before the year was out, millions...