Mia Brandfon

History 10 midterm
Essential question:

Throughout history, many events occurred that impacted the lives of an abundance of
people. With these events, the lifestyle and relationships between families, friends, and relatives
all change as a result of the trauma that has been experienced. During WW2, there were many
hardships that were faced by people all over the world and experienced by American
individuals. In order to maintain structure throughout the community, an organization was
emplaced that played a key role in helping to carry this out called the civil defense unit. Marcia
DiVinere was a young girl at the time who had to experience change in her life as an effect of
WW2. Her father, Edmond Boyd, served in the civil defense unit to protect the general public.
The American civil defense unit during world war 2 had an important role on the citizens and
without it, american individuals would have no order on what to do if there was ever an attack
within the community.
During WW2, the job of the civil defense unit was to protect the citizens. The threat of
aerial attack on cities became sufficiently great to call for organized civil defense planning1.
Programs of this sort were initially discussed at least as early as the 1920s and were implemented
in some countries during the 1930s as the threat of war and aerial bombardment grew. It became
widespread after the threat of nuclear weapons was realized.2 In the United States, the Office of
Civil Defense was established in May 1941 to coordinate civilian defense efforts3. This source
provides useful information because it informs us with the material about when the civil defense
unit was created. Without the civil defense, if any airstrikes or bombings were to breakout, the
people would be uncontrolled without any orders of what action to take. Along with the job of
protecting the people, this organization includes defense against attack from conventional bombs
or rockets, nuclear weapons, and chemical or biological agents. Civil defense tactics during the
interwar years consisted principally of utilizing improvised shelters, such as basements and
subways. Other World War II civil defense tactics included blackouts to reduce the glow from

1
​Weber,
Rachel N. "Military-industrial complex." Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified May
2, 2018. Accessed December 19, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-defense.
This website talks about the job of the Civil Defense in WW2 and general
2
​wikipedia.
Last modified December 27, 2019. Accessed January 10, 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_defense.
This website talks about the civil defense and the role it had in the United States
3
wikipedia. Last modified December 27, 2019. Accessed January 10, 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_defense.
This website talks about the civil defense and the role it had in the United States
city lights that could guide enemy pilots4. This source contributes information about why the
civil defense unit was created along with tactics established to carry out their work. During
WW2, the father of a young girl, Marcia DiVinere, served in the civil defense unit. If this
organization was not created, her life along with the lives of many others would have been very
different.
In 1939, the news of a second World War breaking out was brought to the attention of
people all over the world and affected the lives of many, including a young girl at the time,
Marcia DiVinere. “I was five and a half years old, living in West Haven, with my mom, my dad,
and my sister, who was two and a half years old and my cocker spaniel, Buffy.”5 The life for
Marcia changed at this moment. Her father, Edmond Boyd, served in the civil defense unit
during WW2. As Marcia described in the interview,
“Dad was a, when the siren... during the war, it was necessary that we live in darkness at
night, that we did not show any light. So what happened was when the siren that was very
very loud blew, my dad had to put on his civil defense helmet, and had a flashlight and he
had to go through our street, and make sure all the homes were in darkness. To provide
darkness, we had shades that were blackened, we had, the headlights on our cars were
half balck and half regular glass, before we turned on any lights in the house, we had to
pull our shades down. His job was to go along, make sure everyone was in darkness,
because the drill, was if we ever were bombed, we wouldn’t show any activity or any life
there in that particular area.”6
For many people, their lives had to be altered in order to stay alive. Marcia had a different
experience than others during WW2, this being because her father had to go out and serve as a
protector to the community. She adds, “As a 5 year old I knew it wasn't a normal life during
these drills, I also knew there was a war going on, however, my parents never really put the real
fear of war into us.”7 This goes to show how not only the war affected her growing up, but how
her father’s job was important in keeping her and her family safe. Keeping a positive attitude
throughout this difficult time, Marcia responds with,“It probably brought us closer as a family
because we couldn’t go too far away from each other”8. As Marcia previously stated, “To
provide darkness, we had shades that were blackened, we had, the headlights on our cars were

4
Weber, Rachel N. "Military-industrial complex." Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified May
2, 2018. Accessed December 19, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-defense.
This website talks about the job of the Civil Defense in WW2 and general
5
​M​arcia
DiVinere, interview by the author, Guilford, Conneticut, December 7, 2019.
6
​DiVinere, interview by the author.
7
​DiVinere, interview by the author.
8
​DiVinere, interview by the author.
half balck and half regular glass, before we turned on any lights in the house, we had to pull our
shades down”9, these were not the only adjustments that had to be made as the war continued.
“Life was much different I could remember because when the war was on, we had food
stamps that the government gave us, some families had more than others, I don't know
how that was determined. I do know we had green ones for gasoline, we had um, and
food (cannot compute), butter, for meat we had red stamps and we were aloud just so
many every so often so we had to really space these stamps out when we went to the store
we had to produced these stamps.”10

Not only did the life for Marcia change during the war, but her life after the war was changed
too. During the war, the modifications she had to make included keeping all of the shades closed
for complete darkness along with covering the lights on the car with black tape and transition
tousing food stamps which limited the resources her and her family could obtain. She then states,
“I know that I was able to eat a hamburger fried in butter which I could not have had during the
war because there was no meat, we ate spam out of a can. I didn’t have to worry about drawing
our shades at night and being in darkness and waiting for that siren to come on when we had the
drills. Life was much more peaceful and relaxed”11, along with, “When I remember the war and
the hardships my family had and we had together i appreciate a hamburger fried in butter, I
appreciate so many more things, material things”.12 As a young girl, Marcia’s life changed when
WW2 started. Her father being in the civil defense unit had to go out and patrol the streets at
night while her, her sister, and mother stayed at home in complete darkness, trying to make it
appear that no life was present. Not only was the job of her father being a part of the civil
defense unit important, but the life of Marcia as a five year old girl changed forever from that
point.

With the event of World War 2 being brought to the attention of people around the world,
it affected the lives of many individuals including a young girl Marcia Divinere, whose father
was a part of the civil defense unit. During and after the war, her life changed forever and
without her father’s job, her, her family, and the community would not have been as safe and
controlled as it was. The job of the American civil defense unit presented a critical role in
keeping the people safe. The lives of Americans and people all over the world was impacted
because of world war 2, including the life of Marcia DiVinere.

9
​DiVinere, interview by the author.
10
DiVinere, interview by the author.
11
​DiVinere, interview by the author.
12
​DiVinere, interview by the author.