AFTER THE WAR

During World War II, farmers had with the help of electricity been able to break one production record after another. 

Using electric power whenever possible, items like electric milking machines, water pumps, brooders, heat lamps, feed grinders, in 1943, farmers doubled their dairy, beef, hog, and poultry operations. At the same time they were able to farm an average of an additional 80 acres of corn to support the increased production. 

After the war there was a bitterness because the ones that stayed on the farm weren’t eligible for the G.I. Bill or Veterans benefits. The farmers, however, made an awful lot of money during the war since the government was buying up all they could produce. 

When the servicemen would come home, they got all the attention and would tend to group together to exchange war stories. At a community gathering, this left the non-servicemen out of the conversation and attention. The community tended to put the servicemen in an elite position in the community and there were hard feelings over this. 

Hollis Havens, on returning to Steamboat Rock after his duty in the Navy, started up an electrical business in Steamboat, but even though the veterans had been promised first priority, the government didn’t help at all. Hollis recalled, “I couldn’t get supplies such as Romex wire, etc. They told me to get it from the other electrician in Steamboat; of course, he wasn’t about to part with his supplies. It didn’t matter because then came Korea.” 

Actually Hollis didn’t wait until Korea came along. Within 90 days he had reenlisted, and remained active through the Korean conflict, until May of 1956.