DVIDS - Video - Camp Atterbury Former Landowners Reunion Story
In the 1940's the US government established Camp Attebury in order to train troops for WWII. Most people from my home town have heard of or been to Camp Attebury, but what you may not know is that before it was Camp Attebury it was mostly family farms made up of nearly 600 families. One of those families was my Grandfather's. I recently went out with my Grandfather to see where his family farm was, and to visit the grave sites. As he was telling me the stories about his grandfather and family, showing me places he used to play, and just talking about life there. He told me about how they were in church when he was a young boy and here comes a car on the dirt road, and in walked a man who sat in the back. He remembers his father had gone to the post office and had seen that man's face. His father whispered to him that that man was John Dillinger. He talked about his friends riding their bikes for miles on dirt roads to get a soda in brown county. He talked about who's farm was where and briefly told me of his memories of them. I realized how truly hard it was for these families to loose their farms. He told me about his Grandpa "Pa" that had fifteen children with his wife, Hannah, and 26 years after she died he still loved her, he still missed her, he never remarried. Something about seeing them buried next to one another, still in the place they had called home, a place that is now surrounded by fences and unexploded mines, something about it touched my heart . They are buried there together, untouched by time, but the world around them changed greatly. They raised their fifteen children on this land, and at the end of his life there were 13 living. He had given each of his children land there, they each had homes, farms. They built their lives here. They lost it all.
My Grandpa was 12 years old, the youngest of seven children. War had just broken out in the country, his Grandfather, whom he was very close to, had passed one year before the government came for the land at Camp Attebury. He told me one thing his father told him and that was when you go through hard times just keep your head down and keep walking and you'll walk through it. He said that small bit of advice is something he's lived by. I can't imagine what my great-grandfather was feeling when he had to move his wife and children from their home. Or when his older sons enlisted to go fight for their country. I imagine that he was very worried, angry, and probably wondered why, but no matter what he was feeling he did not let it destroy him. He rebuilt his life, he kept going. I was recently reminded that life is not necessarily what happens to you, but how you handle it. I come from a strong line of people that have put their faith in God and worked hard for everything they wanted and needed. There have been times when I've taken that for granted thinking that they'll always be here, times when I've forgotten how wise and how much of a life my Grandparents had long before I was ever born. It's made me reevaluate what's truly important in this life.
So many times I get sucked into what others think of me that I forget it doesn't really matter. What matters is the person I truly am, who I am on the inside. There was a time in this country where things were not based upon illusion. There wasn't credit. You worked for it, or you didn't have it. If you didn't have the money, you didn't buy it, and the only thing you were getting when you retired was that you had saved for. For these reasons men and women were tough. They were what made this country amazing. I can't say I don't feel guilty for being the weak person I am at times, worrying about petty things that in fifty years won't matter at all. The thing about this life is that in a moment, one single moment, everything you have can be stripped away. You can loose your job, your home, your car, you can loose every single thing you work so hard to achieve, but the one thing that can't be taken from you is your will to keep walking through. That fire in your gut that screams out when you feel like giving up. That love that you have for your family that keeps you going. The strength from God that always comes the moment you have a very real understanding that it is all beyond your control and in his hands. There have been times when I thought my fire went out, times when I felt so discouraged, disheartened, but then I look around and I'm surrounded by so many people who have been through so much. I've seen people survive heartache, the loss of loved ones, I've seen them overcome cancer and some have buried their children, some buried more than one, I've seen them loose jobs, and homes, overcome addictions, I've seen children without parents, and people who have gone through pain that I have not yet experienced, and all of these people have survived. They lived through it, they walked out the other side and found joy again, and it seems that those who have gone through the most are the absolute best people.
I wish I could name all of the people and tell you all of their stories. They have all been such encouragement to me that I wish I could give them all the recognition they so deserve. Two of those people are my Grandparents. They've lived through 8 decades. They've lived through Great Depression, numerous wars, they've raised their children, loved their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, they've helped friends and neighbors and their church. They've been married for 6 decades. When they went through hard times they made it through. They probably do more in their eighties than many people do in their thirties. They value hard work much more than they value riches, and even when I may not always do what they want me to I know they love me. I know they care about me. I will always remember that small bit of advice my great-grandfather gave my grandfather, that when I come to hard times I'll keep my head down and keep walking, and I'll walk through it. When things don't go the way I want, when life takes unexpected turns and times are hard I will remember that years before I was born, years before my parents were born, from the dawn of time people have gone through hard times, but it's not what happens to us that speaks of our character, it's how we react to it.
