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 It took another decade, but when World War II came along life changed again for the Sutton's. In America there was rationing of just about everything. Cars were not being built but the service department's "keep it running anyway you can" business was good enough to keep the dealership alive. In 1944, my father went off to war and left behind my grandparents, his sister, his wife (mom) and his baby daughter, Christie. Everyone was scared to death that dad might not make it back. The whole family prayed daily that God would bring dad home safely.
After Boot Camp in Texas, he sailed to Europe aboard a ship with 10,000 other GI's. He ended up being sent into what turned out to be the Battle of the Bulge! Dad has many hair raising stories, but the worst was when he was trapped in his fox hole by German machine gun fire. It rained and water seeped into the boots. For days he was stuck in a muddy hole unable to go anywhere. Then the weather turned and it started snowing. Covered as best he could, he awoke one cold night to hear a German Officer nearby. Like the thousands of other soldiers, the sub-zero temperatures froze his feet. Unable to walk, this was his painful ticket out of Harm's Way. In September, 1945, he came home, narrowly avoiding losing his feet. He was awarded a "Purple Heart" and is still disabled to this day. Dad re-told his story of those dreadful days to the Veteran's History Project, which will be entered in the Congressional Record. I have mentioned his life altering experience because so much of it affected all of his family's lives, including mine.
As the war ended, the boom began, just like the days of the Roaring 20's! Unfortunately by then my grandfather's health had deteriorated due to the stress of the previous 10 years. Times of the 1930's had taken their toll. He passed away the very day I was brought home from the hospital in early 1948. This thrust my dad, at age 24, into becoming the youngest Ford Dealer in the United States. His dad was gone, now he had to run the family business. It was during those prosperous times that everyone wanted to be "friends". They could not wait to get a chance to purchase a new Ford. Once again, the times had changed and into the 1950's we went. As his father before him, dad had many years of success in Inglewood, California. As a Ford Dealer, he sponsored countless events for the YMCA, Civic Groups and Church activities. We have pictures of him with Dinah Shore, Ernie Ford and other celebrities, including the then Vice-President, Richard Nixon. My parents were written up in a feature article about the American Housewife in "Life Magazine". The following year a follow-up article was written in "Time", too. Ted Turner completed a documentary on the American Woman and included my mother, Marjorie Sutton. You see, my folks were part of the American dream.
As we grew up, they took our whole family through Europe, the Middle East (the Holy Land), Africa, South America, and all over the United States. We sailed the Atlantic and Mediterranean; stayed in hotels and resorts; camped in the High Sierras, and experienced every kind of nomadic lifestyle one could imagine. It was great and I love the thousands of memories that my folks provided. Dad says that each of the summers we spent over-seas were the equivalent to a year of college. Add this to my degree and I suppose you could say I have my Masters in Travel!
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