HOT : Historical Series - A community bonds together during WWII

Driving around "Front Street" and "Back Street" as a child, Rockford resident Dan Baker remembers "all of the flags."

American flags and special service flags were flown from the porches and hung in the windows of homes around town - homes waiting for loved ones to return from WWII.

"They were about the size of a single sheet of paper," he said of the service flags, which were hung to indicate if a family member was fighting in Europe.

The flags were red with a blue star, or multiple blue stars if more than one person was away at war. And, if someone died, Baker said, the blue star was removed and replaced with a gold one.

"It was a huge blow to the town whenever someone died or was injured," he said. "Everyone knew everyone right in town, so people were always stopping by, baking things and seeing if there was anything they could do."

Dan's twin brother, David Baker, was recently looking through a 1944 edition of The Rockford Register that contained his brother Robert's death notice. Robert Baker was killed in battle at age 22 in Gulpen, Holland in 1944.

David said he could not believe how many Rockford men actually served in WWII.

"I was amazed," said David, who was only 9 years old when the U.S. joined the allied forces.

He said he remembers there were not very many men around town to do work. And a lot of the women he knew had to go out and get jobs, he said, including his mother.

"It definitely changed life," David said. "I don't remember how it changed my life so much - until Bob died. I was such a young whippersnapper."

He said his mom worked doing a number of odd jobs, including working at Sears and Coon, a popular department store that was located at 103 Courtland, where Glik's is today.

Dan Baker said there were only really three areas in Rockford that townsfolk ever referred to: "Front Street," "Back Street" and the "New Addition."

Front Street was Main Street, where Wolverine World Wide was located. Back Street was Monroe Street, which led to the school. Rockford students, kindergarten through 12th grade, were all housed in the same building, which is the Administration Building today.

Dan said the New Addition was a small subdivision of new homes, located along Sigsbee Street, near Old Northland Drive, that developed because of Wolverine. He said many of the families that worked for the Shoe and Tanning Corporation moved there.

David said Wolverine was a key part of life in Rockford back then. Dan added the grocery store and other shop hours were configured around shifts at the shoe factory. He remembers Saturdays were grocery day for the whole town.

"Everyone went down all at once," he said. "You'd see all your neighbors. I remember walking and pulling a wagon home full of groceries."

The Bakers said near the river, behind the Wolverine shoe factory, there was a large lot where rubber shoe scraps were thrown.

"I remember as a young boy going down there with my family to sort through the scraps," Dan said. "There would be 20 to 25 people there at a time."

He said they would tote large, burlap bags and pluck the rubber soles from the pile, sort them and send them away to be reused for tires by the U.S. Army.

"I don't know where we sent them, I just know it was a community event," he said. "Another way we all helped the troops."

source : http://www.rockfordindependent.com/main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=11&ArticleID=2414&TM=60075.57