In recent weeks we have been saddened by the reports of air disasters with the tragic loss of many innocent lives. The chronicle of the St. Vincent Orphanage chronicle relates an episode which brought such a tragedy all too close to the sisters and children of the orphanage. An entry from January 1943 reads: As the First Friday ushered in the New Year, we spent a great part of the day before our Eucharistic Lord, asking blessings and protection upon St. Vincent’s. We experienced His care for us the very next day at supper time. It all happened in the space of a few seconds—the droning of a plane, the ominous sound of an explosion, a burning plane flying over us, so low that the pilot had to circle around the church steeple. The radio later announced that the pilot had received orders to bail out, but had answered, “I can’t. I’m over a residential district.” He tried to make a forced landing on a vacant lot, but as children were playing there, he pulled out again, and a second later crashed into a private home. As the residents fortunately were not at home that evening, no one suffered harm except the heroic young pilot, Lieutenant Hansion of Milwaukee.
In February of that same year the chronicler related another interesting tidbit. She noted that On Sunday the 21st, Columbus with a few other cities in Ohio changed from Eastern to Central time, giving us an extra hour’s sleep in the morning. A little research revealed that Ohio did not permanently switch to Central Time during World War II, but instead adopted a nationwide year-round "War Time" which essentially amounted to Daylight Saving Time, mandated by the federal government to conserve energy and support war production efforts. This "War Time" applied to all time zones, including Ohio which was primarily in the Eastern Time Zone, effectively moving the state closer to Central Time for the duration of the war.