The Great Depression: A Short Story

I was only 9 years old in 1933 . I loved FDR so much. I had all of the fireside chats on my radio. I listened to them every night thanking him for the new deal, I had been given. My dad walks in and calls me a progressive. I knew he was surprised by my thoughts of radical reforms. I called him a progressive too. We are both happy now. He gives me a copy of the new deal and sends me to bed. I'm so inspired and soul is yearning for a solution to the Great Depression. I lay in bed and it's really cold. I hear dim sound in the distance. I feel the words touch my soul. It's Franklin. I'm so hopeful for new reforms. He whispers through the radio... "I want to talk for a few minutes about the United States ". He captivates me with his powerful ethos and pathos and makes me lean toward the radio. I'm ready, I am fully focused on Franklin. I'm so tired, but I'd stay up for Franklin. I can feel my eyes starting to shut as the fireside chat begins to conclude. I resist the fatigue. As Franklin says "together we cannot fail", my dad walks in. My dad stops and is captivated. Franklin now yells, " The only thing we have to fear is fear itself". My father walks out of my room as I collapse and go to sleep. FDR is change I say, FDR is Progress.
It had been five years and now it is 1938.
We had moved to New York 2 years ago. I lived as an only child with my dad. I never knew my mother. She died giving birth to me. My father moved to New York and worked in the stock exchange. After the depression, we struggled to get by a lot. My dad brought in a little money from Wall Street. I had just started high school as FDR was re elected. Me and my father very hopeful in Franklin. It all changed when poverty in the nation attacked. Thankfully the reforms from Roosevelt put us back on our feet. In particular The Fair Labor Standards Act which allowed my father to receive a higher minimum wage. We were so thankful for the new deal but it wasn't
enough.

A couple years later, I starting see lots of poster around the city. They were very inspiring for me to join the war effort. One said you don't know sacrifice...I felt guilty. I was soon drafted into World War 2. It was tough to leave my father and join the war. He had already lost my mother and I wasn't sure if I was coming back. There I saw Jews struggling in Germany. I was put into a tank regiment and was sent to Belgium. Our first fight was strange. We were completely outgunned. The German Panther tanks were fast and deflected our shells. There was nothing I could do so we drove out tank into the ditch, and tried to bail from the German tanks. The ditch was desperate then we though and our tracks fell off of the tank. Germans approached the tank. I knew the end was here.