Home Front Friday: Big Ships, Small Ships, Friendships!

Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during WWII and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!

June 8^th was National Best Friends Day. That’s right – did you forgot your best friend? Well, at the World War II Museum, we have you covered! Like today, friendship was essential to surviving the difficulties of daily life. Especially during this time of war, this support was needed to make it through. Abroad or at home, friends were there to make you smile and warm your heart. Friendship was essential for morale. It always has been!

Phil and lifelong friend Dave Puckett, Jr.

Phil “Bo” Perabo was from Tupelo, Mississippi and served as a pilot in both the Battle of the Atlantic and in the Pacific. Perabo flew off of the Bogue, the Card and the Bennington. Perabo was captured after bailing out on a mission to Japan, after swimming eight hours to reach the shore. He was taken to Ofuna POW camp where he was reunited with his childhood friend Dave “Son” Puckett, also an aviator who had been captured months earlier.

Read the entire story as to how the Museum learned of this unlikely reunion.

Show your appreciation to your friends – better late than never! – by creating a friendship bracelet.

Here’s how to create a simple braided friendship bracelet.

You’ll need:

• Embroidery thread
• A safety pin or tape
• Scissors

1. Cut string (Pick three colors, cut about an arm length long)
2. Tie start knot
3. Tape down to surface
4. Braid
5. Tie end knot
6. Wear and share!!!

Posted by Laurel Taylor, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National WWII Museum.