World War II brought together many people who would have never met. Soldiers from different parts of the country became life-long friends. Women of various ages made unlikely friendships working together for aid organizations. Men and women from different areas and even countries also met and fell in love. I’ve heard rumors about a servicemember in my own family befriending a few German women!
The National World War II Museum says that in 1945 between 60,000 and 70,000 foreign women who had married American servicemen during the war were trying to leave their home countries to be with their husbands in the United States. Restrictive American immigrations laws posed a problem, however. The Immigration Act of 1924 enacted a quota system that kept many of these war brides from entering the country.
American servicemen were demanding that their wives be allowed entrance, and congress responded with The War Brides Act in 1945. The act exempted these women and their children from the quota system of the Immigration act of 1924 and allowed them expedited entry into the United States. The first group to come over were from England. On February 4, 1946, 452 British women, 173 children, and one bridegroom arrived by ship. Almost 300,000 women and their children came to the United States through the The War Brides Act! To read more, go to The National World War II Museum’s website at https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/war-brides-act-1945.
Throughout the The War Song Series, the books follow the improbable romance between an American chaplain and a German widow. World War II truly brought about the most unlikely romances!
“There was silence as Victoria realized her son’s mind was made up. She could have a
German daughter-in-law!”
The Final Song, Chapter 2