Dr. Kathy's Couch, the Reprise

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Friday, December 28, 2018

Children are the forgotten mourners. When there is a significant loss in their lives, they are also often "lost" and overlooked by the adults who are mourning the same loss. The reason often given is that they are young and resilient. While children are resilient, they are not unaffected by grief. They feel deeply and are often confused by those feelings. If they are lucky, they will find a caring adult who can explain those feelings. All too often, they do not. Adults often don't understand their own feelings and haven't the emotional strength to handle a child's grief.

When I was 17, my paternal grandmother died. She was my best friend, the one person in the world who seemed to understand me and love me unconditionally. I was devastated by depression and despair. My family didn't recognize what was happening and put it down to adolescent angst. I overheard them saying I had just lost it and may need to be institutionalized. I've never forgotten that experience. I wasn't able to do my grief work until after my husband died. I didn't want other children and youth to experience grief in emotional isolation.

One of the editors at Deseret Book told me that I was not a one-book author. There as nothing definitive on grief in children, so I decided to write a second book. I asked my three younger children to write a section about what they thought and felt when their father died. It was enlightening and are included, as written, woven into the text of the book, When a Loved One Dies.

Shane was 8 when his dad died and he was 11 when he wrote about it. After sharing his experiences and feelings, he concluded thus:

I had a hard time going through the grieving process; it was long and hard. I lived through it because I didn't put my feelings on hold. . . . When I feel sad and alone, I go to my mom and talk about it and ask for a hug. . . . You'd be surprised how much one hug can do for you.

Terri was 12. She wrote of her experiences when she was 16. The grief was hardest on her because. unlike Shane, she did put her feelings on hold. She lived in denial, as if it had never happened. When we moved to Provo in 1984, it jarred her out of denial. She wrote:

. . . I had to face that my father was really dead and that I was not dreaming.

She took all of her anger out on me and it was very difficult for us both. We sought professional help. She told me once that she was

. . . afraid to love [my mom] too much. I loved my dad so much, and he died. . . . everything I love, I lose.

Shawn was sixteen at Carmon's death. He wrote a paper for his high school English class that was include in the book:

We are a death denying society. People say, "Give it time, it will eventually heal itself." That's not true. Time doesn't heal anything but physical wounds. Emotional wounds take more than Bactine and Band-aids. It takes work, but from that work . . . come growth.

Shawn had an understanding friend to whom he could talk about anything; what a gift! He also kept a journal which gave him a place to process his grief work.

This little book has many practical suggestions to the young person grieving and for the older person dealing with a young person through the process. It is a great addition to any e-library.

Unfortunately, the book is out-of-print. You can still download an e-book at www.deseretbook.com. You can also occasionally find a used copy on Amazon.

The activities on emotional honestly are good for any child or adolescent who is dealing with emotional overload. I hope you will look for it.

Thursday, December 27, 2018

All Alone - Grief

It was not quite six in the morning when the call came from the Sheriff's office: "Mrs. Buntin, we have some officers coming to your house. Can you give us directions?"

That was the beginning. My husband of 20 years was dead in a one-vehicle accident on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona.

Thus I entered into a world of what seemed to be never-ending grief. I knew I would feel sad, but I didn't know I would be so angry! On those rare occasions when I seemed to get my head above water, some great cosmic hand pushed me back under. I was mad at anyone who still had their spouse. I was angry at the elderly who were growing old together. I was mad at Carmon for "slipping his skin" and leaving me with four children as a single mom. Mostly, I was angry with God. Like C.S. Lewis, even my strong Christian testimony brought little comfort. People said, "He's in a better place." I answered that I knew he was, but wondered what I was supposed to do for the next 20 or 30 years?

One evening in the late fall, I had stayed late at work to hold a special education conference with the parents of one of my students. When the papers were signed and they had left, I was alone with our school psychologist, Ken Grosscost. He turned to me and asked, "How are you doing?" I had already learned that when people asked that, they wanted me to say, "I'm fine. Thanks for asking." If I tried to tell them what was really happening, they'd back away. People began to avoid me as if I had the plague, so when Ken asked I said, quite harshly as I remember, "You don't want to know and you don't have the time it takes for me to tell you!" He said, "Yes, I do want to know and we'll take however long it takes."

That opened a door that reassured me that I wasn't crazy, just grief-stricken. Ken referred me to a class at the community college on the subject of grief. I enrolled for January.

The first class with Jan Belknap was an explosion of affirmation and knowledge. I learned that grief was not only acceptable, but that it is a psychological necessity to make real in our heart what our head already knows. That night after class, I called my mother in Las Vegas and told her that if I survived, I was going to write a book. No one should have to experience such loss without knowing what was happening to them.

I kept a journal and in the fall of 1983, about 18 months after Carmon's death, I began my promised book. Using my journal and a lot of inspiration from God, I wrote a chapter at a time until it was done. It was published in hard copy as The Living Half. When Deseret Book released it in paperback, a few years later, they retitled it All Alone: Surviving the Loss of a Spouse. (I actually like my title better, but by then, they held the copyright and signed my royalties checks!)

Here are a couple of excerpts from the book, taken from my journal:

August 29, 1982

I read the note on the refrigerator again and again: " Dear Kathy, Call the doctor Friday about my blood tests. See you Sunday. I love you, Carmy." It was Sunday. Where was he?

I forgot to call the doctor. I was so relieved when the doctor called me. I thought, "How lucky I am. I'll never have to tell Carmon that I got busy and forgot him." Now it doesn't matter, but I still know; I got busy and forgot him.

November 16, 1982

Today was Carmon's birthday. Needless to say it has been a very difficult day for me. I awoke with the same empty pit of loneliness inside that I feel most mornings. It would be nice to wake up full of joy and anticipation. It's been so long that I've forgotten what joy feels like. Sometimes the pain is almost more than I can bear.

December 5, 1982

I'm sitting here by the fire, wrapped in a quilt, watching the lights twinkle on the Christmas tree. The calendar says that it is December, less than three weeks until Christmas. It is cold and hazy today. We've had a night or two of freezing weather. The world rolls on; the seasons change from summer to autumn and winter. I watch it all with a certain amazement, in my mind it is still August 29. It should be hot outside. It is Sunday again and he is still not home.

. . . . .

Eleanor Knowles, former executive editor at Deseret Book, told that mine was the best book on the subject of grief she had ever read. Many of the dozens of people who wrote to me told me that I was telling their story. They related so intimately with the experience.

In 1984, the book was reviewed by Muriel Stevens of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. She wrote, in part:

The package was given to me just before I left the paper one night. Inside was a note from an old family friend, Barney Rawlings. The no accompanied a book written by Barney and Hazel's daughter, Kathleen. I picked it up meaning only to leaf through it until I had time to read it. After the first few pages, I gave up. All else could wait. I could not put it down. . .

Just after I finished reading, I stopped by to chat with Ruthe Deskin. She too had lost a beloved spouse and had been given a copy of the book by Barney. We discussed this meaningful tome, shed a few tears, and then we parted.

Many people who wrote to me told me that they, too, could not put it down once started. If you or someone you know is struggling with unresolved grief, please give them a copy of All Alone: Surviving the Loss of a Spouse. Order it online at www.deseretbook.com or www.amazon.com.

I think you'll be glad that you did!

What's Up for 2019? What's My Excuse?

I remember as a young woman wondering if I would live long enough to see the 21st century. Now I'm on the heels of the perfect eye-sight year: 2020!

I have done a little writing in the past two years, but not as regularly or as well as I have in the past. I did publish "A Pig in the Kitchen" which is available online. I also expanded a short pamphlet I wrote for my children several years ago into a book that was published by Cedar Fort Publishing in Springville, UT. It is called "The Words of God: 8 Crucial Bible Themes Supported by the Book of Mormon. "It is also available online at www.amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. Deseret Book also carries Words of God.

I started a small company called Gebara Education, LLC. I have a web page, www.gebaraeducation.com. I am hoping this coming year to do some educational consulting and tutoring. I'll also use Gebara to market my four books. It is really frustratingly slow however. I know that I have talents to share and at least a .little wisdom gleaned over 74 years of life, but I don't know how to market effectively to get people to my pages, including this one! I've been approached by marketing companies, but they all want over $1K to start and I don't have it. 2019 may open some doors for me.

On the downside, I've gone through a terrible, deep depression since 2016 when I retired from my job, sold my home, left Snowflake and lost my best friend. It has been 2 years of soul-deep and horrific losses. In retrospect, I am amazed, quite frankly, that I was able to complete and publish two new books. I haven't blogged or kept up my website, both of which make me feel like a slacker.

I was very ill in September and was in the ER on three different occasions. It seems I have developed vertigo, most likely as a result of the debilitating depression which effects body, mind, and soul. I'm much better now, but still suffering on days when things flare up. This has limited my driving, which is a huge loss of independence for me. I'm hoping to put all of this behind me in 2019. I cut my last anchor on Christmas Day and hopefully I won't allow it to reel me back into despair.

I had trouble accessing my blog this morning and my web-page says it is unsecured. So much for New Year's Resolutions!

Michelangelo is reported to have said encore imaro: I am still learning. He was in his late 80s. I am at least a decade younger than he at the time he said it. What's my excuse?

Friday, October 12, 2018

Soviet Spies in the 1940s

Klaus Fuchs: What One Evil Man Can Do

The Soviets began an active spying campaign while they were still our “allies” in WWII, beginning as early as 1941, when a British traitor informed the Soviets about America’s attempt to create an atomic weapon. Dozens of people were tried, convicted, and often executed for passing nuclear secrets to Russia. There is no estimate as to how many escaped justice such as John Cairncross, who lied an said the material he gave the Soviets was “nominal”. When the Kremlin released their records, they found out Cairncross had lied and had actually given the Soviets crucial information about America’s atomic research.

Some spies were from America and Western Europe, who believed in communism and under the false pretense of being pro-democracy and capitalism, did serious damage to their nations. Some believed that only nuclear parity would avert an atomic was. I found a list of some of these people in an article entitled Spies Who Spilled Atomic Bomb Secrets, published by the Smithsonian and written by Marian Smith Holmes in 2009

John Cairncross- was the first atomic spy, John Cairncross was eventually identified as one of the Cambridge Five, a group of upper-middle class young men who had met at Cambridge University in the 1930s, became passionate communists and eventually Soviet spies during World War II and into the 1950s. In his position as secretary to the chairman of Britain’s scientific advisory committee, Cairncross gained access to a high-level report in the fall of 1941 that confirmed the feasibility of a uranium bomb. He promptly leaked the information to Moscow agents.

Klaus Fuchs is known as the most important atomic spy in history. He was a physicist on the Manhattan Project and a lead scientist at Britain’s nuclear facility by 1949. Just weeks after the Soviets exploded their atomic bomb in August 1949, a decryption of a 1944 message revealed that information describing important scientific processes related to construction of the A-bomb had been sent from the United Sates to Moscow. FBI agents identified Klaus Fuchs as the author.

Born in Germany in 1911, Fuchs joined the Communist Party as student, and fled to England during the rise of Nazism in 1933. By the time he became a British citizen in 1942, he had already contacted the Soviet Embassy in London and volunteered his services as a spy. He was transferred to the Los Alamos lab and began handing over detailed information about the bomb construction, including sketches and dimensions.

When he returned to England in 1946, he went to work at Britain’s nuclear research facility, and passed information on creating a hydrogen bomb to the Soviet Union. In December 1949, authorities questioned him. In a matter of few weeks, Fuchs confessed all. He was tried and sentenced to 14 years in prison. After serving nine years he was released to East Germany, where he resumed work as a scientist. He died in 1988.

When he became a British citizen, he would have had to promise by covenant to support and defend Great Britain. By knowingly violating that covenant, I would call him an evil, not just misguided, man. Considering that there would not have been a nuclear Soviet Union (at least not so quickly) without him I am surprised he escaped the death penalty. Fuchs is a perfect example of the damage one evil man can do.

Theodore Hall (Holtzberg) was a young Jewish boy who had become a Marxist when he entered Harvard (from which he graduated at 18.) He was also assigned to the Manhattan Project and passed on secrets to the Soviets years before Fuchs, but he flew under the radar. He felt such guilt after seeing what the bomb could do in 1945, he was motivated to give secrets to Russia in order to create nuclear parity and avoid another atomic was. The bomb the Soviets tested in 1949 was an exact copy of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. He was never convicted, but confessed in 1995 when old, encrypted documents were translated. He lived out his in England and died two years after he was revealed to be a spy, at the age of 79.

Harry Gold was an American chemist who had been spying for the Soviets since 1935. He was named by Fuchs when he eventually confessed. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

David Greenglass was the third “mole” in the Manhattan Project. Working with Hill and Fuchs, he began passing information from Los Alamos, where he began work as a machinist in 1944. He also went to prison but escaped the death penalty because, like Gold, he confessed and cooperated with the authorities and named names.

Lana and Morris Cohen – were professional industrial spies. They gathered leaked secrets from Los Alamos in 1945. When the arrests of spies began in 1949, the fled to Moscow. In 1961, they resurfaced in England where they continued to spy for Moscow under their new aliases. When they were finally convicted, they were sentenced to 20 years, but were released early in an exchange for a British spy incarcerated in Moscow.

Ethel Rosenburg (sister to Greenglass) and her husband, Theodore are the only spies I actually remember. They were arrested in the same group with Hall, Greenglass, and Gold. Unlike their colleagues, they refused to give any information or names. They claimed to be innocent. A jury found them guilty. They were convicted in 1951 and sentenced to death. They died in the electric chair at Sing-Sing prison in 1956.

I remember reading about them in the newspaper and seeing a picture of them with shaved heads just prior to their execution. I remember having a really sick feeling, not only about them betraying their nation, but because of their grisly deaths. I was about 6 at the time. That picture traumatized me for a long time.

They left behind two young sons, which is heartbreaking to me now. They continued to claim their innocence right to the end. Another example of otherwise sane people doing inhumane things by reacting in anger and retribution.

This would lead into the McCarthy Era and the communist witch hunts of the 1950s. I’ll talk about them in my next installment.

Aunt Kath

My Word by Decades, Part 2

1945-1950

My paternal grandmother, Corinne Wilson Rawlings, reading to me, circa 1949

I was between the ages of 1 to 5 during the last half of the decade of the 1940s. I was not aware of a lot of what was going on internationally, although the word, communism¸ was added to my vocabulary.

The Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Heber J. Grant, died in 1945. He and the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostle sent a special gift and message to all young Latter-day Saints who enlisted in the military after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The gift was a small, brown leather-bound New Testament and Book of Mormon. The letter encouraged them to stay faithful and prayerful; if they lived, they would be living unto Christ; if they died, they would die unto Christ. Dad showed me the letter and books several years ago. I don’t know where they went after his death in 2008.

Following the death of President Grant, George Albert Smith became the Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yes, you can believe it: I am really that old! I don’t consciously remember these two great men, but I was alive for at least part of their presidencies.

I do vaguely remember the Berlin airlift from 48-49. Mom allowed my dad to talk about it around me (she tried not to allow anything she thought would scare me*.) I even saw pictures in the newspaper. I remember feeling proud of my country that they were taking food and clothing and blankets to the people of West Berlin, so they could survive the winter of 48-49.

One of the most popular pilots in Operation Air Lift was a young LDS officer from Idaho, Gail Halverson. The US sent WWII planes over Eastern Germany (which as held by the Soviets) to and airfield in West Berlin. As he was stretching his legs, he noticed a group of German children standing with their faces pressed against the wire fence. He walked over and offered them 3 pieces of gum he had in his flight suit. Instead of fighting over it, the children broke the gum into as many little pieces as they could and shared. Those who didn’t get a small piece was given a wrapper to smell and lick. After that, Halverson never flew his cargo without taking candy and gum for the children. He attached the sweets to white handkerchiefs and dropped them like little parachutes. Before he landed to unload his official supplies, he’d fly over the field behind the fence and wiggle his airplane’s wings, so the children would know that treats were coming soon. The children called him “Uncle Wiggle Wings.” Halverson received candy and handkerchiefs from all over the Western World to “bomb” the children of West Berlin.

It was during this time that we moved from Ohio back to Las Vegas. In blood type, Mom was Rh- and Dad was Rh+. As a result of this factor, Mom lost a baby around 1947 when we were living in the motel. I remember her lying on the couch so sick, she couldn’t lift her head. I decided she needed eye drops and proceeded to use a dropper we had in the medicine cabinet to squirt plain water in her eyes. The water didn’t hurt her, but I can now imagine how Mom must have felt under the care of a 3-year-old “nurse,” bent on drowning her with “eyedrops!”

Dad found us a one-bedroom apartment on 5^th Street in Las Vegas, not far from Fremont St. I was still sleeping in my crib in my parents’ room. We had to walk up a flight of stairs to the apartment. I remember Helldorado in May of 1949. It was a big western celebration with parades and a carnival. I wanted to go, but I didn’t want to take a nap. Mom told me I had to nap, or I couldn’t go. I whined and fussed in my best 4-year-old manner that I should be able to go to the carnival and not nap. I remember thinking at the time that it was a very logical argument.! It didn’t take much of that for Mom, tired of my whining, to pick me up and put me in my crib and let me cry myself to sleep. Needless to say, I did nap, and I did go to the carnival!

When I started kindergarten in the fall of 1949, at the 5^th Street Grammar School, I wanted to be a big girl and walk the 2 blocks to school. I think dad has a home movie of me in a pink dress, turning around to wave as I took my grown-up walk (remember: I was still 4.) It wasn’t until years later, Mom told me that Dad had followed me ½ a block behind every day!

By late fall, Mom got pregnant with my brother, Brent. It was considered a high-risk pregnancy and Doctor Eklund told her she couldn’t climb the stairs to our apartment. We moved to cute little duplex just off of E. Charleston and 5^th St. This time, the crib was retired for the new baby and they bought me a set of bunkbeds, which sat just at the foot of there double bed. I felt so grown-up! Since I was already in school, I thought that was a nice touch! (Thanks, Brent!)

-----

In the larger world outside my tiny world

· February 4-11, 1945 - President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and Premier Josef Stalin held the Yalta Conference in the Soviet Union. The discussion centered around what they were going to do once the war was over (by then, it was pretty much of a foregone conclusion that the Allies would achieve unconditional surrender of the Axis.

Notice how ill President Roosevelt looked. He would die shortly after the Yalta Conference. Winston Churchill would live on well into his 80s and remained powerful and respected. Joseph Stalin remained in power until his death in 1953. He was responsible for the deaths of at least 15 million. Scholars say we will never know the extent of his terror because Russians didn't keep records of their victims like Hitler did in Germany. His death toll was 6million.

We despise Fascism, but we enthrone Socialism when both are pure evil!

· February 19, 1945 - Thirty thousand United States Marines landed on Iwo Jima. On April 1, American troops invaded Okinawa, beginning the Battle of Okinawa, which would continue until June 21.

· March 1, 1945 - American troops crossed the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany. Two weeks later, on March 18, twelve hundred and fifty U.S. bombers attacked Berlin, causing Adolf Hitler to announce the destruction of his own industries and military installations one day later. (On a personal note: Dad had been furloughed home just before that raid. I was over 3 months old when he saw me for the first time.)

· April 12, 1945 - President Roosevelt died suddenly; Vice President Harry S. Truman (D) assumed the presidency and role as commander in chief of World War II.

· April 30, 1845, Adolph Hitler committed suicide by gunshot in his bunker. Because the Soviets got to Berlin before the Allies, there have always been rumors that somehow, Hitler survived. It’s a moot point now because Hitler was born in 1889 and would have to be 129 years old!

· May 7, 1945 - The unconditional surrender of Germany at Reims, France concludes the military engagements of World War II in Europe. It is accepted by General Dwight D. Eisenhower in his role as the commander of Allied troops in the European theater of the war.

· July 16, 1945 - The first atomic bomb was tested at Alamogordo, New Mexico, after its production at Los Alamos, New Mexico (The Manhattan Project.)

· August 6, 1945 - President Harry S. Truman gave the go-ahead for the use of the atomic bomb with the bombing of Hiroshima. Three days later, the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. On August 15, Emperor Hirohito of Japan surrendered to General MacArthur on the deck of a US battle ship Missouri anchored in Tokyo Harbor.

· January 10, 1946 - The first meeting of the United Nations general assembly occurred after its founding on October 24, 1945 by fifty-one nations, including the Security Council nations of China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A. These actions would lead to the disbanding of the League of Nations on April 18, when its mission was transferred to the U.N.

· April 1, 1946 - Four hundred thousand mine workers began to strike, with other industries following their lead. This is important to note because the US Communist Party was always behind the scenes stirring the pot.

· June 6, 1946 - The NBA was founded for all you basketball fans

· July 4, 1946 - The island nation of the Philippines was given their independence by the United States. That ended four hundred and twenty-five years of dominance by the west.

· August 1, 1946 - The Atomic Energy Commission was established.

· March 12, 1947 - The Truman Doctrine was announced to the U.S. Congress. When passed it granted $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey to battle Communist terrorism. President Harry S. Truman implemented the act on May 22. The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy whose stated purpose was to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. It was upon this doctrine that US involvement was based. It referred to the spread of Communism into South East Asia as the “Domino Effect" which led to the Vietnam War.

· April 2, 1947 - The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved the trusteeship of Pacific Islands formerly controlled by Japan to the United States.

· April 15, 1947 - Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's barrier against colored players when he debuts at first base for Branch Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers (for all you baseball fans.)

· April 25, 1947 - Theodore Roosevelt National Park is established by President Harry Truman along the Little Missouri River and scenic badlands of North Dakota.

· June 5, 1947 - Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposes aid extension to European nations for war recovery, known as the Marshall Plan, which would lead to Congressional approval of $12 billion over the following four years.

· June 20, 1947 - President Harry S. Truman vetoes the Taft-Hartley Labor Act that would have curbed strikes, only to be overridden by Congress on June 23. It is interesting to me that Harry Truman was a democrat, but his form of anti-communist and socialism would be more a Republican move today. Our 2-party system has been turned on its head since then. The breach between the liberals and conservatives gets wider every year and political moderates seem pulled between the two camps.

· April 1, 1948 - The Soviet Union begins its land blockade of the Allied sectors of Berlin, Germany. A counter blockade by the west was put into effect, as well as a British and U.S. airlift of supplies and food, until both blockades were lifted on September 30, 1949.

· April 30, 1948 - The Organization of American States is founded by twenty-one nations to provide a mutual security pact after World War II. Founding nations were Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

· July 26, 1948 - Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the United States military, is signed into effect by President Harry S. Truman.

· November 2, 1948 - President Harry S. Truman rallies from behind, capturing his first president election from the supposed winner Thomas E. Dewey, the governor of New York. Headlines in national newspapers had overtly announced a Dewey victory, only to be proven wrong. Truman won the Electoral College vote with 303 to Dewey's 189, with Strom Thurmond, running as the States' Rights candidate, receiving 39 Electoral votes. Truman won the election with less than 50% of the popular votes. The media of the day got its proverbial foot caught in its proverbial mouth by announcing a Dewey win.

· December 15, 1948 - Alger Hiss, former State Department official, is indicted for perjury in connection to denials of passing state secrets to a communist spy ring. He would be convicted of the conspiracy on January 21, 1950 and receive a five-year sentence. This shows how the actions of one man can alter history. The Soviets Union used that information and information from other spies to accelerate their own development of the atomic bomb. Quite honestly, I’m surprised the Hiss received such a short sentence. See today's other post for more about Soviet spies of the 1940s

· April 4, 1949 - NATO, the North American Treaty Organization, was formed by the United States, Canada, and ten Western European nations (Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom). The treaty stated that any attack against one nation would be considered an attack against them all.

· June 29, 1949 - United States withdraws its troops from Korea.

· October 7, 1949 - Tokyo Rose, the femme fatale of Japanese war broadcasts, was sentenced to ten years in prison. She was paroled in 1956 and pardoned in 197

· October 14, 1949 - Eleven leaders of the United States Communist party are convicted of advocating a violent insurrection and overthrow of the U.S. government. The Supreme Court would uphold the convictions on June 4, 1951.[1]

More later!