Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

Trains and intercity buses were jammed to capacity, with passengers sitting on suitcases in the aisles. Scalpers roamed through the stations offering tickets at steep markups. Everywhere one saw young military wives with infants and small children, doggedly following their husbands from post to post. Many migrated to the West Coast to find a home nearer to the Pacific War. Sailors on ships deployed in the Pacific might put into San Diego or San Francisco at any time, without advance notice, and be given a three-day liberty pass. If they wanted a reunion, the families had better be living nearby. In California, however, there were millions of new migrants—the Golden State’s population grew by more than one-third during the war—and never enough housing. A city official in San Francisco reported: “Families are sleeping in garages, with mattresses right on cement floors and three, four, five to one bed.”