Imperial Valley Press

WE the Women

You remember "Corky," don't you?

He is the three-year-old son of one of this war's first heroes, Capt. Colin P. Kelly, Jr., who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for sinking the Japanese battleship Haruna.

Well, Corky's mother, who recently took a job in a California war plant, kept running into "No Children" signs when she went looking for quarters for herself and Corky.

When she recently made her predicament public she was offered numerous places to live. After all, Corky was not just any little boy. Not only was his father a war hero, but Corky was famous in his own right, having been nominated to West Point in 1956 by President Roosevelt himself.

ALL KIDS ARE NOT "CORKYS"

So, Corky has a place to live.

But there are a lot of other kids Corky's age, whose mothers are married to servicemen whose names aren't familiar to house and apartment owners.

They haven't yet had a chance to become heroes—perhaps they'll never be heroes. All they have done is leave their wives and children to go out and risk their lives. They haven't died valiantly—not yet, anyway.

So, their wives are still running into "No Children" signs when they look for places to live—and the home and apartment owners who put up such signs make no exceptions for them.

Your father has to be a national hero before the "No Children" bans are lifted, Junior.

If all he has done is to leave his home and family and give up his job or profession to fight for democracy you and your Mama are just out of luck. That isn't enough to impress the landlords who put up "No Children" signs.