War Through a Child's Eyes

WWII through the eyes of a seven year old American boy.

A family friend —now gone— was just a little boy during World War II. He was seven, living here in America, when he drew this picture in 1944.

It stops me every time I look at it.

A child that young, with crayons in hand, already knew about planes in the sky… bombs dropping… explosions… men drifting down in parachutes. He had a relative serving in the military, and I imagine his awareness of the conversations, the worry, the half-whispered prayers around the dinner table.

Even from thousands of miles away, the war found its way into children’s imaginations. It lived in their drawings, their play, their dreams. This simple page reminds me that the cost of war has always reached far beyond the battlefield — right into the hearts of the smallest among us.