During WWII, his Grandfather (and Grandmother) had to stay home and look after Families #2 and #3 of his father (Grandfather is from wife #2 - she died of a stroke when he was 8), his father, his drug addicted stepmother (she was a nurse and was addicted to pain meds and died of a drug overdose), his grandmother and his MIL were all in this house at the time. They farmed.
Ed's Great Uncle though strung miles of communication lines. He also did the initial wiring of my house. The story goes when he had to give back his gun he had to dig it out of his toolbox - he'd never cleaned it, never used it. It was rusted and useless.
My Maternal Grandparents were farmers and Mennonites. There is some form of agreement in place (when they agreed to move from being beaten by the Russian army to West Canada - I've never actually researched it) in place that they are not to be soldiers in wartime, they may hold any other job. Mennonites are against war, they firmly believe in the "turn the other cheek". The story there is my great-uncle was conscripted and since they refused to give him another job except soldier he stored up his daily oranges and triggered his ulcer. He went back to teaching school. My Opa farmed. Also, my Opa was the gardian of his 4 neices plus his family.
My Great Uncles on both sides of my Dad's side were in WWII.
My Grandfather had always suffered from Depression (and later Parkinson's - he died when I was 5) and so he continued to work for the local fruit growers coop.
Sheri