As with many families, the second world war would place a strain on families back home. Anna McCauley would become a single parent to Bernard and Patricia.  Above is a family photo presumably taken in July 1943 as Bernard left for service.  At this time Bernard III would have been 31 years old, Anna McCauley age 29,  Bernard IV,  8 years old and Patricia 5 years old.

During a recent conversation with my brother, Colin McCauley stated that our father, Bernard McCauley IV, had to help support the household while grandpa was in service by working in a diner bussing tables. I do remember him talking about the working in the diner and giving his pay over to his mother, but I always that that was when he was older and in high school.  My brother indicated that Bernard IV said it was during the war when money was not regularly sent home.  Colin McCauley said that our father would sit on the back steps of the diner during breaks and could hear the other children playing baseball a few blocks away.  He wished he was playing baseball with his friends rather than working.

At that time the family was living at 321 Columbia street. Just down the block was a diner that is still there today. Behind the diner are the Coyne baseball felids. These could have been there during the war. I would have thought my father worked in that diner while in high school. If he worked there during World War II, he would have been 9 or 10 years old. There were no strict labor laws in those days and he probably worked “under the table”. Bernard IV was home helping the family make ends meet.