1941 also brought the entry of the US into WWII. Emil reported for the draft, but his age and his family status each were sufficient to result in some classification other than One-A. Emil had friends and other family members who would be drafted, but at 31 with three children, he remained at home.
In 1942 the owner of the glass machine factory died, and his wife took over running the business. The company’s fortunes began to decline. The owner had relied on personal contacts to drive the business. Without him those contacts were lost, and the business they represented were lost. Emil was concerned that in a booming wartime economy the glass factory was doing poorly. He obtained job offers from Mesta Machine and Westinghouse, but the new owner of the glass factory complained to the defense board that he was needed where he was.
In 1942 a fourth child, Mary, was born. With all the Mary Beggs around she immediately became Mitzi.
In 1943, with the wartime economy in full boom, the glass machine factory failed. Emil was not in a good position. A year and a half earlier he could point to the years of success he had had with the company. Now, he had to defend a failed company, one that had failed in the midst of the biggest boom in American history. The positions open earlier were not available. He looked for new opportunities. The best of these was in Detroit. If Pittsburgh was booming, Detroit was exploding. Emil would move to Detroit, and send for the family later.
His age and draft status were, at this time, a plus, but Emil couldn’t bring himself to leave his family and decided to take a job as a machinist with a little company in Munhall. Opportunities for advancement were nil; it was a major step down from his position at the glass machine factory; but it was what he chose. He would work as a machinist for the rest of his life.
Work was steady, with plenty of overtime, so the Begg family situation didn’t change much. Emil no longer had the status of a superintendent, but he seemed to enjoy the freedom of doing a job that required only one’s own efforts. The troubles of management were ones he never missed. He must have wondered many times in his future, “what if.” If he had moved to Detroit, if he had taken a job with better opportunities for advancement; however, he had been burned once, badly, and would be forever shy.
In 1945 a fifth child, Irene, was born. Emil and Mary wanted her godparents to be their niece Alice and her husband Eli. Alice Yurich was like a sister to Mary, and Eli was our authentic war hero. Alice was a favorite of our family and everyone was happy with the choice. Everyone but Fr Becavac. When Emil’s sister Mary married Ralph Yurich Fr Becavac advised them to go to the man’s church. They did so, and their children were raised Eastern Orthodox. As Eli was a Serbian-American he was also of the Orthodox faith.
Fr Becavac’s non-conformist practices seemed to be limited to advice after marriage. He would not, could not, allow Alice and Eli to be godparents to Irene. Emil and Mary responded by having Irene baptized in the Orthodox church. Stubbornness was a strong trait in both Mary and Emil.
The end of WWII was welcomed with celebrations and joyous homecomings. Emil greeted many friends who had, fortunately, survived the war. Roy Johnson and Kippy Kramer were two boyhood friends from Buena Vista Street. Roy returned from Asia where he served in the Army. Kippy returned from service in the Navy. Emil’s younger brother, Joe, returned form Navy service, including the battle of Okinawa, where his ship had been damaged by a kamikaze attack. There were others, each return was a cause for joy.
Their return would also result in a longer term change that would impact on Emil’s life. The veterans would gradually return to their pre-war occupations. With the GI Bill many of them would have an unexpected opportunity for education. Theirs would be the generation that would run America for the next twenty years. With them, conversations always included a question as to where one had served during the war. Emil, and others who had not served, could never be part of that group. When opportunities occurred, the lack of service was a disadvantage. There was never overt discrimination, Emil never indicated any feeling of animosity. It was simply a basic part of their being, and was a bond as strong as any.
The post war economy continued to boom. Emil was working with an experimental machine which could operate with limited human intervention. While such a machine offered a potential for the reduction in the need for machinists, Emil knew you couldn’t fight progress, and he enjoyed the chance to work with new technology.
The little machine shop did well and life was good.
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