Woody Guthrie is perhaps, one of the most well-known American Folk singers. What many consider his most well-known song is “This Land is your Land”. He inspired and influenced many famous musicians and singers like Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. Today, we are going to talk a little about his early life, his service in WWII, and his later life.
Born July 14, 1912, Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was raised in Okemah, Oklahoma until age 18, when his father moved Woody to Texas with him. Even when he was young, he had a passion and the talent of playing music, his first instrument was the harmonica. A year later he got married to one Mary Jennings and the marriage produced three children, however his need to roam the land left her at home. He landed in California, New York, and everywhere in between. In 1941, Woody brought his family to Portland but by 1943, the marriage was strained and a divorce ensued (He eventually had a total of three marriages and a total of eight children.)
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This didn’t work in his favor and he joined the Merchant Marine. He served aboard three ships, one was nearly sunk by a mine, the second one had no incidents, and the last one was off the French coast at Normandy, near the “Utah Beach” when she was hit by a torpedo, but luckily it too, did not