The Swastika
by Lorraine Esser Massey
This is a story about my husband, Charles "Tonny" Massey, during the beginning of World War II. Tonny was about 12 years old and wished he was old enough to serve his Country. He and a buddy of his decided that a swastika would look real good painted on the roof of the old cypress barn that was located behind Tonny's house at 116 N. Plant St. in Boerne, which is the Phillip Massey House and is presently the Michael Glick Insurance Company.
At this time, the government was always checking on German sympathizers, especially in German communities, and a surveillance plane flying over Boerne spotted the swastika on the roof of the barn. Tonny's mother, Ella Phillip Massey, was at home when the FBI knocked on the door and demanded to know about the swastika. She, of course, knew nothing but suspected how it got there.
Her older son, Phil, was serving in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany at the time, and she had a flag in the window as all service men and women's families had. She explained that they were not sympathizers and had a son serving in World War II. She called Tonny to the door; he had a lot of explaining to do, and he and his buddy spent the rest of the day (and the next) getting the swastika off of the roof of the old barn.
