Stories tagged "Army": 18
Stories
Army of Occupation
“Well, it just so happened after the war ended, the last concentration camp that was liberated was in Ebensee, Austria, which is a sub camp of Mauthausen. They were liberated two days before the end of the war. Our division was ordered 150 army…
VE Day
“Yes! A few days before the war was actually declared over, we knew the war was over, because my particular unit bypassed Munich. Because there was no real combat in Munich. Germans did very little, and then they retreated out of Munich. So now…
Liberation of Dachau
Content Warning: This story includes descriptions of dead bodies and other disturbing sensory details encountered during the liberation of Dachau."Okay. You know, we had captured a number of cities and towns such as Wurzburg, Schweinfurt, Nuremberg,…
Off to Europe
“Well, I, we were very fortunate for a number of reasons. When the Battle of the Bulge broke out in Belgium, our infantry companies, three infantry regiments, were immediately rushed over as fast as they could to get them involved. They left the…
Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP)
“They said, well, the Army just started a new program called Army Specialized Training Program, ASTP. And if you prefer that, we'll send you to some college to take courses in engineering. So, I said, 'well, going back to some college, that sounds…
Training at Fort Bragg
“First of all, we went to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for basic training. Again, being trained as gunners on 105-millimeter howitzers. But these were mechanized, no horses. After 13 weeks, we were interviewed, offered the opportunity to go to…
Joining the ROTC
“Pearl Harbor was December 7th, 1941. Yes, I remember it was a Sunday. Everybody was listening, was told to listen to the radio. President Roosevelt was going to speak. So, of course, our family was huddled around that radio, listening to President…
Staged for Deployment
"After we finished this long flight of 3,000 miles, we were sent to Topeka, Kansas. Topeka had an airfield, and it served as a staging area. There, we were equipped with all of our overseas gear. We still didn't know our final destination.
They…
B-29 Radio Operator
“We were completely in the dark. We had no idea how we progressed from step to step. The first time I saw a B-29 was in Pyote, Texas. I had no idea where B-29s were stationed, but of course, it's a bomber, and apparently, it was being used somewhere…
Vietnam
"The Vietnam War was very different. When my brother, Wayne, was drafted, I became a war protester, joining student sit ins and running from the police who tried to break up our demonstrations. Wayne served two years in Thailand as a medic. I met my…