"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…

“Well, I was in the recruiting duty when I was in the Wac’s. I did public relations; I tried to recruit other Wacs. And I think perhaps there that it was an asset, being able to speak easily like I do. I suppose that might have had something to do…

"And they came to America in July of 1939. And my father wanted to go back to Europe to fight the Nazis. He wasn’t a citizen yet, so he had to apply for citizenry, and he got the necessary paperwork done, and he enrolled in the Army. And I have a…

"And then they went on with 1000 children on that transport. They had a very harrowing experience. And they got to the border of Holland and Germany. And the soldiers there-- the German soldiers-- they boarded the train. And they harassed…

"The final day of school they took everyone in our class and sent them to the amphibious forces in Camp Bradford, Virginia. Now, instead of having the nice Navy blues and so forth, they gave me an out of draft uniform, 30-30 rifle, combat shoes,…

“…they loaded us onto a transport, the General Meigs. And we went to sea. We were at sea for 12 days. Nobody knew where we were, where we were going, or what was going on. We just, there we were and we were on. There goes the 12th day we were at…

"We went back out to the transport area, and we stayed there for three days in the off chance we might be needed again, in case there was a retreat or something of that nature. And at the end of three days they said our services were no longer…

"Now we had the skipper on the bridge, the helmsman below him, and the engine room below him, and the radar man. And the fifth man fired the rockets, and that dubious distinction was mine. I got to do the firing. Well, somehow in some sort of…

"Since I was very young looking even for 17, some of the noncoms thought they could pick on me, and I did have a couple of fights. One occasion our sergeant-- who was a short man-- was trying to impress other recruits and accused me of something…

“During the war Carl was classified as a conscientious objector and was assigned to a special troop division. These were troops used to hold a line while other troops were pulled back. He fought outside of Stalingrad and his position was overrun; he…