“I served with the Army Combat Engineers in World War II. I was in London when the V2 bombs were being dropped, and whole city blocks would just disappear. After London, I went to Germany. I loved the country, but I saw a lot of things there that I wouldn’t want to see again, a lot of things I’ve never talked about. We’d go through towns and there would be dead bodies in the streets, but we didn’t stop. We just stepped around them and went on. I remember going through one city where bodies were stacked up like cordwood, as high as this ceiling. The German people went through a lot, and I felt bad for them, especially the children. When we’d finish our meals in the mess hall and come out, German children would be standing there with coffee cans. Whatever we had left, we would give to them, and they would take it. I never ate sweets or candy. I always saved mine and gave it to them.
“I was in Germany, sitting in a second story window, when they told us the war was over. There were no screens on the windows, and I’d been drinking a little that night---a quart was only a nickel, and after fifteen cents worth, I couldn’t have hit my butt with both hands---and that’s when I found out the war had ended. I almost fell out the window, but two guys grabbed me and pulled me back in.
“The prettiest sight I’ve ever seen was on our way home when we finally reached New York harbor. It was five o’clock in the morning, and fireboats came out to meet us and sprayed water over the bow of our ship. When we caught sight of the Statue of Liberty in that harbor, every man on the ship saluted.
“I was 18 years old when I went into the service, just a kid, and I’m 90 now. Ever since I got out of the army in 1946, I’ve put the flag up every morning, saluted it, then in the evening saluted it again before taking it down for the night. I love this country. I respect it. They say war is hell, and believe me, it is. I wouldn’t want to go to war again, but I would for my country.”
“I was in Germany, sitting in a second story window, when they told us the war was over. There were no screens on the windows, and I’d been drinking a little that night---a quart was only a nickel, and after fifteen cents worth, I couldn’t have hit my butt with both hands---and that’s when I found out the war had ended. I almost fell out the window, but two guys grabbed me and pulled me back in.
“The prettiest sight I’ve ever seen was on our way home when we finally reached New York harbor. It was five o’clock in the morning, and fireboats came out to meet us and sprayed water over the bow of our ship. When we caught sight of the Statue of Liberty in that harbor, every man on the ship saluted.
“I was 18 years old when I went into the service, just a kid, and I’m 90 now. Ever since I got out of the army in 1946, I’ve put the flag up every morning, saluted it, then in the evening saluted it again before taking it down for the night. I love this country. I respect it. They say war is hell, and believe me, it is. I wouldn’t want to go to war again, but I would for my country.”
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