I interviewed my grandfather about his experience as a soldier in World War II. Throughout my childhood, he was always reluctant to reveal any details regarding the war, however, after a lot of begging, I finally persuaded him to discuss “the worst experience of his life.”
When my grandfather was only 18 years old he heard a knock on the door. He peeked outside and saw two man dressed in army uniforms waiting for someone to answer. He quickly jumped up to answer the door and they told him that they were here to draft his brother Leon to fight in the war. This visit was extremely unexpected and they tried to face the fact that he was needed in battle. Leon was the provider for the family and without him they wouldn’t have enough money to put food on the table. Realizing this, my grandfather jumped in front of his older brother and requested that they take him on Leon’s behalf.
After a couple of months of training my grandfather finally went to battle and was in charge of driving gas trucks to refuel the tanks. “On one hand the job wasn’t too exciting as being on the front lines. However, on the other hand it was extremely dangerous because one shot to the gas tank and I would go up in flames.” During one particular trip he received directions to drive the truck to a certain base, however, he noticed that there was something wrong with the path and chose an alternate route to get to the base. When he finally arrived he heard devastating news. His sergeant told him that a different truck that followed those directions was ambushed by some of the opposing forces and was blown up. If it wasn’t for his intuition, him and his partner wouldn’t have made it out alive.
After a couple of months, his platoon was being sent to Japan to embark on the second part of his tour. While aboard the General J.P. Breckenridge ship he received the exciting news that the war was finally over and that they were being sent back home. He described it as “the happiest day of his life.” His whole platoon was singing and partying and they were so excited to rejoin their families . This experience changed my grandfather’s life and it really turned him into the man he is today.
