One Lives One Dies

  "July 10, 1941 – Boys were supposed to go home but didn’t; some cried. I’ve taken lots of pictures. Wish you were here to get pictures with me. Only 4 months 11 days til I’m out."

  "Last night, we had a 4-hour layover in Shreveport, Louisiana. I went to town and got me a girl. When I got ready to leave, she wasn’t going to let me go. She had me by the collar of my coat and I almost missed the train. I had to knock her down and I ran and caught the train. I sure did laugh, and the others laughed to. I had lipstick all over me to and they said that I was just a ladies’ man. I told them that was the truth."

"A shell came in and made a direct hit on the sergeant. When the dust cleared, all I saw left of the sergeant was from his knees down. The rest of him was blown up over the terrace in back of us. He was killed instantly."

 "Warren was stubborn, hard-working, and loved a good joke, just like I do. He was on the quiet side and liked to drink—not to excess—and smoked 

like most of the other guys at that time."

"There were two barbed-wire obstacles, I got caught in it. Shells started landing on the beach. It hit one boat directly with all the men in it. I heard them crying for help, but there was nothing I could do. That’s one thing I shall remember the rest of my life."

"I was ordered to go visit the General of the division, which scared me half to death because I didn’t know why I was going. I didn’t think I’d done anything to be in trouble. He told me I was being shipped back to the States. If he used the words 'Medal of Honor,' it didn’t mean a thing to me. All I heard was that I got to go home. That was what stuck with me. I didn’t know until I got to Washington why I was at the White House."

  “'You should have seen yourself!' they said. 'This little head was all you could see sticking out from this woman’s coat!' I enjoyed it, and it was warm. I said, 'Hey, at least I was getting warm.'”

 "Little did we know that our mess sergeant of great repute used spoiled canned turkey. We were all half-starved and ate with insatiable appetites. After having gorged ourselves, we retired to our respective tents. Shortly after dark, there 

seemed to be more than the usual traffic moving down the street. But why were some men running? The outhouse was full—but now too far away! Nearly two hundred poor souls suffering similar circumstances. Now!! Men moving down the darkened street got tangled in the complexity of tent ropes, collided with neighbors unknown, tumbled and—oh no!! Too late!!"

  "Word had gotten around, and soon many of these little hungry children were straining on the ropes in anticipation. I quickly filled my tray and was about to take a bite when I looked at the faces filled with hunger. My own hunger was quickly replaced with pity. I raked my tray off into the garbage can whose contents along with all leftover food would belong to these children after the service men had eaten. Needless to say, I survived a few more days on sea rations inside the first aid station."

"I never had cereal before at home—we couldn’t afford cereal. I didn’t wanna make an ass out of myself. I sat back and waited till everyone else started, so I’d do what they did. So, anyway, I see these guys open these boxes, take the cellophane out, and pour the cornflakes into the bowl, then pour a little milk in the bowl. I thought, 'Hell, it might be all right. All the other guys are doing it.'”

Paul “Dutch” Brake, served in the T/3 Official Signal Corps as a war photographer. His photography unit was the first allowed in after the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.

"Well, Dad, I sure have had a time with the girls here. I have married three or four, Ha. If I get too many, I will send for you."

 "Porterfield was up ahead of us when he saw

something off in the distance.He cautiously walked up to an object on a table that turned out to be a statue of Jesus. He pulled a wool sock from his bag and put the statue in it."

"We went over there in October, and in October the Atlantic Ocean gets rough. Our ship was sitting on peaks of waves. They would sit there and shake. There were waves as big as the mountains of West Virginia."

"As you read these pages, consider that these events happened to young people who should have been working their first job or starting their

sophomore year of college. These guys who saved the world from Nazism were, basically, the age of the kids who hand you your French fries at McDonalds."

Nathan Young was a cook during WWII and had no combat training. He didn’t have a rifle or even know how to crawl.

Before Benson began his term of service during WWII, he weighed 180 pounds. However, after being starved while he was a prisoner, he returned home weighing only 80 pounds. It is a wonder and miracle that he survived.

"We lived in a house almost next door to his, and he made himself known. They had a horse and plowed gardens, and I watched him. He was interesting. I think we liked each other from the start. I told him that someone had to be the superintendent of the job, and he was doing a good job. He was always a little shy."