I was born August 3, 1924 in the community of Cutler, Illinois. At the age of 18 I was drafted into the US Army. I was first sent to Camp Grant outside of Chicago Illinois. After about three weeks I was then sent to Camp Walters Mineral Wells, Texas where I received infantry basic training. I was trained for the use of the M-1 rifle. After 17 weeks of basic training I was sent to Fort Meade, Maryland, and trained with live ammunition. From there I went to Camp Shanks, New York, then I was put on the English ship Orion on April 5, 1944. I arrived in England April 16, 1944. In England we trained for D-Day, sometimes day and night. Then around D-Day I went to Utah Beach in Normandy, France. Later that day in the evening I was taken to the front. At that time I was with G Company, 12th Infantry, 4th Division. They were about 1 mile inland from the beach. We traveled to Cherbourg, which was liberated June 25, 1944. From there we went to St. Lo, then Paris. This was around August 3, 1944. From Paris we went to Belgium then Siegfield Line, Germany. By then winter had set in with the cold and snow.

On November 18, 1944 I was wounded by a 88mm, one of the most feared weapon of WWII. I had wounds on my left eye, right arm, right hip, and left knee and small pieces of shrapnel to other parts of my body. I was taken to hospitals in Belgium, France and England. I was in the following hospitals: 1st General, 217th, 4290th, 4324th, 4322nd, 68th, 65th, 186th, 4148th and last Wakeman General Hospital at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. I was discharged from Wakeman on October 25, 1945.

I have 4 Battle Stars, Normandy Campais, Northern France, Ardennes and Rhineland. My medals are Combat Infantry Badge, Purple Heart, European African Middle East Ribbon and the Bronze Star.