"I was in high school when Pearl Harbor got attacked. "
Were you surprised?
"Well - yes. "
Did anything change in Eastern Kentucky - where you lived when Pearl Harbor was attacked?
"No not where we lived. It didn’t interfere with stuff back in the country where we lived. "
How did you find yourself in the military?
"I was drafted. "
In June 1945 after you graduated from high school?
"Yeah. After Germany fell but before Japan surrendered.
They sent me overseas. I was assigned to a prison system [and was] in charge of maintenance and everything in that prison system. I worked in that for a while then they transferred me to the special services – an enlisted men and officers’ club, a service club. That was in the prison camp for the guards and all the people that were assigned to that prison. "
How long were you there?
"15 or 16 months.
Just a few days after I was sent me overseas and before I got assigned to anything, they had me on guard duty. I was pulling tower guard duty and two guys tried to cut through the fence to get out."
POWs or Allied criminals?
"We had general prisoners, Germans, Americans, and all kind of general criminals. We had them in there for rape, murder, and desertion. One time, we had 5963 prisoners – the most that I remember we having."
How was it like to be stationed in Italy?
"Alright! The southern part of Italy was real poor and weren’t really good. The northern part it was a lot better. I was stationed in Pisa, Italy in middle or northern part – it was a lot bigger than the southern part. When I first went overseas, I landed south of Naples in the southern part of Italy. Then I was assigned to Pisa and went up there. "
Was Italy peaceful?
"As far as I know, where I was stationed."
Tell me about your role at an officer-service club in Pisa?
"I was a custodian of the officer-service’s club. See, I inventoried the drinks and money and everything, and stocked the bars and everything for them. Then I had the servicemen’s service club – enlisted men. See I had people that tended bar, we had burlesque shows, we had stage shows, we had bands, we had [an] outdoor band stand and dance floor. We just had a servicemen’s club!" (laughs)
Was it better than guard duty?
"Oh yeah. I had my own private room. I lived back beside the dressing room and the bandstand stage. We had dances twice a week. They bring 18 – 20 truck loads of Italian girls into the dances - the Army would transport them in for the dances."
Dad told me that put you in charge.
"I don’t know how. They just assigned me. I was in the maintenance department. See before I went into service, I worked for the construction company during vacations and summer while I was in high school. Then I was assigned to the maintenance and then the guy who was in charge of the service club, they discharged him and put me into charge of the service club in his place. So that’s how I got in to be in the special services I guess!"