Albert Simon was born in February 1920. His parents worked on a farm. He was raised on the farm and worked there until he went into the service. He had four sisters and a brother. He was the oldest child. They farmed cane and did a lot of plowing. They caught and hunted wildlife. Pearl Harbor was bombed on 7 December 1941 [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], and he was drafted in February 1942 when he turned 22. He did his training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. He went through the Louisiana Maneuvers [Annotator’s Note: The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of major U.S. Army exercises held in 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana] while he was in Alexandria, Louisiana. On 26 December, they went to New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] and took a ship through the Panama Canal [Annotator's Note: Manmade canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in between North and South America] and on to Hawaii. They did jungle training in Hawaii for three or four months, then went to New Guinea. After three or four months there, they moved to Manila, Luzon, and Leyte in the Philippines. He was in battle for a year and nine months.

Albert Simon was at Woodpecker Ridge in Luzon [Annotator’s Note: Luzon, the Philippines]. They landed on Leyte Island [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, the Philippines]. It was mountainous and had big hills. The Japanese had all the big guns. They did their fighting at night. They had the guns on railroad tracks in the mountains. When they opened the doors, they would put the flamethrower [Annotator's Note: ranged incendiary device that projects a controllable jet of fire] on to kill the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] inside. The Japanese fought with their rifles. The first casualty he saw was an American, then he saw a Japanese casualty. The further they got in, the more bodies he saw. All the fighting was hard. It was all hard. Moving the big gun around and trying to protect themselves was hard. When Simon was running, he got cut on his leg by barbed wire. The medic wanted to bandage his leg and give him a Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: the Purple Heart Medal is an award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy]. They had to read their letters before they sent them home. He wrote to his mother. Simon did not get a lot of his mail. They followed the rifle company with the mortar and the machine gun. There were three men on the mortar: the gunner, Simon, and the telephone operator.

Albert Simon was in the Philippines. They stayed in pup tents [Annotator's Note: small sleep tents often shared by two soldiers]. When they heard the war was over, they got on liberty ships [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ships]. Simon got seasick on the way home. They would lay on the deck. On the way over, he had not gotten seasick. The day before they landed, the Japanese suicide bombed them. They lost two ships. He got a paper to show he crossed the Equator. The Filipinos would bring them food. Manila [Annotator’s Note: Manila, the Philippines] had been flattened. When the war was over, they would go on patrol to clean up the Japanese that were left over. They were talking about what they were going to do if they did not drop the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. The best news was when Japan gave its unconditional surrender. They were going home and the war was over. When Simon returned home, it was a celebration. He was discharged in San Diego [Annotator’s Note: SanDiego, California]. His division [Annotator’s Note: the 38th Infantry Division] was discharged in Texas. They hired a taxi to New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. When he got home, everyone started crying.

Albert Simon went to school until to the seventh grade. He had to go to work on the farm in the third grade. He had to milk the cow, plow the fields, and cut the cane. He made 45 cents a day. He made 75 dollars a month in the service. He worked with the oil people for a while. Then he stayed home and joined a water drilling company. Then he worked for Avondale Shipyard for 26 years. He does not have nightmares about his war service. He remembers moving around for the training. He would go home every chance he could at Camp Livingston [Annotator’s Note: Camp Livingston, Louisiana]. He told his parents he was shipping out. He took a train to Alexandria [Annotator’s Note: Alexandria, Louisiana], then he went to Hawaii in the South Pacific. He took jungle training there. There were pineapple fields. They went through coconut fields.

Albert Simon fought for his country. He was drafted. He fought for the United States flag. He changed from a civilian to a soldier. Everything got better for him after he was discharged. The VA [Annotator's Note: United States Department of Veterans Affairs; also referred to as the Veterans Administration] is taking care of him now. He was a corporal when he was discharged. He was happy when the war was over and he returned home. He had to start a new life. When he left for the service, he could not write more than his name. He learned English better as well because no one was speaking French. He had two daughters.

Albert Simon was in the 38th Division in the 152nd Infantry [Annotator’s Note: 152nd Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division]. He was in a heavy weapons company. He had the 81 mm mortar [Annotator's Note: M1 81mm mortar]. They would shoot the mortar like a cannon. Simon would stay with the mortar right behind the rifle company. His best friend was killed in the Pacific. They were lucky to stay in the same company. [Annotator’s Note: Simon describes his friends.] All of the people he met were good people and good friends. They experienced their heaviest battle in Saipan [Annotator's Note: The Battle of Saipan, 15 June to 9 July 1944; Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands]. The Japanese would mostly attack them at night. It would rain day and night. His foxhole filled up with water. There was shooting all around. Quite a few of his friends were killed. The best news they got while they were there was about the atomic bombs being dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. The biggest news was when the war was over and they were told they were going home. They left Manila Bay [Annotator’s Note: Manila, the Philippines] and went to San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California]. They left on a cargo ship, like a liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship].