Art Frankel was born in January 1928, in the Bronx, New York [Annotator's Note: the Bronx is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York]. He grew up in Connecticut where his family owned a farm. Growing up during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], Frankel did a lot of work on his family farm to keep it going, so they always had enough food to eat. He lived in a house that was built in the 1800s, so he was freezing all the time because it had no insulation. There were also no indoor bathrooms. He would get up at five in the morning to milk cows by hand. He grew up with an older brother and a younger sister. Frankel experienced a lot of ant-Semitism while he was at school. The principal of the school and his daughter, who was in Frankel's class, harassed him and his brother. Frankel did not discuss the anti-Semitic harassment to his parents because they were too busy trying to keep the farm going. His father also worked for the WPA [Annotator's Note: the Works Progress Administration was a federally sponsored program that put unemployed Americans to work during the Great Depression]. He had a lot of extended family that lived in the same town in Connecticut. Frankel excelled in theater while he was in high school. Many of the kids he went to school with ended up dropping out after they turned 16 because they needed to go to work. He learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] while listening to the radio. His older brother tried to enlist in the Army but was denied because his was crippled [Annotator's Note: physical disability] in one leg and had epilepsy [Annotator's Note: a neurological disorder]. When Frankel was 17, he wanted to enlist into the Paratroopers, but his parents made him wait until he was 18. He was inducted at Fort Devens [Annotator's Note: in Ayer and Shirley, Massachusetts] and went to Keesler Field [Annotator's Note: now Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi] for basic training. He met a guy, named Jack, at basic training and became friends. Frankel and Jack were always testing their commanders and getting into trouble. Jack was able to convince their commander to give him and Frankel time off for Passover [Annotator's Note: major Jewish holiday]. Frank and Jack hitchhiked planed rides back to Connecticut. At one point they had to sleep overnight in a C-54 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport aircraft]. They ended up back at base as AWOL [Annotator's Note: absent without leave] and were given duties as punishment. Frankel qualified for pistol and sharpshooting. After basic training he board a troop train and was sent to Washington to learn to be a typographic draftsman.

[Annotator's Note: A dog can be heard whining in the background throughout this segment.] The Army Air Forces assigned Art Frankel to typographic draftsman training in Washington. He then sent to San Antonio [Annotator's Note: San Antonio, Texas] and had to wait for his records to come in. In the meantime, he decided to take a plane to New York and visit his family for a couple of days. On his way home, he had trouble trying to find pilots that were going to Texas. He found one that took him to El Paso [Annotator's Note: El Paso, Texas] which is about 500 miles from his base in San Antonio. Finally, he found a pilot to bring him back to base. Thinking he was to be reprimanded for AWOL [Annotator's Note: absent without leave], he found out that his commander did not even know he left, and his records still did not arrive. World War 2 had concluded. Frankel was devastated, but also relieved, when the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] were dropped on Japan. About a month after arriving in San Antonio, Frankel was sent to Langley Field [Annotator's Note: now Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia]. He was assigned to a P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] Squadron and served with the 161st Reconnaissance Squadron as a draftsman. He often took trips to Phenix, Alabama which was known to be corrupt with illegal gambling and other vices. There were many men in his unit who were very young. He knew someone as young as 13 years old. Frankel often felt intimidated by some of the soldiers that came back from overseas deployment because he was never assigned out of the United Sates, but he had no control where he was placed him during his service. He had a first cousin, named Teddy, who was a lieutenant assigned in New Guinea, and saved his whole platoon, but his commander denied him the Congressional Medal of Honor [Annotator's Note: the Medal of Honor is the highest award a United States service member can receive who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor] because he was Jewish. He had another cousin, Marty, that piloted a landing craft [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat] on the Normandy invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] which was also his 21st birthday. Frankel was stationed at Langley Field for one year and was discharged from service. He was able to use G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] benefits to go to school. He met his wife at college and have been married for 66 years.

The Army Air Corps assigned Art Frankel to typographic drafter position at Langley Field [Annotator's Note: now Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia]. His job was to create maps from photos taken from P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] and later jet planes. Sometimes Frankel would be allowed to go on reconnaissance missions. There was an instance where the pilot thought that they were going to have to bail out because the plane caught on fire. Luckily, they were able to extinguish the fire and land safely. Because the war was over, he was not required to draw as many maps as they did during wartime. Instead, he was given projects from other departments to draft charts and posters. After his service in the military, he attended college, and then returned home to Connecticut to help his parents run a summer resort. He also found a job with an electric boat company, which later became General Dynamics [Annotator's Note: General Dynamics Corporation]. Frankel assisted in building the USS Nautilus (SSN-571). He and a team did all the weight figuring on paper for the addition of lead to the frame. Working on the submarine was very exciting. Frankel was present for the christening of the USS Nautilus (SSN- 571) by First Lady Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: Mary Geneva "Mamie" Eisenhower, first lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961] in 1954. He worked with the company for two years and then moved on because he knew he would not be able to advance in the company without an engineering degree. He decided to pursue a master's degree in education. He then became a history teacher and taught in Connecticut for a couple of years, then Las Vegas [Annotator's Note: Las Vegas, Nevada] for four years, and finally from 1961 to 1983 in the California school system. After his retirement, he and his wife sailed on a boat from California to Hawaii.

[Annotator's Note: People are talking off camera throughout the segment.] Art Frankel does not have a memorable experience of World War 2 but has a fondness to teach people about the subject because he does not want people to forget the sacrifice that was made by many. The war changed his life because he was allowed to go through school on the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] which led him to meet and marry his wife. He enlisted into service because the country needed men to fight. He wanted to go in at age 17 but his parents would not sign permission for him. He is very proud to have served in the military and very humbled to visit with World War 2 veterans that were in combat. He feels fortunate and lucky. He knew several boys in his neighborhood that died in combat. [Annotator's Note: interview is interrupted at 0:53:32.000.] Most Americans know that World War 2 helped save the country from fascism, but they take it for granted. There should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and they should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. Rationing during the war was a sacrifice but did not hurt anyone.