Arthur Albertson was born in 1923 in Millville [Annotator's Note: Millville, Pennsylvania]. The children were nice. There were no wealthy people. They were all equal which made living pleasant. No one was overlooking anyone else. His father had a garage. His mother had five children. She was a housewife. His father was a manager at an A&P [Annotator's Note: The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company] store in Bloomsburg [Annotator’s Note: Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania] after he got out of the garage. He was the manager for a few years. They had it pretty good because they had food. His father worked in the grocery store. They did not have spending money. They got along and played ball. School was the same, everyone got along. It was a blow to hear about it [Annotator's Note: he is referring to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. It was on all the news all the time. Everyone watched the news. While the war was on, Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] would have the "Fireside Chats" [Annotator’s Note: a series of evening radio addresses given by Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944]. He would say what was happening. It was important to them. Albertson worked a number of jobs. He was planning to go to work in a supermarket to be the manager. He worked in a service station which he liked. He also helped in a repair shop. His life did not change much.

Arthur Albertson enlisted in the Air Force. He thought that was where he was going but five days after he signed up, he was put in the regular Army. There was more chance for advancement and more people signed up to go into the Air Force than they had room for. They put him in the infantry. The advertisement on the radio about the Air Force made him want to join. [Annotator's Note: Albertson sings the song of the United States Air Force which was played on the radio to get people to enlist]. He had a rifle and a shotgun because he hunted but he had never been around high-powered guns before. He moved up in the advancement. Later on, he was a guide. He grew up liking and interested in what he was supposed to do. He trained well. He listened. He was proud to be in the infantry.

Arthur Albertson was looking forward to going overseas. He wanted to go to Europe, not to the Pacific. He went to England. He trained over there night and day. They trained in the water on the beaches to prepare for the French beaches [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. They practiced landing all the time. The Army knew what they were doing. They were told they were all one group, like brothers. They landed in Higgins boats [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat]. The boats went in and when they reached a certain place the front would go down and they would get out. They would get fired at immediately. They had to work their way through. It was rough. He thought "Here we go! God, help us all!" A number of men got killed and wounded but a big number of them made it through. They could not stop, they had to keep moving. It was a hard experience. It was that way the whole war. After they got into their positions on land and got some protection, they were able to send out patrols. Albertson became interested in that [Annotator’s Note: he was a forward observer] and he excelled at it. He was small, thin, fast, and in good shape. All the training prepared him. On night patrols, they went out after dark and would work their way through the topographical maps [Annotator's Note: a map that indicates the features of the land’s surface, such as mountains, hills, and valleys]. They did this all the way through France and Holland. He could go through the line and get through the German line. They wanted to know about the number of soldiers back there that were going to attack. They did not have a radio because the enemy could pick it up. They had to be quiet and get back to tell them. When they would get behind the line and run into more people or equipment, like tanks, he would tell his men to stay there. He would go through and get all the stuff. Then, he would go back and tell them everything he saw. He got really good at it. One guy with the training he had could make his way through without getting caught. He was good at it. Every time he came back and told them what he saw, they would fire artillery and knock them out. The Germans would turn around and leave. It was an important job.

Arthur Albertson did not get as far behind the line [Annotator's Note: the German line] as he thought he could. He got cold feet and went back. They did not tell him how far to go. They just told him to go as far as he could see where they had the most backup. When he hadn't returned by the time he should have, they thought he had been captured or shot. They started shelling and he was in there. He could hear the artillery coming right in. He was not far from a dugout [Annotator's Note: a foxhole]. He dove headfirst in a dugout and there was a German soldier in it. When he went in, he landed right on top of him. The German shot Albertson in the leg. He had to get back and tell them about all the tanks they [Annotator's Note: the Germans] had. He got out of there and started running across the field into the woods. He got back to the line and told them about the tanks. There were about 40 tanks and a lot of men. Behind them was a lot of artillery. They started shelling and knocked out nine or ten of the tanks. The rest of the tanks left. He broke up that attack. There were two companies in there and they would have cleaned them out. He got back through and went to the hospital. They gave him blood on the line and took him to an aid station. Then they took him to the doctors. Then they put him on a stretcher on a jeep and took him back to the hospital. He was there for a few weeks. They were going to send him back but he did not want to go because he was still hurting. He got shot near his knee and it came out by his ankle. [Annotator's Note: Albertson indicates where he was shot in the video.] He bled pretty well, but he had to get back. They [Annotator's Note: the German forces] had them outnumbered five to one.

Arthur Albertson was in France for quite a while. His company [Annotator's Note: 30th Reconnaissance Troop, 30th Infantry Division] was not more than ten miles inland. When he went back, he started doing the same thing [Annotator's Note: artillery forward observer]. He was doing night patrols. One time he did not get back right away. They thought he had been captured and went on without him. They put another guy on the trail. He eventually got back with them. He came face to face with the Germans a number of times. He would run into them on every patrol. A couple of times he walked right up on them. They did not recognize him and thought he was one of their men. Then they went to Belgium. He was the second American soldier in Belgium. They were there for quite a while then they went to Holland. They were in Holland for a couple of weeks then they crossed into Germany. He could not tell a difference in the night patrols [Annotator's Note: the patrols stayed the same as they advanced through Germany]. There were not as many enemies. They became fewer and fewer because they were losing men. They were shuffling their troops [Annotator's Note: both the Americans and the Germans]. Some of the German defense was getting fewer. Not long after that, they [Annotator's Note: the Germans] got a lot of replacements. They got as many as the Americans did. It was easier to patrol in the towns because you could hide. They would be in the same building he was in. The civilians had left their towns and villages whenever the German troops went in. They knew there would be fighting and they did not want to be a part of it.

Arthur Albertson did not see a concentration camp until quite some time later. He saw the ones where they [Annotator's Note: he is referring to the Jewish people in the concentration camps] were in bad shape. A lot of them were dying. They were not fed and they did not have medical help. It was unbelievable. Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] had them all fired up and had them convinced that they were doing what they had to do. They had to fight and break them up. They had to fall back a couple of times because the Germans had them outnumbered and were beating them. If it was not the men it was the artillery. If the men started to leave the artillery was starting to come in. They could hear the whistles coming. The artillery was awful. He thought he would be cut off and end up in a camp and that would be the end of him. At night the Germans would try to knock out their tanks. When they would get around the tanks they could get some food. They kept them around for protection. They were in the tanks and the ones outside were on foot. They [Annotator's Note: the Germans] could come around the tanks and drop a bomb in them, or they could freeze the tracks so the tank could not move. They would go by the tanks as protection. When German artillery would come down on them, they would get out of there. The food kept them there. Once they got food they would leave. The food was K rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals]. They would put the food on the engines to heat it up. They had little burners they could heat it on as well. Tanks had almost everything. They had survival stuff too. When they crossed the river into Germany they met the Russians. The Russians were celebrating with them. A couple of boats carrying high-ranking officers crossed the river but they were told to go back across. They did not want them talking to the Russians. They liked to talk. They always had wine and whiskey too. They were having a good time. When the officers came and got them they did not want them talking to the Russians. The Russians were asked about the troops and if they had attacks coming up. They did not know because they were just soldiers on the front lines. They did not want the Russians to know even though they were fighting the same war. They got all the credit for the fighting. The newspapers were there like the London Global. They [Annotator's Note: the Russian troops] got all the honors. He did not like it. They told some of the officers how they felt.

Arthur Albertson was drinking and laughing with the Russians [Annotator's Note: they met the Russians when they crossed into Germany]. Then, the American generals showed up. They pulled them [Annotator's Note: then men of the 30th Reconnaissance Troop, 30th Infantry Division] out and sent in regular troops to guard the buildings and stuff. They put them on the line where they did not breakthrough yet. They were so low on the number of people they had they had to be taken back. The people that needed medical help got it and they got food. They got fresh troops until they were built up to the amount they needed. Then they would get put back on the line. The new troops did not have any experience. They had to teach them or show them what to do. A lot of them got shot, killed, and had to be replaced. Not everyone was capable of being on the line. They needed more troops and some of them were really green [Annotator's Note: a new and inexperienced serviceman or servicewoman]. They did not know they were going to the front lines. They did not tell them about how bad it was. They would find out when they got into a battle. They would find out when they were fighting house-to-house. He did not know any of them. He was close with several of the men he went on patrol with. They wanted on his patrol because he had experience and knew they would make it back. There was a guy from Kentucky and one from Tennessee. They were good friends of his. He cannot remember the songs they would sing. They were back home ballads. They were big strapping guys. They would sing "In the Pines" [Annotator's Note: a traditional American folk song which dates back to at least the 1870s, and which is generally believed to be Southern Appalachian in origin; Albertson sings the song]. Guys would sing the song if they were sad or if they saw someone else was worried. They were all close and would help one another.

Arthur Albertson spend all his time trying to figure out how he was going to get through the war. He had to let everyone know where all the troops, tanks, and equipment were. He had to get back. He felt good about going home. They told him where he was going to go. He was going back to the States [Annotator’s Note: United States]. He was going to Syracuse or Buffalo [Annotator’s Note: Syracuse and Buffalo, New York]. He was going to be on television as soldiers with combat honors and he was going to sell bonds [Annotator's Note: debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war]. Things changed when he got home. He was home for two weeks before anyone came. Another soldier came, and he had three children. His wife was having a hard time paying the bills. He got a hardship discharge. He was a nice guy. When they discharged him he had to go to the county courthouse so that they could put him on the list that he was discharged. When he went back and told them they told him they did not know anything about it. They were supposed to make a record of his discharge. He told them they should get prepared because soon there were going to be a bunch of them wanting to know what to do. He was the only soldier at home for two weeks. Adjusting was easy because he would not be training anymore. With him pulling patrols [Annotator’s Note: he was a forward observer] he had a good training outfit in his camp. If he kept doing the patrols he would never be on KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police] or guard duty again. He stayed in patrol. There were about nine of them. He never had to do it again. He hated guard duty and KP. He hated working in the kitchen. Everybody that was on guard duty would come to him and trade him for his KP duty. They did that because they would get to eat. In guard duty, they had to be clean and sharp and had to know all the rules. He had enough of the Army and he wanted to go home and get a job and make money. He did not make much money in the Army. He was doing the job of a sergeant, but they did not make him a sergeant. He could have been in charge of something else as well. He wanted to get out to get a job and a car. He did not use the GI 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]. His father had a service station and he went to work there. He was in the MP business. He was in the Bloomsburg [Annotator’s Note: Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania] store, and then they moved him to Millville [Annotator’s Note: Millville, Pennsylvania]. When people heard that they switched to the same store he was at. He wanted to get out and get a job. He had some dreams about the war. They did not last very long. Some of them were good dreams. He had some passes to Paris [Annotator’s Note: Paris, France] and one in Belgium before he was back on the line again.

Arthur Albertson remembers meeting the Russians after crossing a river into Germany. The war was still in full blast. He remembers his patrols. He decided to serve because it was on television every night and in the newspapers. Uncle Sam [Annotator's Note: Uncle Sam is the personification of the United States federal government, dating back to the 19th century, typically depicted as an older gentleman sporting a star-spangled top hat and red bow tie] was pointing saying the Army needs you. He wanted to go into the Air Force at first. He had to go wherever they sent him. He had the choice but they closed the entrance to the Air Force because they had more people want to go in than they had spots available. He was on patrols to see what equipment the Germans had and he reported back. He was glad to get home. At the service station, they helped a lot of people that needed work done on their vehicle, or gas money, or credit. They were one of the only ones to give credit on the gas. They were busy. It made him realize what might happen if things did not get straightened out. He thinks something is going to happen soon in the United States it might be another civil war. The north against the south or the east against the west. He thinks people are mixed up because they cannot get along. He does not think the war means anything to people today. It can show you what can happen with atomic weapons. The United States was the only one to have them then, but now other countries have them. He thinks the Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] is a great thing. People ought to know and see the history. He went to the museum in Virginia that showed all the men who were killed on D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. He thinks people should learn about the war so that it is not shoveled under the rug. There were men, women, and children killed during the war on all sides. It was awful.