Bernard Friedenberg was born on 10 October 1921. He grew up in Atlantic City [Annotator's Note: Atlantic City, New Jersey]. He was born in Philadelphia [Annotator's Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. Friedenberg was told about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] when it happened. He knew that if the United States was going to war, he was going to serve. He was turned down for enlistment due to his poor hearing and vision. Friedenberg could not stand the thought of not serving his country. The military turned him down multiple times until the requirements were loosened, which allowed him to enlist. Friedenberg did basic training at Fort Hancock [Annotator's Note: Fort Hancock in Sandy Hook, New Jersey] where he was part of the 151st Station Hospital and became a medic. The Army sent him to England. [Annotator's Note: Friedenberg has difficulty hearing the interviewer, so the tape is paused and then resumes]. He knew that the Germans were putting Jews into concentration camps in Europe. Friedenberg was angry and looked at fighting in World War 2 as a necessity for himself. When Friedenberg arrived in Liverpool, England he did more training before going to North Africa. In July 1943, he was moved to Sicily [Annotator's Note: Sicily, Italy] and was in charge of an aid station. Men came to see him, and he did what he could to help them or refer them to someone who could. From Sicily he was sent back to England to undergo amphibious invasion training. They practiced exiting landing craft and making their way ashore. Friedenberg was well trained for the work he needed to do.

Bernard Friedenberg found the D-Day Invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] to be routine. They [Annotator's Note: Medical Detachment, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] were well prepared and well trained for the landing at the beach. The landing craft [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat] were crowded. Friedenberg made his way to the front of the landing craft. He stepped off the ramp into the waist deep water. As a medic, whenever he saw a man get hit, he gave him first aid and did what he could to get him to safety. Minefields [Annotator's Note: areas where mines, stationary explosive devices triggered by physical contact are buried or under the water] were the only thing that scared Friedenberg. He was not afraid of fighting people, but the unknown of the minefields scared him. Despite this, Friedenberg braved these hazards to give aid to his wounded allies. He knew that he could get killed or crippled, but he also knew that he was there to do a specific job, and that people needed him. He did whatever he could to move from one wounded soldier to the next. The mines were called Bouncing Betties [Annotator's Note: German S-mine, Schrapnellmine, Springmine or Splittermine]. They popped up and spread shrapnel everywhere, taking out multiple soldiers. There were more wounded men than just Friedenberg could help. While helping one soldier, he would hear multiple more calling out for a medic. In one instance there were five injured soldiers trapped in a minefield, and Friedenberg went back for everyone. He was scared but did whatever he could to do his job. He was a medic, and it was his job to take care of the wounded. Most of the wounds he treated were caused by shrapnel. He suffered two shrapnel wounds himself while administering first aid. Friedenberg was calm during the D-Day Invasion. The day after the D-Day Invasion Friedenberg received a Silver Star [Annotator's Note: the Silver Star Medal is the third-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy] for his actions in battle. It called his actions, "a tremendous inspiration to any who saw." It varied how many litter bearers [Annotator's Note: someone who is there to assist in carrying a stretcher] he had with him. During D-Day, became wounded himself, gave himself first aid, and continued helping his injured allies. Friedenberg carried 60 pounds of equipment, which included morphine [Annotator's Note: narcotic used to treat pain] and sulfa powder [Annotator's Note: group of synthetic drugs used to treat bacterial infections] to treat the wounded.

Bernard Friedenberg and his unit [Annotator's Note: Medical Detachment, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] moved straight ahead from Normandy Beach [Annotator's Note: during D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. They encountered the hedgerows [Annotator's Note: man-made earthen walls that surround a field that are often overgrown with impenetrable vegetation] and more wounded soldiers all along the way. Friedenberg was in charge of litter bearers [Annotator's Note: someone who is there to assist in carrying a stretcher] and was only concerned about evacuating wounded soldiers. The C-rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food] they ate were awful. The soldiers were so hungry that they did not mind the low quality of the rations. They also had D-rations [Annotator's Note: Army Field Ration D; chocolate bar intended as snack food]. Friedenberg and his detachment were all on the frontlines, doing what they could to transport soldiers from the front to safety. During the battles Friedenberg moved through enemy fire and did what he could to reach wounded soldiers and apply sulfa powder[Annotator's Note: group of synthetic drugs used to treat bacterial infections] and bandages to their wounds. Most of the men he helped he did not see again; they were moved back away from the front for more advanced medical attention. It bothered Friedenberg to think about the men who he could not help. When he encountered a soldier, he always did what he could for that person. Equipped with morphine [Annotator's Note: narcotic used to treat pain], sometimes all he could do was ease someone's pain. They moved soldiers into foxholes for protection when they could. As a medic, Friedenberg was not supposed to carry or use a gun, but he often took guns he found to shoot back at enemies that were shooting at him. On occasion he gave first aid to enemy German and Italian soldiers, but he did not go out of his way to do so.

After landing at Normandy beach for the D-Day Invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] Bernard Friedenberg was in mainland Europe for the winter of 1944. He found himself behind enemy lines, cut off from his allies. As a medic [Annotator's Note: in the Medical Detachment, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] he simply followed orders, and tended to wounded men wherever he could. In one instance he was on the tailgate of a truck, when the truck was hit by a shell from a Tiger tank [Annotator's Note: German Mark VI main battle tank; known as the Tiger]. Friedenberg counts himself extremely lucky because he was a passenger in a few vehicles that were hit by enemy fire. Friedenberg often patched up enemy soldiers, but only if there were no wounded GIs [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] who needed help at that time. During the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945] he was behind enemy lines and responded to the cries of help from a German soldier while seeking shelter. After patching up German soldiers he would tell them, "Remember me, I'm a Jew." His fellow soldiers respected Friedenberg because of his heroics in battle, he was not really hazed for being Jewish. He often felt that he was invulnerable, but that gave way to dire moments where he was not sure if he would live. As the war carried on, he never felt complete hopelessness. The fighting in Aachen [Annotator's Note: Battle of Aachen, 2 to 21 October 1944 in Aachen, Germany] was much of the same for Friedenberg, he stayed focused on patching up Allied soldiers who needed him, braving enemy fire to help those in need. He was awarded another Silver Star [Annotator's Note: the Silver Star Medal is the third-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy] or Oak Leaf Cluster [Annotator's Note: an Oak Leaf Cluster is given in lieu of repeating a military decoration]. After the Battle of Aachen, he also helped civilians, in one such case he was not able to help a German child in time and the boy passed away. Despite their nationality he found it hard to process the civilian casualties, especially women and children. As the war dragged on, he was able to shrug off some losses, but others still affected him.

When Bernard Friedenberg [Annotator's Note: a medic with the Medical Detachment, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] finally arrived in Germany, he knew that the war was coming to a close. The Army paid him for the first time since before the D-Day Invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. He and his friends decided to spend the money on booze, food, and entertainment. Friedenberg had enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to go home, but the Army assigned him to occupation duty anyway. He was sent to Camp Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: one of the transit and rehabilitation camps in France named after popular cigarette brands; Lucky Strike was near Le Havre, France]. And after that he was put on a boat to finally return home. Cars were blowing their horns as a greeting to him and his fellow troops when they were disembarking. Memories of the war are still with him and have had effects on him throughout his entire life. He still vividly remembers the dead bodies of fallen soldiers lined up after battles [Annotator's Note: the interview skips ahead]. He never got acclimated to seeing the bodies. Friedenberg believes that anyone who shared his experiences would never get over it either. He does not recall seeing much combat fatigue [Annotator's Note: military term for an acute reaction to the stress of combat] among soldiers in his unit. Friedenberg's 1st Division was often in the middle of the hardest fought battles. He worked with the same medics throughout his time in the war. He did not keep touch with many soldiers. Friedenberg found it hard to readjust to civilian life. It was difficult to be around people who were not hardened like he was. He thought that they were too bothered by trivial things. Friedenberg never sought any kind of psychiatric help after the war. He was never severely affected by what had happened, he was able to cope with his experiences. [Annotator's Note: The interview cuts away and comes back.] One time another soldier, Arthur Tozar [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], helped him carry someone. Tozar sent Friedenberg a card every year for his birthday after the war.