Byron Herbert Meader was born in May 1919 in Ellsworth, Maine. His father worked as a laborer. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945], his mother worked in a restaurant during the summers. Meader and his brother canned goods to support the family. Meader graduated from high school in 1937 and found it difficult to find any decent jobs. He attended normal school for two years and later tried to get into the Navy Air Corps. Unfortunately, Meader had an astigmatism [Annotator's Note: common vision problem with the eye] and was rejected. In 1942 he tested to be a pilot, but again, he failed due to it. Meader found a job working in a defense plant for a year. When he returned to Maine, he volunteered for service in the Air Force and got orders to report to a reception center. A few days before he was to report there was a family emergency and he returned home. When he reported for duty, he learned that he would not be accepted into the Air Force. Still wanting to do his part he joined the Army. He was inducted on 4 December 1942 and sent to Fort Leonard [Annotator's Note: Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri]. There he was assigned to the 3462nd Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company as a dispatcher. On 7 December 1941, he was driving through Hartford [Annotator's Note: Hartford, Connecticut] on his way back to Maine when he heard the news of that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] on the radio. Meader was angry at the news. He knew he would soon take up arms to defend his country. He was assigned as a clerk for his unit and shipped off to the Pacific six weeks after he was inducted. After a year, he was promoted to dispatcher and vehicle inspector for completed ordinance work. While stationed on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Notes: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands], they manufactured all the vehicle equipment and parts for about a year until the United States was able to ship them equipment and supplies. In July 1943, there was a huge air raid by the Japanese on Guadalcanal. In early 1944, Meader applied and passed the examination of the Aviation Cadet Program. In March, he began to head to the United States. He knew the pilot on the plane that was taking him back and was able to sit in the pilot's compartment. While on Guadalcanal, he saw nurses driving a jeep toward the hospital. It was the first time he saw white women in nine months. He thought the area was boring, had no culture, and was subject to monsoons. When he returned to the United States to begin the aviation program, he was sent to Biloxi, Mississippi, after visiting his family. As soon as he arrived in Biloxi, he was told that the program was canceled. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer interrupts Meader and closes a door. Another person off camera talks with Meader from 0:10:11.000 to 0:11:06.000.]

[Annotator's Note: There is talking in the background.] Byron Herbert Meader was in the dispatch office [Annotator's Note: of the 3462nd Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company] in August 1943 [Annotator's Note: on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] when he ran into his brother. They were both stationed on Guadalcanal until his brother was sent to Bougainville [Annotator's Note: Bougainville, Papua New Guinea] in January 1944. Meader borrowed his brother's officer's jacket so he could sit with him and watch fights [Annotator's Note: boxing fights]. They were able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together on the island. While on Guadalcanal, Meader slept in a tent with five other men, and each were given a cot. He thought his conditions were okay compared to the infantry men out in the field. Malaria [Annotator's Note: mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite] ran rampant on the island.

Byron Herbert Meader was sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi and assigned to Headquarters, 271st Infantry Regiment [Annotator's Note: of the 69th Infantry Division] as a buck sergeant. [Annotator's Note: Bells can be heard in the background and someone walking around the room.] He was assigned as a squad leader and was put in charge of a platoon. He had no previous training, so on his first day he had the men scattered all over the training field. He learned quickly and it never happened again. His platoon was in the field for most of their training and bivouacked regularly. When D-Day [Annotator's Note: Normandy, France landings 6 June 1944] occurred, all the men were excited to hear the news. When Meader's platoon sergeant had a medical issue, Meader took his position, and was promoted to staff sergeant. He remembered sitting in the theater with his division, listening to veterans who had come back from the war. They gave everyone pep talks before they were sent overseas. In November 1944, his regiment was sent to Camp Kilmer [Annotator's Note: Camp Kilmer, New Jersey]. They were given a leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] in New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] before being shipped out. Going overseas, he volunteered to be Sergeant of the Guard so he could roam the ship and eat anytime he wanted to. His trip to the Pacific was a little different. It was hot, and they would sleep on the deck of the ship. [Annotator's Note: Meader did a tour in the Pacific before coming home and being reassigned to a new regiment.] He landed in Winchester, England in January 1945 and was sent to take over a section of the front from the 99th Division [Annotator's Note: 99th Infantry Division] in 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 given all new equipment and the weather was cold and snowy. He was not dressed properly for the cold weather. After the Battle of the Bulge, they made their way towards the Rhine River and were hit with a couple of skirmishes [Annotator's Note: they crossed at Remagen, Germany 10 to 11 March 1945]. His division [Annotator's Note: back with the 69th Infantry Division] met with fierce opposition in Leipzig [Annotator's Note: Leipzig, Germany] but took the city [Annotator's Note: 19 April 1945]. They used 57mm artillery [Annotator's Note: 57-millimeter M1; American name for the British Ordnance Quick-Firing 6-pounder 7 cwt] toward the Monument to the Battle of Nations [Annotator's Note: statue that refers to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig] where German troops established a position at the top. His division moved on to the Mulde River and secured a position [Annotator's Note: Battle for Eilenburg, 23 April 1945, Eilenburg, Germany]. His division was the first division to link up with the Russians, although Meader's regiment did not. In April 1945, Meader wanted to see the US Army Commander and the Russian Army Commander link up in Torgau [Annotator's Note: Torgau, Germany] so he hitchhiked with another guy to see the ceremony. He stayed for the celebration and was given flowers by a female Russian soldier. When he returned to his regiment, he told everyone about his experience. At the end of the war in Europe, Meader was assigned to occupation duty because he needed more 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] before he could be sent home. He returned to the United States on 16 December 1945. He was discharged at Fort Devens [Annotator's Note: Fort Devens, Massachusetts] on 30 December 1945. Meader's brother was also home and were able to spend time together with Christmas.

Byron Herbert Meader received very little military training when he was assigned to the 3462nd Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company by an old corporal. He received the same amount of training when he was reassigned to the 271st Infantry Regiment [Annotator's Note: Headquarters Company, 271st Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Division], but he picked up things as they went on training missions. The 3462nd Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company was put on a ship in San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and sent to New Caledonia [Annotator's Note: New Caledonia, Overseas France] for a month, then shipped to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. When Meader was on Guadalcanal, he was never near the combat zone. The Americans had already had a good footing on the island. They had several guards out during the night but were not prepared to do any fighting. His regiment worked on mechanical maintenance. They did work for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. They had a good relationship with the Navy and received better food from them than the other Army troops. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Meader how he felt about the Japanese.] For years he would not buy Japanese products. Later in life in the early 1990s, he had met a couple of Japanese ladies during high tea in Vancouver, British Columbia, and he thought they were nice. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer shares a story at 0:38:37.000. Then someone off camera begins to tell tea story in more detail from 0:39:14.000 to 0:41:25.000.] Meader and his wife stayed in contact with them for a few years. This experience helped him change his feelings toward the Japanese. The worst part of being on Guadalcanal was the weather, malaria [Annotator's Note: mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite], and no civilized culture. He had no interactions with the natives on the island. He lived in tents. He applied for the aviation cadet school and was accepted while he was living on Guadalcanal in 1944. He returned to the United States in March 1944 and went on a ten day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] before starting training. He helped his father plant a garden and did some ice fishing. When he reported to Keesler Field, Mississippi [Annotator's Note: now Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi] for aviation training, he learned that they canceled the aviation program, and he was reassigned to ground forces.

[Annotator's Note: Rattling dishes can be heard in the background.] Byron Herbert Meader was sent to Camp Shelby [Annotator's Note: Camp Shelby, Mississippi]. The weather was hot, and training was tough because of it. They spent three months training in the field doing war games and maneuvers. When he was going overseas to Europe, he felt he was at a greater risk of death because he would be going into combat as opposed to when he was with the 3462nd Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company in the Pacific. He spent Thanksgiving Day on the ship to Europe. His regiment in Europe [Annotator's Note: Meader was a member of Headquarters Company, 271st Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Division] lost some men due to mortar fire. They picked up discarded M1 rifles [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] that they saw lying on the ground. Once his unit took over a farm. They milked the cow, killed a chicken, and had a delicious dinner. On Christmas 1944, his unit had a party with many of the British women military services. When new replacements arrived, it was an adjustment, and it took a little time to indoctrinate them. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses changes tapes at 0:55:42.000. Someone makes noise off camera.] Meader and his division blew through Europe taking towns and being met with small skirmishes. As they went from town to town, he saw displaced people trying to get home, German soldiers surrendering, and prisoners of concentration camps trying to return home. When he was headed toward Kassel [Annotator's Note: Kassel, Germany], one of the trucks went off the road. The next morning, they met up with their regiment that had listed them as Missing in Action. Kassel was more decimated than any other city he had seen.

While in Germany, Byron Herbert Meader and his unit [Annotator's Note: Headquarters Company, 271st Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Division] met with some German resistance. Many of the American tanks had overcome the Germans before they got into serious combat. They used artillery fire during the fighting around the Monument to the Battle of the Nations [Annotator's Note: statue that refers to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany]. They moved up in a field near Leipzig, set their guns and shot 400 rounds toward the monument. When they completed the task, they took their guns and left. He was sad when he heard President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] died. He had a great deal of respect for him. The citizens of Germany were cordial to the Americans. Meader thought better of the Germans than the Japanese. They were more advanced and cleaner than the Japanese. The Germans were more relatable, and Americans had a historical connection with them. [Annotator's Note: Meader explains the difference between the regular Germany Army and the SS [Annotator's Note: Schutzstaffel; German paramilitary organization] who were more brutal. The toughest part of battle was setting up the guns because they were more exposed to the enemy. He was in one strafing run near the Rhine River when the Germans tried to take out the bridges. He also remembers a direct attack while in a convoy in the woods. He took cover and was able to make it out safe. His platoon lost three men due to frostbite, and six men due to mortar fire. When he first arrived in Europe, the weather was freezing, and snow was deep. If they had time, they bathed and shaved out of their helmet. They ate C-rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food] and K-rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals], and every now and then they would get a hot meal. He had only one instance where he had to set up guns around a mine field. He was shot at by a sniper, but the bullet hit a brick. The particles hit his leg.

Byron Herbert Meader's division [Annotator's Note: Meader was a member of Headquarters Company, 271st Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Division] met the Russians in Germany, and as far as they were concerned, the war was over. Although many soldiers were on their way to being transferred to fight in the Pacific, Meader was an older veteran and was not. He thought the best thing Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] did was drop the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945] because it saved millions of lives. After the Germans surrendered, the 69th Infantry Division was dissolved and Meader was transferred to the 29th Division [Annotator's Note: 29th Infantry Division], where he was sent to France to set up the area to receive troops for a couple of weeks. He was drafted as the First Sergeant for about six weeks. He was then sent to Germany to build transmissions and run a platoon. He was also an assistant to a First Lieutenant who started a school for soldiers who had not finished high school. He recalled having a positive interaction with the German population. He saw people who came from concentration camps. They were emaciated. When the war ended in Japan, there was a big celebration. He returned to the United States in December 1945. He returned on a Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship] which went through a bad storm, but there was a lot of joy and relief amongst the troops because war was over. He played poker to pass the time. They arrived at Fort Patrick Henry [Annotator's Note: Fort Patrick Henry, Virginia]. He was discharged on 30 December 1945 as a staff sergeant. He took advantage of the G.I. Bill by attending school in Maine. He volunteered for the Maine National Guard. Meader had dreams of his war experience for the first few years after he returned. He began teaching school in February 1945, along with his brother.

Byron Herbert Meader's most memorable experience of World War 2 was meeting up with the Russians and observing how they lived and worked. It was also memorable to meet up with his brother on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. The Russians were very friendly, but they were a wild bunch. Meader spent most of his occupation duty in Stargard, Germany [Annotator's Note: Burg Stargard, Germany]. With all the destruction in Germany, it was hard not to feel the for German civilians. The Marshall Plan [Annotator's Note: European Recovery Program, 1948] was great because it helped put the European countries back on their feet. The G.I. Bill was a great program as well. He believes the people should love their country, fight as well as you can in the assignment you are given, be honest, have integrity, and treat your fellow combatants in according to the Geneva conference. He fears that the younger generation does not love their country the way his generation did. Meader retired from the service on 30 September 1976 as a Colonel. Meader fought in World War 2 because he loves his country, and it was attacked. The war changed his life because it opened more educational avenues for him. Vocationally, it set him up financially and secured for the future. He is very glad he went through it, but he would not want to do it again. Meader believes it is important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and it is important to teach future generations. He believes the museum is a wonderful learning experience. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asked a person off camera if Meader left any stores out. She tells a story about Meader's sister who died in childbirth at 1:46:45.000]