Carl Peterson was born in Foraker, Oklahoma. He had three brothers and a sister and when his mother remarried he got two more step brothers. His mother would sometimes leave them at orphanages and Peterson would run away to live with his father, but his mother picked him up and he spent the rest of his childhood with her. Peterson's youngest brother and sister were adopted to different families when he was about seven years old. He didn't see them again until he was 17. During the depression his family left Oklahoma and moved to California in 1933. The whole family made the trip in an old Oakland coupe. They lived in a tent off and on for two or two years. Peterson would go to school here and there. He and the other kids grew up on farms. His mom and dad went to the dance like the Grapes of Wrath [Annotator's Note: John Steinbeck's classic American novel]. Before Peterson went into the Army, his mom sent him to live with his aunt in Sacramento. He helped her work her chicken farm because her husband had died. From there, at the age of 15, he went into the Civilian Conservation Corps. Peterson spent almost two years in the Civilian Conservation Corps and was about 17 when he left to join the Army. Peterson lied about his age to get in. He spent almost three years in the United States with the 3rd Infantry Division. He learned to make amphibious landings on the coast around San Diego. They moved up to Fort Lewis, Washington and make practice landings. The night before Pearl Harbor was bombed he and a buddy were out talking about going to Canada and deserting so they could get into the Canadian Air Force. They got snickered [Annotator's Note: drunk] that night and the next morning they were among the many that the MPs [Annotator's Note: Military Police] were dragging off the street to return to base. Peterson was sent to Camp Pickett, Virginia where they practiced amphibious landings. He got in trouble when he and a buddy went AWOL [Annotator's Note: Absent Without Leave] for seven days. When he returned to camp, instead of remaining there to prepare for the coming invasion, he and his buddy were put aboard a transport ship that would take them over. Peterson and his buddy were tasked with waterproofing jeeps. They were eating good Navy food and going to movies at night. The trouble they got into didn't cost them much. It wasn't long before the rest of the company boarded the ship and they were ready to head out for North Africa.

They shipped out in late September [Annotator's Note: September 1942] and landed in North Africa on 8 November 1942. Carl Peterson was still with the 3rd Infantry Division at the time. They landed about 30 miles from Casablanca at Fedala near the artillery battery at Fort Blondin [Annotator's Note: Peterson is referring to the four gun coastal artillery battery at Pont Blondin]. Peterson's group reached the beach on the wrong side of the river [Annotator's Note: Nefifikh River] that runs next to the artillery battery. They circled around and were taking heavy fire from the battery until a man on another landing boat shot out the battery's searchlight. They went back in and again landed on the wrong side of the river. They moved about three miles inland to a bridge. They didn't encounter any more action. The only action they had seen was from their own artillery which fired several short rounds. That night they encountered a little action at the bridge. They were fighting French with Germans in charge of them, the French Foreign Legion [Annotator's Note: these were actually regular French troops, not the Foreign Legion]. After a few days they were shipped off to Guercif [Annotator's Note: Morocco]. They were building an airport and were stacking bombs for the planes that would carry them out. The heat and dust were terrible. Peterson's outfit was put on guard duty about three times a week. When not on guard duty they would go out on hikes. The men were very demoralized. While standing retreat one night they asked everybody if they would like to transfer to the 1st Infantry Division. About half of the company volunteered and were transferred. Peterson was with the 1st Infantry Division for the rest of North Africa, all of Sicily, and through Normandy until he was wounded. After being wounded he was sent to England to recoup then got assigned to the 18th Infantry [Annotator's Note: 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] and sent to the Battle of the Bulge where he got blown out of a foxhole. Peterson and his buddy had been in trouble so they were loaded on the ship first. A couple days later the rest of his outfit went aboard. They had all been issued their ammunition and had what they needed for the invasion of North Africa. They were aboard ship for a couple of weeks. They would hang cargo nets off the side of the ship every day and the men would practice going up and down the cargo nets. The night before they made the landing by Fort Blondin [Annotator's Note: he means Pont Blondin] they got a good meal. The day of the landing they went over the side of the ship on cargo nets. Just as Peterson stepped into his boat he heard someone yell "look out below!" Someone dropped a machine gun that went right through the bottom of the boat. Everyone aboard had to go back up the net and get into another boat. In those days the boats didn't open up in the front, the men had to jump over the sides. After transferring to the 1st Infantry Division they went to El Guettar. After that they went into some mountainous country. The Germans put up a good defense but they got through. The Germans backed off. They lost some people and the Germans lost a lot of people. They had tanks and were gaining air superiority. The German Me-109s [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter aircraft] and Stuka [Annotator's Note: German Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber] dive bombers were there. They continued to push the Germans back. Once in a while the Germans would counterattack and then set up a defense. The artillery would the open up on them before the GIs attacked. This went on until around Easter time when the war was about to end [Annotator's Note: the North African campaign of the war ended in the spring of 1943].

At one time in North Africa there was a big tank battle going on. Carl Peterson was up in the mountains and could see the whole battle. At that time he was in the 26th Infantry [Annotator's Note: Peterson had voluntarily transferred to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division]. They were surrounded by Germans and went for a few days without food. He thinks this battle took place between El Guettar and Tunis. They were transferred to a different part of North Africa. They spent a few days in a convoy going there. It was somewhere on the coast. When Peterson was in the 3rd Infantry Division he was in G Company, 30th Infantry Regiment. He spent almost three years with them before he went overseas. He had joined in 1940. In the 1st Division he was with 26th Infantry, 2nd Battalion, Company F. He was with them for all of North Africa and the invasion of Sicily. Sicily was the hardest part of Peterson's war. It was bad. He discusses Hill 609 in North Africa. Peterson read a history that stated that the 34th Infantry Division was supposed to take Hill 609. He had a brother in the 34th Division. When they were getting ready to take Hill 609 they hiked to the base of the hill. The artillery pounded the hill all night long. When they attacked the next morning the Germans were ready for them. One of their rifle platoons attacked around the side and suffered two thirds killed. The Germans were dug in and beat the hell out of them. They had to pull back. Peterson states that according to history the 34th Division took the hill but that isn't the case. They took the hill and the 34th Division passed through them. Peterson carried a 60mm mortar. He was a gunner. He had his pack and mess kit. He carried a .45 caliber pistol because he couldn't carry a rifle. When they were about to make an attack he would carry the mortar and the base plate which weighed about 60 pounds. He figures that he was carrying about 75 pounds when he went over the side of the ship. The people who carried ammunition in the weapons platoon usually all carried pistols but some carried rifles. The squad leader carried a rifle and the ammunition carriers carried rifles. When they were transferred the 1st Infantry Division he kept his .45 pistol but they were all issued rifles. His mortar squad had lost some people during Kasserine Pass. In the 26th Infantry Peterson was going to stay in the rifle platoon but when he saw some guys with a mortar he decided to go into the mortar squad. They practiced setting up the mortar and setting the deflection. Peterson was the fastest one in the platoon setting up the mortar so he was made a gunner and kept this position for the rest of the time. It was loud. The mortar rounds weighed about three pounds and the gunner would drop the shell in. The tube was close and it sounded like a shotgun going off next to your head. They did that a lot and knocked out a lot of machine guns with it.

[Annotator's Note: Carl Peterson served in the Army as a mortar man in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division and took part in combat operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy.] In Sicily they were in a mountainous area. They made an assault on a hill but the Germans were well dug in and beat the hell out of them. Peterson was out on a ledge. The Germans were coming up through the area with machine guns and were getting their guys pretty heavy. Reese [Annotator's Note: US Army Private James W. Reese] had his squad and took charge of Peterson's too. Reese told everyone to get out; everyone left except Peterson. He stayed with Reese. They only had three rounds of ammunition left but were able to knock out a machine gun nest that was doing a lot of damage. Reese told him to get out of there so he left. Reese had a rifle and remained in the position and slowed the German attack. Reese was awarded the Medal of Honor. Peterson didn't see Reese get killed but he did die there. They lost more people in Sicily than anywhere else. Peterson went into the 1st Infantry Division right before El Guettar. At El Guettar the Germans had a naturally hot swimming pool and they all got to get in and get cleaned up. The battle for El Guettar actually took place outside of the village. They waited for a couple of days before they moved in on the Germans. There were some air raids but not where Peterson was. The Stuka [Annotator's Note: German Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber] dive bombers flew around like they owned the place. After the Americans arrived there were few attacks from the Germans. After the fighting they continued on through North Africa. After the North African campaign had ended, Peterson's Company F went into Tunis and got on a ship that was loaded down with German prisoners. Coincidentally, the ship they went aboard happened to be the same one Peterson was aboard for the initial invasion so he got to see some of the same people he had met on the way over. They took a load of German prisoners to Algiers. There they were turned over to other guards. They went from there out into the desert and set up their tents. They camped out there and got hot meals and clean clothes. Their campsite was right next to an airfield where some bombers were based. Some of the men in Peterson's outfit were taken along as gunners on some of the bombing missions. Peterson would have liked to go and shoot up some of those Germans but he wasn't a machine gunner so he wasn't able to. They were there for a couple of weeks then transferred to another place near the ocean. They were loaded on a boat and given new ammunition, and headed to Sicily.

[Annotator's Note: Carl Peterson served in the Army as a mortar man in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division and took part in combat operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy.] They landed in Sicily at a little town called Gela. It was still dark when they landed and the Germans were shooting at them. Some of the shells were landing between landing craft but Peterson doesn't recall any of them being hit. The Italians were dug in on the beach. Some of Peterson's outfit was able to get through the Italian lines. He thinks that the Italians thought that they were Germans. They moved through the lines then came back and knocked them out. They moved about three miles inland. The Germans were shelling them. They could look down and see German tanks. They moved off the hill and were preparing to make an attack on the German positions. They were taking a lot of shelling and the Germans had tanks nearby so they dug in and formed defensive positions. On the second or third day the German tanks moved right through them and drove to the beach and shot up their supplies. The Navy ships offshore took out the tanks. They took some fire from the Navy ships. Peterson's outfit prepared to launch an attack on a hill. When they attacked Italian troops the Italians would give up easily. From then on they would periodically run into bad areas. The Germans had a lot of artillery that they would throw on them but the Italians didn't fight. They walked across Sicily. They went into Sicily on 10 July [Annotator's Note: 10 July 1943] and it was over in August. On 5 August, Reese [Annotator's Note: US Army Private James W. Reese] got his Medal of Honor. The hardest part of his fighting was in Sicily. He had more chances to die there than anywhere else. Seeing so many of their young guys get killed, going without food, and going without washing himself made Sicily the hardest. The hardest part of Sicily was Troina. That was harder than the landing. It was very mountainous. They killed a lot of Germans there. It was hard seeing his buddies die. He got used to seeing people dead and would say that he was glad it wasn't him. Not sleeping, being dirty, and not knowing if he would still be there was tough. Whenever they stopped they dug in. During a lunch meeting in Rancho Bernardo there were a bunch of colonels. Peterson was never an officer. The highest he made it was staff sergeant he thinks. The men got to talking and someone asked Peterson what he learned in the service. Peterson replied that he learned to dig holes. As a mortar man he had to dig large holes. He dug a lot of foxholes and it saved his life many times.

[Annotator's Note: Carl Peterson served in the Army as a mortar man in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division and took part in combat operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy.] After the Sicilian campaign was over they moved to a little town where they set up a regimental camp in an almond orchard. They were there from the early part of August [Annotator's Note: August 1943] until September. Being there was one of the worst times of Peterson's life. They were served their meals at night because the flies were so bad that they would cover the plate. They left Sicily in September and went to England. In England they went on maneuvers. The artillery would hit a target, then their mortars would fire on it, then the infantry would attack it. They did this from September until June when they made the invasion. They did a lot of maneuvers, a lot of hiking, and a lot of training in England. They had good times in England too. Peterson had a lot of girlfriends. He went out and got drunk a few times. They were given hot food. He gained a lot of weight in England. They made the landing in France. It was rough but Peterson was lucky. His company was lucky. Captain Kelly, the company commander, lost his leg. Peterson read somewhere that Kelly had lost his leg in Sicily but he is sure the he lost his leg in France. They lost a few people in the invasion but for Peterson it wasn't as bad as some of the places he had been. The 16th Infantry Regiment went in first in the morning then the 26th [Annotator's Note: 26th Infantry Regiment] went in in the afternoon. There were still pill boxes when Peterson landed and the Germans were still hitting them. There were still bodies floating in the water when Peterson landed. There were also minefields. It was difficult to see wounded men in a minefield calling for help but no one could go to them for fear of stepping on a mine. In England, Peterson's outfit was based near Bournemouth. They would go into Bournemouth whenever they got a three day pass. Their base had been an old British camp. After the British moved out of it the 26th Infantry Regiment moved in. It was a good spot for them. They had a good time there. They were living pretty well. When they were getting ready to make the invasion of Normandy they were put on a train and taken to Plymouth. They were there for about two weeks before they went aboard landing craft. They didn't do any maneuvers there but they did stay busy. They were put aboard landing craft and after four or five days they pulled out and formed up with the rest of the ships. Everywhere they looked they saw ships. They knew they were in trouble. Some of the guys were crying; not only the new guys but guys who had made other invasions and knew what they were in for.

Carl Peterson landed on Omaha beach with the 26th Infantry Regiment [Annotator's Note: 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] in the area of the present day cemetery and memorial. There is a road off of the beach in that area which is the way the tanks went when they moved off of the beach. It was still daylight when they landed. His company was in an LCI or landing craft, infantry. They knew that it was going to be a hot area. When they got to the beach there were bodies and wounded people. There were still bodies floating in the water. There were machine guns in the hills firing at them when they went ashore. They dug in as best they could. Some engineers had come in with the 16th Infantry Regiment that had taped off areas with yellow tape so the guys wouldn't step on a mine. They were all lying on the beach along with the 16th Infantry when they were told to move out. There was one machine gun that was wiping people out. A destroyer came along and knocked the machine gun out which saved a lot of lives. While they were on the beach one wounded man kept yelling for help. Peterson couldn't take it any more so he ran through the minefield and pulled him out. That was on the sandy part of the beach. He brought the man to an area where other wounded men were. When he got back to his unit his sergeant chewed him out for running into the minefield. There were landing craft picking up wounded men and taking them to a ship but Peterson doesn't know if the man he pulled out made it. That was one of the worst parts. After the landing they hiked inland about a half a mile. The Germans went into a defense. By that time Peterson's outfit had gotten some jeeps and some anti-tank guns ashore. At night they could see the flashes from artillery. In the morning a tank came up. Peterson's squad was down in the ditch that ran parallel to the road. From there they could see the tank pass by with a bunch of guys behind it. Soon after that a German armored car came down the road. Peterson looked up and could see the Germans on the armored car. He ducked back down and the car passed by. When the car passed someone got it with a machine gun and knocked it out.

[Annotator's Note: Carl Peterson served in the Army as a mortar man in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division and took part in combat operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy.] They moved toward Colmar [Annotator's Note: Peterson is referring to Caumont, France]. They ran into quite a bit of artillery between the beach and Colmar. The ran into a lot of fighting. When they got to Colmar the Germans put up a defense. They moved their mortars up and, on the morning they took Colmar, Peterson's squad fired about 150 rounds of mortar ammunition. They took Colmar then they set up defensive positions. They got replacements while they were there. Peterson went out on a patrol behind the German lines one night. There was an old German guy in his outfit. He was 39 years old and kept falling behind. Peterson kept hanging back with him. When they passed through a hedgerow a German machine gun opened up on them. Peterson got hit in the toe. On his way back to the aid station he ran into some artillery fire. He got pissed off because he had to keep hitting the ground. He finally had enough and got up and walked down the road. A shell hit close to him and knocked him out. He was picked up and taken to a hospital. He was in the evacuation hospital for a couple of days and was then sent back to England. That was the last combat he saw until the Battle of the Bulge. Peterson had been hit in while they were in Colmar. They would get attacked nearly once a day. He had made the landing [Annotator's Note: in Normandy on 6 June 1944] and was evacuated on the 17th [Annotator's Note: 17 June 1944]. He wasn't in France long. He thinks his outfit was in Colmar for about three weeks waiting for the British to catch up. Peterson was in an evacuation hospital and was then transferred to another evacuation hospital closer to the beach. Two or three days later he was put on a plane and flown to England to another hospital. After being discharged from the hospital Peterson was sent to the 118th [Annotator's Note: Peterson means the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division].

Carl Peterson went into the Battle of the Bulge near Aachen [Annotator's Note: Aachen, Germany]. He was only there three days. He was in a foxhole getting ready to make an attack when a shell came in and blew him right out of his foxhole. At the time he was in the 118th Infantry [Annotator's Note: Peterson means the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division]. Peterson was sent back to England where he stayed until the war was over. After the war ended he was sent to a little town in Scotland. At that time, if a soldier had so many points they would be flown home. Peterson qualified to fly home instead of going home aboard a ship. He got letters from his friends who had gone home aboard ship while he was still in the camp waiting for a flight home. The points didn't help him even though he had more than he needed. When Peterson got on the plane to head home there were three guys who had been in a prisoner of war camp. They were very skinny and wouldn't talk to anybody. During the flight home, one of the plane's engines went out. They landed in the Azores on three engines. They stayed overnight then boarded another plane and flew to New York. In New York, Peterson had his first big steak dinner. It was also the first time he saw the Statue of Liberty. He was put on a train bound for California. He was on the train for about a week. They made several stops on the way home. At one stop, Peterson saw two guys running toward the train. He helped them board the train only for the men to find out that they were on the wrong train. When they got to Los Angeles, they were taken to Fort MacArthur where Peterson was discharged. Peterson states that they had some fun and tried to forget other things. When he saw a friend that had been killed he would think that he was glad it wasn't him. It was six or seven years after the war before Peterson could openly talk about what he had experienced. On a trip to Tacoma, Washington with his wife, Peterson parked his car by a fire station. When they returned to the car a siren went off and Peterson dove under the car and left his wife standing there. He had been out of the service for about three months. After they had been married for about a year they lived in a small apartment. An earthquake struck and the apartment rattled. The rattling sounded to Peterson like bombers. He yelled for everyone to hit the dirt. They must have thought he was crazy.

Carl Peterson doesn't know how the war changed him. He has his own views on how things should be. His wife gets on him about it. He supports the death penalty. He is tough on people who do wrong. Peterson and his wife have been married for almost 63 years and they still have their fights. Peterson wants people to treat him like he treats them. His wife was a good Catholic girl and they raised their children as Catholics. Peterson never joined the Catholic faith. He did pray when he was in combat. His parents were Pentecostal. As a kid he went to church. He would read the bible but didn't think much of the preachers. When he got a little older he decided that he had no interest in religion. Peterson tries to be a good guy but can be mean sometimes. After returning home he used to dream about the war but things weren't too bad. He got over it well. He doesn't have any bad dreams anymore. Peterson kept in touch with some of his buddies at first. His friend Jack Purdle [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling] who he used to get in trouble with, wrote each other back and forth after Peterson got home and they saw each other a few times. Another friend who Peterson called Shorty had accompanied their sergeant when the sergeant knocked out a machine gun position. For that action the sergeant received the Silver Star but Shorty didn't get anything. After the war, Shorty wrote Peterson asking if he would recommend him for a decoration for that action. He did and Shorty got the Silver Star too. Shorty lived in Oregon and Peterson was living in Tacoma [Annotator's Note: Tacoma, Washington]. Peterson stopped in and saw Shorty during a trip between Tacoma and Bakersfield [Annotator's Note: Bakersfield, California]. Jack was decorated. He only had one leg but got married and had a couple of kids. Peterson visited him in San Bernardino. Peterson talked to and visited others as well. He also saw guys at their reunions. Peterson hasn't been to a reunion in five years. He didn't know that Reese had gotten the Medal of Honor until someone told him at a reunion.

When Carl Peterson was in the service the guys he served with would get together and have fun. In Sicily they had a ball field and the guys would go down there at night on Friday nights. Each platoon got a five gallon can of red wine. Every Friday night they would have a party. One night he drank so much wine that he laid down under an almond tree and passed out. He stayed there the whole night. Peterson's birthday is 25 August. On his twenty-first birthday, five of them went to a farmer's house who would provide them with wine. They got drunk and Peterson fell down a hill on his way back to camp. The next morning they were in formation and he couldn't stand up straight. The guy up on the hill who gave them the wine had three beautiful daughters but he would never let them near Peterson or his buddies. Peterson was busted seven times. He has mixed emotions about whether or not World War 2 should continue to be studied in the future. He states his views of the current conflict in Iraq. Peterson thinks that museums like The National WWII Museum and the 1st Infantry Division Museum are important. Seeing people with a lot of money who don't use that money to help others bothers Peterson. Peterson is a member of the Veterans [Annotator's Note: Veterans Administration] where he gets his medications. It bothers him when he sees veterans there who are dirty and don't clean themselves up. Peterson feels that the Vietnam veterans had it tough and that there was a lot of drug use by them. He feels that that is the cause of some of the issues they are experiencing today.