Cecil K. Bell was born in February 1922 and grew up in Hugo, Oklahoma. He had four sisters and two brothers. His father was gassed in France during World War 1. Bell visited the location where his father was gassed after World War 2 ended. Bell has little recollection of the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Prior to his induction into the Army, Bell had joined the National Guard for one year. He ended up staying in the Army for four years and five months.

Cecil K. Bell was sent to Fort Sill [Annotator's Note: in Lawton, Oklahoma] for his basic training and then to Camp Wolters in Texas [Annotator's Note: in Mineral Wells, Texas] for advanced training. After he completed all his training, he was assigned to the 45th Infantry Division [Annotator's Note: 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division]. Bell boarded a ship which sailed across the Atlantic and docked in Oran, North Africa [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria]. From there they prepared for the invasion of Sicily [Annotator's Note: Operation Husky, 9 July to 17 August 1943; Sicily, Italy]. He was part of a communication team responsible for stringing radio wire from the front-line companies to the switchboard at the CP [Annotator's Note: command post]. From Sicily, he made the invasions of Salerno [Annotator's Note: Operation Avalanche, 9 to 16 September 1943; Salerno, Italy] and Anzio [Annotator's Note: Battle of Anzio, 22 January 1944 to 5 June 1944; Anzio, Italy] fighting against Kesselring [Annotator's Note: German Generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe Albert Kesselring] often with the 3rd Infantry Division which had Audie Murphy [Annotator's Note: US Army Major Audie Leon Murphy] as a member. The men stayed in the burial cave for Garibaldi [Annotator's Note: Royal Italian Army General Guiseppe Maria Garibaldi] to avoid incoming German artillery fire at Anzio. They slept during the day in foxholes and did their restringing of wire at night. Tanks posed a problem with maintaining the communications links. Bell took part in the liberation of Rome [Annotator's Note: Liberation of Rome, 4 to 5 June 1944; Rome, Italy] after Anzio. He had a friend who drank too much and mistook his commander as a female because the officer preferred wearing a gown to sleep when he was off the front lines. The officer had to settle the drunken soldier down. Seldom did Bell have much chance to enjoy Italian food or wines. After Rome, they were withdrawn to prepare for the invasion of southern France [Annotator's Note: Operation Dragoon, Provence, Southern France; 15 August 1944].

Cecil K. Bell crossed near Corsica to Southern France [Annotator's Note: during Operation Dragoon, Provence, Southern France; 15 August 1944]. Progress against the enemy was swift. His regiment [Annotator's Note: 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division] seemed to outrun everyone else. Advances were made into Austria as the Germans withdrew in the winter of 1944. That was simultaneous with the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. The weather was bad but winter clothing had been provided to Bell and his regiment. He had some exposure issues with trench foot [Annotator's Note: immersion foot syndrome] but very little problems with the weather. His feet stayed warm with clean socks and shoepacs [Annotator's Note: rubberized boot designed for use in cold, wet environments]. He did have his tonsils removed and also contracted yellow jaundice [Annotator's Note: condition caused by high level of bilirubin in the liver] during the course of his 511 days in combat. He had participated in the fighting in Sicily [Annotator's Note: Operation Husky, 9 July to 17 August 1943; Sicily, Italy], Salerno [Annotator's Note: Operation Avalanche, 9 to 16 September 1943; Salerno, Italy], Anzio [Annotator's Note: Battle of Anzio, 22 January 1944 to 5 June 1944; Anzio, Italy] and Southern France [Annotator's Note: Operation Dragoon, Provence, Southern France; 15 August 1944]. Bell knew some personnel from Louisiana during his service including a Major Trosclair [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] from New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. Bell was given a nickname by a Jew from New York named Bennie Goldberg [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify]. Bell was called "Ding Dong" because of his last name. Bell attended postwar reunions with his outfit. His brothers did not serve during the war, but they did afterward. Bell's regiment liberated the concentration camp at Dachau [Annotator's Note: Dachau concentration camp complex near Dachau, Germany]. Bell went through the camp and thought it was a bad situation. He met a man from Poland who was an inmate. An evacuation hospital spent a month helping the camp survivors recover. Bell went to Nuremberg [Annotator's Note: Nuremberg, Germany] where the Nazi swastika was blown apart in the coliseum. He found the German civilians to be nice. They must have been tired of Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] who destroyed them. The Russians were feared by the Germans. Bell was in Munich [Annotator's Note: Munich, Germany] when the war ended. An SS [Annotator's Note: Schutzstaffel; German paramilitary organization] man accused Bell and the Americans of not having any discipline, but Bell informed the enemy that their discipline was enough to defeat them. Bell might have gone to fight the Japanese, but he opted to go home. He was sent home via Southern France and arrived in Newport News [Annotator's Note: Newport News, Virginia]. He was discharged at Fort Smith, Arkansas and returned home to Hugo, Oklahoma. He attended yearly reunions of the 45th Infantry Division for a while. He had no trouble adjusting to civilian life. A job was waiting for him in the electrical company since his father had a position with the Oklahoma employment service. He even worked in Baton Rouge [Annotator's Note: Baton Rouge, Louisiana] installing lighting on the bridge spanning the Mississippi River.

Cecil K. Bell married a girl after the war whom he had met years before when she was just four years old. After the war, his future wife, Mary, had grown up. They had many years of marriage. He never had to use 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]. He bought a three bedroom house without it. During the war, he adopted a dog called Utica. She came from Pompeii, Italy and stayed with the kitchen crew until after the war. Bell decided to take Utica home with him. He brought her aboard the ship, and they landed in Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston, Massachusetts]. Other soldiers brought dogs home with them. The captain on the ship told the passengers to not let the dogs roam or they would be thrown overboard. Utica was small and able to stay in Bell's musette bag [Annotator's Note: bag used to carry extra items]. She knew Bell and stayed with him.