Cecil J. V. Newton was born in March 1925 on a family farm in Highlands, Texas. He was an only child. His father was a cotton foreman, and his mother took care of him. His father was also a farmer who raised livestock and produce. He attended church on Sundays and played with friends. He was not aware of the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. He was aware of the coming war by the late 1930s because of the news he received in a nearby church where he also heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Life went on as usual for Newton after the outbreak of the war. He wanted to volunteer for the Air Corps, but his parents would not let him. After a two-year deferment while working on a farm ended, Newton was drafted into the Army in September 1944. He attended basic training at Camp Fannin in Tyler, Texas for 13 weeks. He married his fiancé and was able to get a weekend off in February 1945 before going overseas. They issued him an M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] for training. Training in the cold, wet mud helped prepare him for combat in Europe. He boarded a train in early 1945 for Camp Kilmer [Annotator’s Note: Camp Kilmer, New Jersey] to await overseas deployment aboard the Queen Mary.

Cecil J. V. Newton went overseas unescorted, but traveled in a zigzag [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] to Europe on the Queen Mary and was assigned to a state room. He arrived in Scotland in March 1945 and took a train south into England. He crossed the English Channel to Le Havre, France where he joined Company E, 345th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division as a BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle; also known as the BAR] ammunition bearer. Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] made a speech to a group of them. Patton was bad news at the time because he had slapped a soldier. Newton’s job was to carry ammunition for the BAR. Newton first entered combat near Koblenz, Germany on the banks of the Moselle River, and crossed it with the help of Seabees [Annotator's Note: members of US naval construction battalions]. He went into a building and found some Germans and took them prisoner. He slept in an abandoned building in Koblenz listening to the sound of unknown footsteps in the alleys around him. On his second day in combat, his platoon sergeant was killed by German sniper fire. The death did not hit him as hard as it hit men who had fought together for many months. It took three days of urban fighting to reach the center of Koblenz. His unit found a basement full of champagne bottles. From there, they were pulled back to await the Rhine River crossing. His squad paddled across the Rhine under heavy machine gun fire to reach the village of Boppard, Germany.

Cecil J. V. Newton fought with the 345th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division in Koblenz, Germany in March 1945. He did not see many German soldiers, as they were on the run by this stage of the war. He hid in trees when there was artillery fire. He became friends with about four of the G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] in his unit. As they raced across Germany, the division was held up outside of Berlin [Annotator’s Note: Berlin, Germany] and sent south to the Czechoslovakian border until the German surrender [Annotator’s Note: on 8 May 1945]. To celebrate, they shot a bunch of ammunition on a hill. They were moved to Plein, Germany for occupation duty. Newton guarded several different installations including a food storage warehouse and a displaced persons camp. The 87th Division was the third division sent back to the United States to await combat in Japan. The atomic bomb was dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] before Newton returned from a 30-day furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. His division was disbanded and was reassigned to Camp Shelby [Annotator’s Note: Camp Shelby, Mississippi] where he processed discharges until his own discharge as a corporal in August 1946. He was glad when he heard about the atomic bomb drop. He had no problem readjusting to civilian life. He took advantage of 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] to learn to fly a plane and went to technical school in Houston [Annotator’s Note: Houston, Texas].

Cecil J. V. Newton’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was when he saw a German jet [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter aircraft] plane. Another memory was observing the German Tiger tanks [Annotator's Note: German Mark VI main battle tank known as the Tiger] because they were so quiet. He fought in World War 2 because he was drafted and obligated to do so. His experience made him appreciate life and that it is worth living. The benefits of 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] afforded him opportunities he would have had without it. He knew that what he did was right for his country. He thinks that World War 2 means very little to America today. Newton does not think it is vital for Americans to learn about World War 2 and anyone who is interested in the subject can read about it for themselves. He believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] as a way to learn about the event, but not to preach about it.