Claude L. Lewis was born in 1922. The Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s] affected his family as it did everyone else. One morning, he was told he was restricted to the barracks because Pearl Harbor had been bombed [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. When war was declared, he had one day left for his service time. The colonel told him to go get new desks. He went, but got denied at first. The colonel had a new outfit going to Fort Reno, Oklahoma. Lewis was offered to be the supply officer there. They boarded a troop train and went to the Kansas City area [Annotator’s Note: Kansas City, Missouri]. When they made it to Fort Reno, he was put in charge of the prisoner of war camp. Lewis was a sergeant. He got a visit from an FBI [Annotator’s Note: Federal Bureau of Investigation] agent. He had to rank all the officers at the fort. If anyone was combative, he had to call the agent. They were sent to Texas. In Texas, they were replacing a unit of black soldiers who were being shipped out. When he returned to Reno, he was in charge of the troop train. After a while, his unit broke up and left. He was left there and still in charge of the supply depot. Soon he was put in charge of a mountain division. He went in and told the commanding officer he wanted to be reduced to a private because he did not feel qualified to lead men into battle. There were orders to keep him at his present rank of staff sergeant. When they were sent to Washington, D.C. he was reduced to PFC [Annotator’s Note: private first class].

Claude L. Lewis remembers they had to dig foxholes. The Germans had left big piles of sandbags. They could see the little town below them. He saw the mules transporting ammunition down the hill. When they got to the town, they saw only a Catholic church left standing. They had to climb up the side of a mountain. It took them all night. They spent the rest of the stay up there. They caused a lot of damage to the Germans. The day he was wounded they had started moving when the president had died [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, died 12 April 1945]. The first sergeant asked Lewis if he would be the first scout. He had to crawl through the field. He had to find his troops. Two of his men were killed. One of his men crawled over a mine right next to Lewis. Lewis was taken to the hospital. He got to know the nurses. He was on crutches. He helped the nurses dress people. One guy remembered Lewis. It was his captain.

Claude L. Lewis kissed the ground when he returned to the States [Annotator’s Note: United States]. He had enough points to be discharged [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. He was in the 86th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Infantry [Annotator’s Note: 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division]. It was a skiing outfit out of Colorado and the New England states. [Annotator’s Note: Lewis talks about other men at Fort Roberts.] His wife was a telephone operator. [Annotator’s Note: Lewis talks about his friend who served with him.] They climbed River Ridge. They saw a lot of the Germans hauling in ammunition. The Germans were smart people. Lewis was in Italy for less than a year.

Claude L. Lewis slept on the porch at one place they stayed. The lady put their sergeant upstairs in her son’s bedroom. Anything they wanted to eat, they would bring back. [Annotator’s Note: Lewis describes the food the people fed them.] They were a part of the Italian resistance. The worst part was seeing his friends die. He just had to deal with it. He did not have a choice. It is a part of life. They did not get used to it. He believes the United States had to be there. [Annotator’s Note: Lewis talks about an officer that did not follow the cease fire.]