[Annotator's Note: Birds and muffled conversation can be heard in the background throughout this segment.] Conrad D. Viera was in Havana, Cuba in December 1921. Before World War 2, he was managing a grocery store in Miami, Florida. He was working in the store one morning when he heard news over the radio that Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] had been attacked. He felt stunned and bitter about the events. Not long after the attack, Viera was adamant about joining the service even though his boss at the store needed him to stay and his mother depended on his wages. He enlisted into the Army anyway and was sent to Camp Blanding [Annotator's Note: in Clay County, Florida] for a short time. He was put on KP [Annotator's Note: Kitchen Patrol] duty until he met a friend who was able to give him a lighter duty. Viera was then put on a troop train and sent to Santa Rosa, California. It took about five days to get to their destination. He spent Christmas of 1944 in California. He began training and learned how to make foxholes and use a bayonet. The facilities were very primitive and everything he did was outside. He met an Italian family that invited him over for Christmas dinner. He then received orders to report to Charleston, South Carolina. He took another troop train and headed east. He continued to train including how to identify planes. He eventually was given guard duty on the beaches looking for planes. He soon learned that his brother was at Parris Island [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal, South Carolina] and requested to be transferred over there, which was granted to him. He reunited with his brother and enjoyed seeing him. Viera returned to Stony Field, South Carolina and remained there for 14 months. He sent wages to his mother so he could not afford to go to town. He was then sent to Camp Rucker in Alabama [Annotator's Note: now Fort Rucker in Dale County, Alabama] to guard German prisoners of war. He earned a stripe while there and was given a pass to go to Enterprise, Alabama to buy a steak. After his duty at Fort Rucker, he was sent to Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi [Annotator's Note: in Amite and Wilkinson Counties]. He started basic training as an MP [Annotator's Note: Military Police], mechanized cavalry, and other weapons training. He had liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] in Baton Rouge [Annotator's Note: Baton Rouge, Louisiana]. He was assigned to a cadre [Annotator's Note: 144th Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division] that stayed stateside and instructed soldiers how to use mortars [Annotator's Note: a short smoothbore gun which fires explosive shells at high angles], 60mm [Annotator's Note: M2 60mm mortar], 80 mm [Annotator's Note: M1 81mm mortar], and 30-caliber machine guns [Annotator's Note: Browning M1919 .30 caliber air cooled light machine gun] as a staff sergeant. They prepared many soldiers for 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 then sent to Fort Ord, California [Annotator's Note: now Fort Ord National Monument in Monterey Bay, California] and then to Fort Lewis, Washington [Annotator's Note: near Lakewood, Washington]. He boarded the USS WG Haan (AP-158) and was assigned to a lower bunk at the front of the ship. He was seasick for 20 days and lost 30 pounds. The ship had gone through bad storms, and he could not eat because the ship was going up and down. A soldier had died on the ship due to an accident, but no one was allowed to talk about it. He often went on the deck to get fresh air.

[Annotator's Note: Birds and muffled conversation can be heard in the background throughout this segment.] Conrad D. Viera [Annotator's Note: with 144th Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division] was crossing the Pacific and spotted birds in the sky. He realized that they were nearing land. His ship landed in Nagasaki, Japan. He was transferred to a smaller boat and was taken in to see the city. The whole city had been flattened by the atomic bomb. He was told to board the ship again and they left Nagasaki and headed for Nagoya [Annotator's Note: Nagoya, Japan] where he disembarked. He went to Otsu [Otsu, Japan]. He was given Japanese carpenters and supervised the installation of an officer's building. He spent Christmas 1945 [Annotator's Note: 25 December 1945] in Otsu. In February 1946 he received orders to return to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California]. He packed his locker with all his souvenirs which include Japanese swords and addressed it to his mother. It arrived in Miami, Florida safely with all his souvenirs still in there. He was so happy. He soon found out that all his brothers were coming home. When he returned home, he married his wife in June 1946. [Annotator's Note: Viera asks to pause interview at 0:22:54.000.] When he returned from Japan, he took a troop train from San Francisco to Camp Blanding [Annotator's Note: in Clay County, Florida], but stopped in Shreveport [Annotator's Note: Shreveport, Louisiana] where he and others got into a fight regarding racial issues. He eventually made his way back to Miami and was elated to be reunited with his family and fiancé. He went back to the grocery store he worked at before the war. The owner offered to sell the store to Viera, which he accepted. Viera operated the store until 1969 and then sold it. He then managed a warehouse and retired in 1985. [Annotator's Note: Video break at 0:26:37.000.] His store was transformed into a police station.

[Annotator's Note: Birds and muffled conversation can be heard in the background throughout this segment.] After joining the Army, Conrad D. Viera was stationed at Fort Rucker in Alabama overseeing German prisoners of war [Annotator's Note: with the 144th Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division]. He befriended a few of them. He oversaw over 5,000 prisoners. When he was stationed in Japan for occupation duty, he oversaw Japanese prisoners as well. They were harder to deal with and some tried to rebel. [Annotator's Note: Video break at 0:30:03.000.] The Germans had very good morale and were happy to be alive. They enjoyed their time in America. The German prisoners did a lot of detail work. They kept in shape and played sports. No one tried to escape. Viera was stationed at Fort Rucker for about one year. Time for Viera went by fast and he enjoyed Army life. He tried to learn German from the prisoners. When he travelled to Japan, the ship took 20 days because they were trying to dodge storms. When he returned to America, it was only a nine-day travel. His two brothers met on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. Viera has a picture of his brothers' reunion on the island. One of his brothers was injured but survived. While in Japan, Viera's unit dealt with many Japanese prisoners that wanted to rebel and often hid in the caves. Viera's unit had to go into the caves to pull them out. His unit had continuous guarding at their post, and they had to be careful when they went into town because it was still unsafe. A few ladies had warned Viera that there were men there to have a "business meeting." He remained in Japan for about five months. [Annotator's Note: Video break at 0:4037.000.] Viera went to Nagasaki [Annotator's Note: Nagasaki, Japan] and viewed the destruction from the atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945]. The routines of the Japanese were very odd. They used human feces for fertilizers and went to the bathroom in the open. For the most part the Japanese civilians kept away from the Americans and did not try fight with them, however he always carried a sidearm. Viera's primary duty was to oversee Japanese carpenters to build an officer's day room. Viera attended a USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Incorporated] show and saw Betty Grable [Annotator's Note: Elizabeth Ruth Grable, American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer] and donuts were given out by the Red Cross. He also heard Lena Horne [Annotator's Note: Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist] entertaining the troops on the transport ship.

[Annotator's Note: Birds and muffled conversation can be heard in the background throughout this segment.] After joining the Army, Conrad D. Viera was happy to have met and known a Lieutenant Alfonso [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] because he had helped him with the direction military service and gave him a cadre at Fort Rucker in Alabama. He also had fondness for First Sergeant Sullivan [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] because he taught Viera the soldier life. Viera was assigned to the 144th Infantry Division [Annotator's Note: 144th Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division]. He was chosen to stay behind at Fort Rucker instead of going to fight 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 trained on various infantry weapons and then instructed other troops on weapons as well. During his time at Fort Rucker, he was given orders to pick up an AWOL [Annotator's Note: absent without leave] soldier and bring him back to base. He was issued a sidearm for the mission. On his return from Japan, he did not have any seasickness like he did on the way to Japan. He is grateful and proud for his time in the service and enjoyed most of his experience. Sometimes he wishes that he went overseas with his regiment, but he probably would not be here today if he did. [Annotator's Note: Video freezes at 0:57:48.000 through 1:02:38.858.]