Earl Roger Liston was born in October 1923 in Mitchell, South Dakota with four brothers. His father was a farmer who moved to Illinois because of the drought years in South Dakota. Liston grew with a typical farm life by living off the land and working on the farm before and after school. He made his own toys and found activities to do with his friends during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. He enjoyed attending school, and his parents renting out one of their bedrooms to the teachers. The Dust Bowl [Annotator's Note: period of severe dust storms in American prairies, 1934 to 1940] caused a lot of problems. In March 1943, Liston was drafted into the Army and sent by train to Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois. After boot camp, Liston was sent to Columbia, South Carolina where he joined the 106th Infantry Division and deployed to Europe. Liston became a driver and mechanic for the Division. His unit took a cruise ship to cross the Atlantic [Annotator's Note: Atlantic Ocean], which was about six days. They landed in London [Annotator's Note: London, England]. As soon as he landed, he was ordered to clean his gun. He then boarded an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] to cross the English Channel, which took twice as long as crossing the Atlantic. It was the roughest water he had ever been through. His unit landed at Le Havre, France, drove through Saint Vith, Belgium and posted in a small town in Germany. On 16 December 1944, his unit was attacked by the Germany army 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]. They were overrun while Liston was in the rear repairing a half-track [Annotator's Note: M3 half-track; a vehicle with front wheels and rear tracks] and loading it with ammunition. While driving back to his unit, his route was attacked with mortars causing him to divert. The rest of his unit was captured by the Germans. For several days, Liston continued to retreat. He ended up joining with the 3rd Armored Division.

Earl Roger Liston found refuge with the 3rd Armored Division in Eupen, Belgium [Annotator's Note: after he avoided being captured by the Germans]. He tried to set up a new unit but ended up running a rest camp for the duration of the war. After the surrender of the German Army in 1945 [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945], Liston was assigned to guard duty for a German POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] camp in Stuttgart, Germany until the beginning of 1946. His job was to monitor the prisoners during the night. He thought the German and Belgium people were very nice and gave the soldiers food. However, he thought the German soldiers were a rough outfit. Stuttgart was bombed out and the horse-drawn artillery of the town was killed. He was then sent to Camp Grant, Illinois and discharged. Liston had to go to a field hospital for a couple of weeks when he was in Germany after some shrapnel hit his finger, eventually causing an infection in his arm. He was given penicillin. He was allergic to it, but it still healed his arm. [Annotator's Note: A lawnmower can be heard in the background at 0:21:45.000.] Guard duty was dangerous in that area. They had to use passwords which changed every night. He almost shot one of his own because the soldier did not know the password. The soldier was able to convince Liston to let him pass by giving him American sport facts. He was happy when he returned to the United States and got back to civilian life.

When Earl Roger Liston arrived in Europe with his unit [Annotator's Note: 106th Infantry Division], he had to release all the military vehicles that were chained to the LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] and drive them onto the beaches [Annotator's Note: at Le Havre, France]. It was dark the whole time. Then they drove through several French towns stopping to rest at a barn for a couple of hours. They eventually made it up to the frontline with very little trouble. Liston could hear the Germans all around them right before the attack on 19 December 1944. His unit was surrounded by the Germans however, Liston was not present at the time. His unit was given orders to surrender. Liston was able to talk to some of the soldiers that were injured during the capture to find out what happen. One of Liston's superiors lived in North Dakota and became the mayor of a small town. Liston visited him years after the war. The other superior Liston admired was a captain from West Point [Annotator's Note: United States Military Academy in West Point, New York]. He was very strict but trained his men well.

When Earl Roger Liston was discharged from the Army, he did not use the G.I. Bill. He helped pioneer the practice of artificially inseminating cows and made a successful career out of it. He retired when private dairy farming became a thing of a past. He retired in Tucson, Arizona for his wife's health. They raised three boys together. After 20 years working with farming technology, Liston worked for Philips Petroleum until the company sold out in 1983. He retired shortly afterward. Liston enjoys his life today. He keeps a busy life for a 92 year old man, exercising three times a week, and enjoys his children's company. He is happy to be alive today.

Earl Roger Liston believes that World War 2 gave him the opportunity to appreciate life and create a better life postwar. The war helped modernize the country which created more success for Americans. Liston has a pleasant memory of his service, knowing that he lived through it, and able to reunite with many of the men from his unit [Annotator's Note: 106th Infantry Division] at reunions. He has no regrets and appreciates the life he came back to. Liston thinks modern individuals today often take for granted the world they live in. Although he feels for them, he thinks that the immigration issue is causing a lot of disparity. He hopes and prays that the leaders of the country come up with a good solution. Liston thinks his generation had a different attitude than today's young generation. He thinks this new generation will go through a trying time, but his generation is moving on. Liston is happy to still be here and leading the life he still had. He has no regrets about his experience and praises God for it.