Edward C. Capron Jr. was born in November 1920 in New Orleans, Louisiana. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], his stepfather worked as a car mechanic. Capron worked paper routes and delivered groceries to make money for the family. His family made the best of what they had and attended church every Sunday. He went to a very strict school, and he received lots of discipline while he was growing up. He was taught to always show up ahead of time so he was never late. He felt that his upbringing helped him when he entered the service. In 1938, Capron attended CCC camp [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps] and began his military career at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. While in the CCC camp, he was paid extra money for bookkeeping. He was in the CCC camps when he heard the news of the Pearl Harbor attack [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He remained in the camp until the following April and then went to work in the Delta shipyard. While he was at the CCC camp, he played a lot of baseball and really enjoyed his time doing what he did. Capron was drafted into the service in November 1942 and reported 10 days later for duty at Camp Beauregard.

Edward C. Capron Jr. was drafted into the Army in November 1943 and sent to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana for training. He was shipped off to the 73rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion of the 9th Armored Division in Kansas. He went through basic training in snow, in the desert, and then performed maneuvers in Louisiana [Annotator's Note: a series of major Army exercises held in 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana]. He was promoted to corporal to handle supplies and reports for the headquarters battery. His battalion trained on 105 howitzers [Annotator's Note: M2A1 105mm howitzer; standard light field howitzer] and field tanks. During the Louisiana maneuvers the weather was cold and rainy. He had to live in a pup tent [Annotator's Note: small sleep tents often shared by two soldiers] during the duration of the maneuvers, so he was always wet. There were lots of accidents that caused injury and death. He and a fellow G.I. [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] had an accident on a half-track [Annotator's Note: M3 half-track; a vehicle with front wheels and rear tracks] and blocked the convoy. They eventually got lost and had to find the convoy that was ahead of them. He thought he received good training, especially during boot camp. After maneuvers at Camp Polk, Louisiana, his unit was set up for overseas duty. They headed to New Orleans, Louisiana and then up the east coast of the Unites States. They reached Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, boarded the Queen Mary, and headed for Scotland. Capron spent most of his time on deck because he felt sick when he was down in the bunks. It only took four days to cross the ocean and arrive in Glasgow, Scotland. His unit was then sent to Southampton, England. In August 1944 his unit was sent to France. His unit began their journey through France, bivouacking [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary campsite] in the woods. Capron’s unit ran into combat in a small village and the following unit headed out to another village where they met more resistance. His unit received orders to report to Bastogne [Annotator’s Note: Bastogne, Belgium], but got lost along the way. It was chaos and everything was out of order, but they were told to stand their ground at Bastogne. His unit ran into a trap and were eventually captured by the Germans.

Edward C. Capron Jr. served with the Headquarters Battery, 73rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 9th Armored Division when he was captured by the Germans in Bastogne, Belgium during 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 hiding in the woods when German soldiers found him and detained him. Capron understood some German because his unit had lived in a small German village for a few months and communicated with the locals. When he was captured, the Germans took all his souvenirs, mail, and packages. The German soldiers were not paying attention at one point and Capron was able to slip away. He ran to a bombed-out house and went down into the cellar. He found lots of canned goods that the owners had left behind. The Germans eventually found Capron and detained him again. They loaded him and other prisoners in a truck. The prisoners slept on the side of the road until morning and then were taken to a house. He was then told to start digging a hole. Capron knew that this was not going to turn out well. However, allies began firing upon the village and the Germans grabbed Capron and loaded him into the truck again to escape from the shelling. Capron was taken to a school in Nuremberg, Germany that had been turned into a hospital. He and 15 other prisoners were put in the attic. He was forced to perform duties at the hospital, such as fetching water, throwing out waste, piling dead bodies on a cart, and digging mass graves. Capron was not fed very often, but sometimes nice German soldiers would give him a meal or he was able to scrounge around for food. He also experienced air raids from the Allies while he worked at the hospital.

Edward C. Capron Jr. served with the Headquarters Battery of the 73rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 9th Armored Division when he was captured by the Germans in Bastogne, Belgium during 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 forced to work at a German hospital and had to find ways to collect food for himself and the 14 other prisoners. Capron made attempts to escape from the Germans, but he was always recaptured and even thinks one of the prisoners ratted him out. He was forced to march to Lindberg, Germany with the other prisoners and German guards. At this point, Capron was given green soup as his only nourishment. He was taken to an enclosed camp that had barracks and a barn. He looked at the prisoners already there and noticed how they all looked like stick figures. At one point there was a delivery of Red Cross [Annotator's Note: Red Cross, an international non-profit humanitarian organization] packages, and the prisoners were forced to unload all the packages and put them in a warehouse, but they were never given any of the food or supplies. In April 1945, Capron was interrogated but he did not give the Germans any significant information. He was loaded into a boxcar with several other prisoners. On their way, the trains were strafed by the Allies. It took six days to reach Bremerhaven, Germany where they were unloaded from the train. He was so relieved to get out of the boxcar because it was so crowded. He and the prisoners marched through the village and entered a camp. He was given a jam sandwich. He heard the news of FDR’s death [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States who died 12 April 1945] by some of the prisoners. The commandant of the camp was given orders by Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] to kill all the prisoner, but instead he made plans to move the prisoners out. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 1:02:22.000.]

Edward C. Capron Jr. was serving with Headquarters Battery of the 73rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 9th Armored Division when he was captured by the Germans in Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. In April 1945, the commandant of the camp was given orders by Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] to kill all the prisoners, but instead he made plans to move the American prisoners to a different camp. Capron was very sick by this time and other prisoners had to help him when they arrived at the new camp. It was not long before the camp was shelled. Capron tried to find safety in a ditch. He found World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918] medals while digging in the trench. The Germans eventually fell back to the British. The British liberated Capron and his fellow prisoners and took them to a British Army base during the night. He was given his first meal and was sent to bed. The next morning, the British realized he was an American and transferred him out. He was taken for a German spy and had to wait in a hotel to be cleared. At this time, he was suffering from jaundice and was taken to a hospital for treatment. His name was cleared and he was ordered to board an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] and head back to America. He was going to stay at a rehabilitation center in Miami [Annotator’s Note: Miami, Florida], but due to a hurricane, he was shipped to Missouri where he was discharged five weeks later.

Edward C. Capron Jr. served with Headquarters Battery of the 73rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 9th Armored Division when he was captured by the Germans in Bastogne, Belgium during 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 liberated by the British on 29 April 1945, and returned home to New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] after he was discharged in Missouri in October 1945. When he was separated from service, his papers were all wrong, which later gave him problems when he had to go to the VA [Annotator’s Note: Veterans Affairs] for medical treatment. He was very angry when he returned from service because of the experience he had. He hated the Germans for a while. Capron was held in several camps while he was a prisoner of war, including a German hospital in Nuremberg, Germany. Capron did not have a care in the world when he returned to the United States and did whatever he wanted to do. He was sent back to the United States in June 1945 and sent to Miami, Florida to a rehabilitation center, but had to transfer to Missouri due to a hurricane heading to the coast.

World War 2 changed Edward C. Capron Jr.’s life completely because he was very easy going while he was working at the CCC Camp [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps], but after he was different and felt different. He believes that they should bring back the CCC camp to help get people off the street. After his service, 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]. After the war he found a job as a clerk for a steamship, and decided that he wanted to go school and registered at Tulane [Annotator’s Note: Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana]. He later transferred to LSU [Annotator’s Note: Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana] and worked at Penny’s Department Store. He also had a wife and one child. Capron did not speak about his World War 2 experiences until later on in life when his church asked him to write about it. He spoke about a time when he returned to Germany in the 1980s.

Edward C. Capron put together five reunions for his fellow veterans. He also helps veterans get medals that they deserve. Capron believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.