Garland Miller Gallaspy was born in Ottawa, Oklahoma in November 1922. His family moved all over the Southeast while he was growing up because his father had to find jobs 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]. He was in Louisiana during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 [Annotator’s Note: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles inundated in depths of up to 30 feet over the course of several months in early 1927]. His family settled in Memphis, Tennessee for Gallaspy to attend grade school. After his sixth-grade year, his family moved to Decatur, Mississippi. Gallaspy graduated from high school and attended junior college in 1941. He also found a job with the Corps of Engineers and helped build Keesler Field in Biloxi [Annotator’s Note: Biloxi, Mississippi]. He then worked in the shipyards in Mobile, Alabama. He was at his junior college on a Sunday morning when he first heard the news about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His school friends got together to discuss the event and figured out what everyone was going to do. Gallaspy decided to work in the shipyards creating destroyers in Mobile for 10 months to help with the war effort. He was drafted into the service in April 1943 and inducted at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. After two weeks, he boarded a train that sent him to Fort Belvoir, Virginia for six-week basic training. When he was 15 years old, he joined the Civilian Military Training in Alabama, so he had previous military training. After his basic training, he went to engineering training where he learned demolition and bridge construction. He thought his instructors were very good. He was then transferred to Atlanta, Georgia for ordnance and automotive school. He returned to Fort Belvoir for advanced engineer training which lasted 15 weeks. He then volunteered for parachute training at Fort Benning [Annotator’s Note: Fort Benning, Georgia]. He volunteered because he wanted to delay his overseas deployment, and he received an extra 50 dollars. The training was very difficult, and they had to make five practice jumps. He trained on light machine guns while he was at Fort Benning and Fort Belvoir. He used a .30-caliber machine gun [Annotator’s Note: Browning M1919 .30 caliber air cooled light machine gun]. After he received his jump wings, Gallaspy was transferred to North Carolina to prepare for overseas deployment. He was assigned as a light machine gunner in Company C, 161st Parachute Engineer Battalion, 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team.

Garland Miller Gallaspy [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 161st Parachute Engineer Battalion, 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team] began his journey overseas. His unit arrived at Camp Stoneman, California where they remained for two weeks, then boarded a ship that took his unit to San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California]. He then boarded the USS West Point (ID-3254) with 10,000 other troops. Five hundred of those troops were WACs [Annotator's Note: Women's Army Corps; women's branch of the United States Army, 1942 to 1978] going to Australia. He stayed in Sydney, Australia for several days, and then headed to New Guinea where he was assigned to build warehouses and huts. He then made an amphibious invasion at Numfor, Dutch New Guinea. The goal was to take the area to be used to build an airstrip. While he was on the USS West Point, he was sick for three days. After Numfor was secured, his unit continued to train for a few weeks to prepare for combat in Leyte [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, the Philippines]. Following a non-combat landing on the island of Leyte, Gallaspy and his company moved up to Mindoro Island to build an airstrip. He remained there through February 1944. During the Battle of Mindoro [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Mindoro, the Philippines; 13 to 16 December 1944], the 503rd was subjected to intense air and naval actions, at one point being shelled by a Japanese naval task force. Gallaspy did not personally combat the Japanese, but he did shoot a buffalo and his unit had some meat. His unit prepared to land at Corregidor [Annotator’s Note: Corregidor, the Philippines]. His regimental commander had a sand table that he used to prep the jumpers on where to land. On 16 February [Annotator’s Note: of 1945], his unit jumped into Corregidor from a C-47 [Annotator’s Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain] to liberate that island from occupying Japanese forces. Many of the paratroopers were wounded when they landed due to the weather conditions and rough terrain. Gallaspy landed inside the bathhouse of a golf club. He reassembled with his regiment and moved out to set the perimeter at the top of the island. He ran into some resistance as they made their way to their target point. The next day, his unit received more resistance.

In February 1945, Garland Miller Gallaspy [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 161st Parachute Engineer Battalion, 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team] jumped into Corregidor [Annotator’s Note: Corregidor, the Philippines] from a C-47 [Annotator’s Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain] to liberate that island from occupying Japanese forces. When he made his jump, he made a clear landing and did not injure himself like some of his fellow combatants. There were five men in his unit whose parachutes did not open. After his unit reassembled into their squads, they made their way to their target perimeter and camped for the night with a 60-inch gun emplacement. Gallaspy had a strong animosity towards the Japanese during his combat experience in the Philippines. They Japanese hid in caves, and Gallaspy and his unit would pour gasoline into the caves and light them on fire to blow them out. They put TNT in the caves and blew them up too. Because the Japanese snuck out of the caves, most of Gallaspy’s missions were to search and destroy, instead of the traditional battle experience. Gallaspy and a friend found an old Japanese pillbox to sleep in for some time. The most ferocious battle to regain Corregidor occurred at Wheeler Point at night [Annotator’s Note: on 18 February 1945] and early the next morning. Gallaspy believed this was the first significant attack by the Japanese on Corregidor. Another major event was on Malinta Hill [Annotator’s Note: The Malinta Tunnel was built by the US Army as a bomb-proof bunker, and was later used as a hospital.] where several members of the 503rd were killed or wounded after the Japanese attempted to charge the Americans for several days. The Japanese hid in tunnels, so the Americans were able to trap the Japanese inside and eventually blow them out. After the island became secure, General MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] returned and Gallaspy felt proud to be part of the retaking of the island. He had great respect for General MacArthur. Gallaspy’s unit left Corregidor and returned to Mindoro [Annotator’s Note: Mindoro, the Philippines] by boat. His unit was on Negros Island [Annotator’s Note: Negros Island, the Philippines] carrying out patrols when the United States dropped the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] and the Japanese surrendered in August 1945. He stayed on the island and built an airstrip until December 1945.

Garland Miller Gallaspy [Annotator’s Note: serving with the 161st Parachute Engineer Battalion, 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team] was elated to know that he did not have to make a jump into mainland Japan, and that the war had ended. Troops went home by the point system [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] and Gallaspy had enough points to go home and to not have to go into occupied Japan. On his way home, he got seasick on the ship. He landed in Long Beach, California on Christmas Eve 1945. When he made it to shore, he ate a steak. He boarded a troop train and headed east. He was reacquainted with a friend on the train who was a train car commander. He got off the train in Mississippi and called his fiancé. He hitchhiked to Decatur [Annotator’s Note: Decatur, Mississippi] where he reunited with his father. He was discharged from Camp Shelby [Annotator’s Note: Camp Shelby, Mississippi] with the rank of Private First Class. He married his wife in January 1946. He used G.I. benefits to build a house. Gallaspy’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was being discharged from service. The war did not really change his life. World War 2 was a significant event for our country. He wishes American civilians were caring and giving like his generation was during World War 2. He believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. [Annotator’s Note: A voice is audible off screen interjecting in the interview at 0:59:57.000.] He believes that many young Americans expect handouts, but there are some that volunteer for service and should be commended.