George Harrison Linker, Jr. was born in 1926 in Dover, Arkansas. He was the youngest of three siblings. Neither his father nor his grandfather served in the First World War because of a medical discharge. His father worked a farm to provide food for his family. There was little other work going on in that region so farm work and small side jobs were the way to make a living. He earned 30 cents per hour when he managed to find a job. The farm provided Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, and corn for the family. Canning those vegetables provided food during the winter months. Linker's mother was a hardy homemaker not afraid of work. Growing up in the Great Depression in a small town like Dover was difficult. There was little outside communication since the family did not have a newspaper or radio. For fun, Linker would go squirrel hunting. He had to walk nearly four miles one way to school. The family later moved closer to the school. The terrain was wooded with small waterways running through it. His sister initially accompanied him to school. His brother occasionally would also do so. He mainly walked with his neighbors to school. Linker was 15 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: on 7 December 1941]. He heard about the attack, but it did not register with him that much. The family did not know much about what was going on in the world. The first radio they purchased had a battery in it. The family heard that Hitler declared war on the United States. His mother thought her son would not have to go to war. Linker's brother was involved in building an atomic bomb plant. Consequently, he was deferred from service. Linker stopped attending high school in the tenth grade. He went to work at the same atomic bomb plant after receiving a minor's release from his parents in 1942 or 1943. That plant became Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Linker was drafted into service later. His job at Oak Ridge was as an oiler on a dragline. He worked there for 87 and half cents an hour. It was big money for the time. Jobs were scarce before he found that work at Oak Ridge. Jobs even in New Orleans for 16 year olds were hard to find. When the job at Oak Ridge was finishing, his brother left and went to work with Michoud building a plant there [Annotator's Note: Higgins Industries of New Orleans built a plant there]. Linker followed his brother shortly thereafter. His work was still as an oiler. The plant was constructed on reclaimed soil from the Intercoastal Canal. Linker joined the union and worked at that job for awhile. The Army was getting closer to drafting him. He returned to Arkansas after taking his physical examination in New Orleans. He was drafted in Arkansas. Prior to that point, he was not registered for the draft. He was delivered as a newborn at home. As a result, he had never been registered. As soon as he registered, he was called to service by the draft.

George Linker was offered service in multiple branches of the military when he signed up for duty. He said he wanted to be in the Navy, but he was told that he would be in the Army. He was sent to Camp Chaffe, Arkansas for a brief time and then on to Camp Robinson near Little Rock. He trained for deployment to Europe and service in the infantry. The training occurred over a 17 week period. It included a 25 mile march with full gear. One of his friends fell out hard during the march. An Arkansas thunderstorm hit at the time. Linker weighed 125 pounds. After Camp Robinson, he was sent to San Francisco as a replacement. The men had to take a swimming test in a large pool. He was deployed by ship afterward. He went to New Guinea and then Leyte. A short time after landing there, he went to Luzon.

George Linker entered Manila as part of the 25th Infantry Division. He was a private first class in the infantry. He went through the Battle of Balete Pass. He had just completed his 17 weeks of training in the United States and went right into the front lines in the Philippines. He was too young to be fearful of going into battle for the first time. Some were frightened during training, but Linker was not. God was with him through the fighting even though Linker did not know Him then. God took care of Linker during the fighting. During his overseas deployment, Linker sailed to New Guinea and Leyte before arriving at Manila on Luzon. Some enemy ships were sunk in the harbor with dead soldiers on them. The enemy was about 20 miles away. The 24th Infantry Division was across the Balete Pass from the 25th. They were on a mop-up action in Manila before they headed across Luzon. About 20 miles out from Manila, the Japanese had transported a heavy 77mm artillery piece across rugged, mountainous terrain. The wheels for the piece were very heavy. It was a difficult task to set it up in its position. It had been knocked out and abandoned previously. As a foot soldier, Linker carried his weapon and pack. He was raised in the mountains, but this was rough territory to traverse. Steps had been cut in the mountains and that helped in climbing them. Linker's first action was in support of a 105mm howitzer position. Tin cans had been strung on wire to provide early warning of Japanese infiltration of the American lines. The monkeys in the jungles played with the cans and made extra noise. That kept the soldiers on alert during the night. Linker fired two rounds at the noise. There were no Japs [Annotator's Note: a derogatory term for Japanese]. There were only monkeys playing with the cans. The Japanese were pushed back by the heavy Navy guns which bombarded their positions. The Americans pursued the enemy. The enthusiasm of the advancing troops built up similar to what Linker had experienced on a deer hunt. The Americans would throw hand grenades at pillboxes and other enemy positions. It was rough going with machine guns firing on the GIs. Dead enemy soldiers were observed as the men progressed up the mountain. Pushing on, Linker heard a man get hit. The man was 60 or 70 feet from him. The unforgettable sound continues to be a part of Linker's memory of the war. A medic came up to take care of the wounded man. As the medic raised his head, a bullet went through his helmet and grazed his head. The situation was so tight that no one could move forward to assist the wounded man. Another man was hit and then another. A large Mexican went out and retrieved the wounded man. About this time, Linker got sick [Annotator's Note: Linker contracted yellow jaundice during the campaign. He would spend time in the hospital before returning to the front].

George Linker was sick with yellow jaundice while he was on the front. He was pulled back from the action [Annotator's Note: Linker was involved in mopping up the Japanese in Manila and then northern Luzon. He fought along the Balete Pass before contracting the illness.]. He was sent to a convalescence hospital. He spotted a man who was shivering wildly [Annotator's Note: Linker simulates what he saw]. It was said that the man was the Mexican who had gone out to rescue another man [Annotator's Note: the rescue was made near Linker while under intense enemy fire]. The Balete Pass was known as the Old Spanish Trail. It was rocky terrain. The Americans placed a mortar in a forward position. The Japanese had a tendency to come in real slow at night. The mortar fired a red parachute illumination round. It seemed to be a mistake because it lasted so long the enemy artillery could zero in on the American troops. The rounds seemed to miss Company M forward of Linker. It would have smashed Linker's company, but the hits were just off the bluff. All they did was scatter sand over the men. Linker's Company L was in the lead. The Japanese fired on Company L but missed them by 50 feet. Four or five days later, Company L advanced and found the enemy emplacement. It had been knocked out. The fatal blow could have been the result of naval bombardment. It is difficult to bring those memories back. Linker has tried hard to put them out of his mind. It was a rough time. Those were large explosions. The troops spent a lot of time on Fox Hill until Balete Pass was taken [Annotator's Note: Linker experiences leg pain and interrupts the explanation on occasion]. On Fox Hill, Linker could see enemy movements on an adjacent hill about ten miles away. Incendiary bombs were being dropped on them by American P-51 aircraft [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter bomber]. One P-51 seemed to fly right into the mountain. The pilot may have passed out or been hit. The aircraft did not stray from a straight path into its destruction. Since discharge, Linker only met one man that he served with. That happened in New Orleans. The aircraft started strafing the enemy around the American troops. One came so close to a meadow, it looked like he was going to crash, but he pulled out. Linker spotted a P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] with its distinctive twin boom fuselage. The strafing was so close that it could have resulted in friendly fire incidents, but that did not happen near Linker. At night, Linker could hear 105s going over his position [Annotator's Note: 105mm artillery rounds. Linker simulates the sounds of rounds passing overhead.]. While Linker was on the Old Spanish Trail, he had to sleep on rocks. Any way he turned, a rock would punch him. During this time, Linker and his outfit came across three suitcases of Japanese money. He was so tired; he did not even want to look at money. Even if it had been American money, he would have reacted the same. He spent 31 days on the front line. After removing his shoes, it was like wax in there. Just like George Custer [Annotator's Note: United States Cavalry Colonel George A. Custer was defeated by multiple Indian tribes at the battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.] who died with his boots on, the men with Linker did not remove their boots during their action. Linker was moved to a beautiful convalesce hospital on Leyte for recovery from yellow jaundice during the action. He remained there about 67 days. He had his 19th birthday on the front lines. Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: President Franklin D. Roosevelt] had put out the order that anyone under 18 would not be allowed on the front line. Linker lost his appetite with the yellow jaundice. In recovery, he was placed on vitamins and his appetite grew. On the way to the mess hall one day, he noticed a P-51 and a C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft] above him. The fighter was diving on the C-47 as if practicing a run on an enemy plane. There was a collision and the plane crashed. The war ended right after that. The bomb was dropped [Annotator's Note: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in August 1945 with the Japanese Emperor agreeing to peace terms a week afterward.].

George Linker thought he would return to the United States as soon as the war ended. Instead, he stayed in Japan for over a year on occupation duty as an MP [Annotator's Note: military police] and other assignments. He was in Nagoya, Japan in a bombed out hospital. He guarded the ships as they unloaded on the wharf. If the Japanese had been educated more, they would have been difficult to take over. They were still using swords. The Japanese were all over Luzon but the big naval shells ran them out. Linker fought all the way across Luzon and boarded a ship on the northern end of the island. The sand on the beaches for about 100 to 200 feet was very soft and difficult to walk through. That was where he boarded a ship for Japan. He would finally come home in 1946. He wanted to leave the Army. He had seen enough of fighting and men dying. God brought him through the dangers even though Linker did not know Him then.

George Linker was in his foxhole when he saw three bullets hit right beside him [Annotator's Note: Linker simulates the rapid fire he experienced in the foxhole on Balete Pass on northern Luzon]. He heard no other sounds beside the rounds hitting the ground. Although that was a close call, another incident was just as bad. While on Fox Hill, he decided to relocate to another position. As he was moving, a bullet broke the sound barrier just beside his ear. He went to the ground immediately. Just a bit of difference in the aim would have resulted in Linker being hit [Annotator's Note: Linker indicates with the spread of his fingers that he was missed by about an inch or two]. God was watching out for him. Things quieted down a bit. Linker noticed a large drop off with a hole in it. Determined to investigate, his sergeant told him not to go. Linker proceeded anyway. He discovered a Jap [Annotator's Note: a derogatory term for Japanese] hole. He tossed in a phosphorus grenade. Two Japanese fled the hiding place. Linker got them both. Friendly troops above saw Linker, but did not recognize him as an American. They pinned him down [Annotator's Note: Linker chuckles over the irony]. Linker's rifle jammed after the two shots that felled the enemy. He did not need the rifle after that. Killing a man at close range bears on a person. The individual carries it with him [Annotator's Note: Linker takes a drink of water and pauses a bit before continuing]. He killed those two Japs. The memory has been difficult to keep. Linker felt God had to be with him. All he got out of being on the front line was yellow jaundice.

When the war was over, George Linker wanted to throw his rifle down and return home quickly. Instead, he spent a year and 19 days in Japan on occupation duty. He went to Nagoya, Kyoto, Yokohama and Tokyo. After returning home, he was discharged and went back to school. He entered the 11th grade. His sister and brother-in-law came in from California to aid in the care of Linker's aging parents. It was decided to move the parents down to a new location [Annotator's Note: they moved from Arkansas to New Orleans]. Linker stopped attending school to move in with his brother who was caring for their parents. His brother was working at the time. It took Linker two months to find a job. He found work doing the same thing he had been doing prior to entry into the military [Annotator's Note: Linker had been a heavy equipment oiler prior to being drafted]. Linker felt he received an inferiority complex while in the service. It took three or four years of oiling and taking care of the machines before he had the confidence to take the next step in his profession. His military experience just pulled him down. He worked along with his brother for a good company. He worked for Boh Brothers [Annotator's Note: a heavy construction company in New Orleans] for 20 years. He learned to run the equipment over time. It took a while to understand how to operate the equipment. He did succeed though. World War 2 means practically nothing to people today. The younger generation thinks that the war just happened. Things have changed over time. When Linker first arrived in New Orleans, people thought one murder was a significant event. Now, multiple murders hardly get attention. That is the same with World War 2. Linker was affected little by the war. After arriving in New Orleans, Linker went wild with the joints in the city. When he got married and had two or three children, the memories started digging on him. The events follow an individual [Annotator's Note: Linker indicated issues with bad memories earlier]. The good Lord followed him. Linker had a daughter with a brain tumor and another one born deaf. That put pressure on him. She was in the hospital and finally she was discharged [Annotator's Note: Linker is choked up with the emotion]. It told him that he had to do something. He started attending the Church of Christ. He was baptized. He told the preacher that he felt like he was a murderer. He had killed two guys within ten feet of him [Annotator's Note: reference to the Japanese soldiers he shot at close range]. That experience had remained with him through his life. He learned that God was with him when he started attending church. Before, he had not committed his sins to Him. After confessing his sins and getting baptized, he felt better. He learned about David in The Bible. David repented and went to God and was forgiven. Linker felt he was forgiven. It picked him up. Looking back at his time in the Army, Linker would not want to go through it again. He did not have a grudge against anybody including the Japanese. When he entered Japan, he found the population to be very friendly. The Army was rough on Linker, but not the Japanese people he encountered after the war. Since he has been relieved through Jesus Christ of killing those two guys, he feels better. God will forgive a person of all their sins if they ask Him to do so. That has helped him and carried him on through his life.