George Reitmeier was born in June 1925 in Lackawanna, New York. He grew up in a German and Polish neighborhood with a younger brother, who served in the Navy during World War 2. He had a sister that was 10 years young than him. His father worked in stockyards and meat packing facilities throughout 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 mother stayed home to raise him and his siblings. His school and church were walkable distances from his neighborhood. He met his friends at a nearby park and played a variety of sports or swim in the public swimming pool. During the summers his family would stay at a farm with no electricity, no running water, and with primitive toilets. Reitmeier was not a studious boy during grade school. His parents often received notes from his teachers remarking how he was not cooperative and disinterested in the subjects. His family was not impacted too badly by the Great Depression. They had everything they needed to survive. His family always had meat on the table because his father worked in the meat packing facility. His mother was a good cook. He believes that his parents were aware of the hostile tensions in Germany and Japan, but Reitmeier, himself, was too young to understand. He first became aware of the global military situation when the Japanese bombed Hawaii [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He first heard the news when he was walking home from a football game. He stopped in a delicatessen and heard FDR’s [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] announcement over the radio. He did not understand the seriousness of the event until he returned home and talked with his parents. He soon realized that he may be going to war. Between the time of the Pearl Harbor attack and him joining the service, he continued his education in high school. He had a complete turnaround on his studies and became very studious. He attended Technical High School [Annotator’s Note: now Hutchinson Central Technical High School, informally known as Hutch-Tech, in Buffalo, New York], which was an all-boys school. The school was known to be very strict on studies. Reitmeier enjoyed his time there because of the science and mathematical courses offered at the high school. He excelled in his education. Early in his senior year, an Army recruiter visited the school and promoted the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) [Annotator's Note: Army Specialized Training Program; generally referred to just by the initials ASTP; a program designed to educate massive numbers of soldiers in technical fields such as engineering and foreign languages and to commission those individuals at a fairly rapid pace in order to fill the need for skilled junior officers]. He said the Army was looking for engineers and this program was to provide that need. Those who volunteered for the program would receive a college degree in engineering through a two-and-a-half-year program, and then receive a 2nd lieutenant commission for four years of service in an engineer group. Reitmeier liked the idea of that.

After completing high school, George Reitmeier applied, was accepted, and joined the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) [Annotator's Note: Army Specialized Training Program; generally referred to just by the initials ASTP; a program designed to educate massive numbers of soldiers in technical fields such as engineering and foreign languages and to commission those individuals at a fairly rapid pace in order to fill the need for skilled junior officers] in June 1943. Following indoctrination at Fort Dix [Annotator’s Note: now Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Trenton, New Jersey] he was sent to basic training at Fort Benning [Annotator’s Note: Fort Benning, Georgia] in August 1943. In December [Annotator's Note: December 1943], Reitmeier, along with about 100 men in the ASTP program, was sent to the University of Missouri [Annotator’s Note: in Columbia, Missouri] to begin taking classes. He lived in a barrack-type building that was a previous schoolhouse. The military had modified the building and added showers, sinks, and toilets. He slept on an army bed, or cot. The ASTP students began to hear rumors that the Army was going to discontinue the program, so Reitmeier decided to look into other options. He applied for the Air Force with three letters of recommendation, but he was told that the air force was no longer admitting any more men. After the end of the first semester during the spring of 1944, the ASTP was terminated and Reitmeier, along with several thousand other ASTP participants, were sent to Fort Rucker [Annotator’s Note: Fort Rucker in Dale County, Alabama] to form the 66th Infantry Division. Reitmeier was very discouraged at the time. He felt duped by the government. There was nothing he could do about it except make the best of it. He received intense training under the instruction of Tech Sergeant Zack [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], a veteran of the Africa campaign [Annotator's Note: North Africa Campaign, 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943]. He received marksman training and physical exercise. He also had outdoor survival training, long marches. They often bivouacked [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary campsite]over several days to train in primitive living. The sergeant was a great teacher and gave him a lot of advice in how to survive and how to do infantry operations. Reitmeier was shocked when Zack told them that he was going to teach them how to kill.

George Reitmeier belonged to F Company, 264th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division. After completing his infantry training, the Army gave his regiment a short furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] of five days before shipping them off overseas. Reitmeier took a train ride home to say goodbye to his family and then returned to Fort Rucker [Annotator’s Note: in Dale County, Alabama] in time to ship out. He was sent to New York City [Annotator’s Note: New York, New York], where boarded a troop ship, which he believes was called the George Washington [Annotator’s Note: SS George Washington]. Reitmeier arrived in England in early November 1944 and performed hedgerow [Annotator's Note: man-made earthen walls that surround a field that are often overgrown with impenetrable vegetation] training through December. On 24 December 1944, he was told immediately to pack his belongings. He boarded a train to Southampton [Annotator’s Note: Southampton, England] docks where he got on a ship to cross the Channel [Annotator’s Note: English Channel] to France to help with 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 got to the docks in the late afternoon, and they was crowded with soldiers. The ship was to meet a convoy, so the army was scrambling around trying to get everyone boarded as fast as possible. The troopship [Annotator’s Note: the SS Léopoldville] left the dock, met up with its convoy and began its journey across the channel.

Reitmeier was aboard a troopship [Annotator’s Note: the SS Léopoldville with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 264th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division] when it was struck by a German torpedo while crossing the Channel [Annotator’s Note: English Channel]. He was evacuated under blackout conditions. The engines and power went out and the ship was dead in the water. As the ship took on water, Reitmeier was in a snack bar area because there was no other room on the ship. He had been lying down on a bench trying to nap. The next thing he knew he was on the floor. He decided to find his way up to the main deck. As troops became aware of what happened everyone became increasingly concerned. Reitmeier could feel the ship lean and became concerned because there were no life preservers. He finally saw another ship coming in their direction. It happened to be a British destroyer [Annotator’s Note: the HMS Brilliant (H84)]. The crew on the destroyer told them to get off the ship and try to board the destroyer. Reitmeier saw no good way to do so. Many of the men fell into the water while trying to transfer over. He decided to leap off the troopship and onto the deck of the destroyer. He waited until the two ships were coming together and jumped. He landed on his feet but hit his face to his knees. He could not see very much because it was so dark. He cannot remember too much after he made it to the destroyer. Someone wrapped him in a blanket. He remembers walking on a dock with a blanket wrapped around him and entering an aircraft carrier [Annotator’s Note: Interviewer pauses interview. Video blacks out from 0:57:08.000 to 0:58:38.000]. The Army discouraged the survivors from writing home about the sinking incident because they would be censored. They asked them not to mention it to anyone because they did not want to enemy to find out about it. He was told to put it out of his mind. He knew one friend that went missing due to the sinking and another was severely injured. Reitmeier never mentioned it to anyone until he told his wife a few years ago.

After surviving the sinking of his troopship, [Annotator’s Note: the SS Léopoldville] George Reitmeier was sent to the Ardennes [Annotator's Note: with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 264th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division] as reinforcements. The badly depleted 66th Division relieved troops in Brittany, France and were tasked with corralling remaining German troops in the area. He experienced some combat during patrols and being spotted by artillery. He was scared and looked for cover when artillery came into their direction. Reitmeier thought at first that the Germans were nasty guys because they were trained to think that way. As he entered Europe and combat, he changed his mind about them. Many of the Germans were young kids and surrendered easily. They were starving, not well dressed, or equipped. They looked like they were bums. Even though his parents were of German descent, he did not know the German language. He picked up a bit during his time in Europe. Life in the field became routine and the lines were well established. He guarded at the outpost in the Lorraine [Annotator’s Note: Lorraine, France] sector. If he saw any suspicious activity, he called in artillery to target the area. He only went on a few more patrols, but mostly the war began to settle down. He kept in touch with his family through mail. He looked forward to hearing from his family back home, along with having some R&R [Annotator's Note: rest and recuperation]. They would get trucked some ways from the line to shower. He shopped at the PX [Annotator's Note: post exchange] truck.

George Reitmeier was assigned to the Lorient sector of Brittany [Annotator's Note: Brittany, France] where he remained until the end of the war. He was very happy and relieved it was over. He was anxious to round up all the Germans soldiers, send them to a prison camp, and then have a huge celebration. He assisted with helping to load the German prisoners on trucks and shipping them out. When news of the surrender was announced, the outfit moved to Koblenz, Germany where they stood guard at a large facility where German military equipment was being turned over. When they had some spare time, he and some of the other guys would get vehicles running and smash them together. After two weeks, Reitmeier was then transferred to an engineering battalion near Marseille, France where he helped establish a camp for processing men on 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] for service in the Pacific. He remained there for two months and then his outfit was moved to Linz, Austria where Reitmeier became a construction foreman at a camp for displaced persons. He supervised the installation of plumbing throughout the premises. He then oversaw a sign shop where he produced English-language road signs. When he earned enough points, he returned to the United States in May 1946 and was discharged at Fort Dix [Annotator’s Note: now Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Trenton, New Jersey] with the rank of sergeant. He felt great being back home and reunited with his family. He enjoyed eating his mother’s good cooking and visiting with family and friends. He relaxed for a couple of months and then went back to work. He was able to ease into civilian life easily. Reitmeier 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] and attended the University of Buffalo [Annotator’s Note: in Buffalo and Amherst, New York] in the Engineering Department. He received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

George Reitmeier’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was crossing the Channel [Annotator’s Note: English Channel] on a troopship. He fought because his homeland and family were being threatened and he did not want that to happen. Going to war made him a better man. He learned a lot about how to handle people and have important responsibilities at a young age. It would be nice if there were no wars, but since there are, he is glad that he did his part. Every American man should provide a little service to this country because it might make them better men. World War 2 does not mean much to many Americans today. The subject is not mentioned in school. Many young people have no idea what the war was all about. Young people should learn what other Americans did for their country and stop thinking about themselves. There should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and they should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations which they are doing a good job at.