Gerard V. Radice grew up in the Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] area. His father was an immigrant from Italy. Radice went to school and after graduation he joined the Illinois National Guard 124th Field Artillery [Annotator's Note: 124th Field Artillery Regiment] in 1939 because he wanted to learn how to ride a horse and stay close to home. His unit worked with horses for one year, then it was mechanized and given trucks and 75mm howitzers [Annotator's Note: M1 75mm pack howitzer]. Radice was the number one on a gun crew. He closed the hatch after the projectile was in the breach of the gun. In 1940, the National Guard became federalized. Radice was sent to Camp Forrest, Tennessee in March 1941 for division training. On 7 December 1941, Radice was running the projection at the movie theater at Camp Forrest. Suddenly, the MPs [Annotator's Note: military police] came in and shut the movie down. They told everyone the United States was at war with Japan and to go back to work. That is how Radice found out about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His training was intensified after the attack and he was trained on weapons, how to live in the field, transport, and communications. Radice applied fo,r and was accepted into, OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school]. He was commissioned on 22 October 1942 and assigned to the 7th Infantry Division at Camp Ord, California [Annotator's Note: now Fort Ord National Monument in Monterey Bay, California] in early November and trained through April 1943. In May, Radice and the 7th Infantry Division were sent to Attu [Annotator's Note: Battle of Attu, 11 to 30 May 1943, Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska].

[Annotator's Note: Gerard V. Radice took part in the Battle of Attu, 11 to 30 May 1943, Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska.] The weather was their worst enemy because of the bad storms. The operation was horrible and since they were trained to fight in the desert, they were not prepared well. The first few days were full of confusion. They did not see the Japanese until the second day because they were waiting for the Americans to come inland. They hit heavy resistance for several days but finally secured the island after two months. An average day on the island was waiting for units needing artillery support [Annotator's Note: Radice was a member of the 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division]. As an officer he was responsible for the well-being of the troops and made sure they were ready to do their jobs as soldiers. He also was the forward observer and directed artillery fire to support the infantry. Radice remarks that they would go into combat and take over the Japanese position, rest, and then do it all over again the next day. He thinks the Japanese fighters were tough and never gave up.

Gerard V. Radice and his division [Annotator's Note: 7th Infantry Division] left Attu [Annotator's Note: Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska] after securing it from the Japanese and went to Oahu [Annotator's Note: Oahu, Hawaii] to prepare and train to invade the Marshall Islands. They left Oahu in February 1944 to invade the island of Kwajalein [Annotator's Note: Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands]. Radice was selected to fly with the Navy as an air observer and communicate to the infantry on the ground of the enemy locations. He would take off and land on the USS San Francisco (CA-38). He also directed naval gun fire support for the infantry on the island. He flew in a World War 1 SOC [Annotator's Note: Curtiss SOC Seagull scout observation seaplane]. The plane was designed to observe, and he had to use a radio to communicate with the pilot that was sitting three feet in front of him. About a week after the invasion, while observing the island, the plane was hit by a machine gun and they landed in water near PT Boats [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] which protected them from the enemy fire coming off the island. It took about 12 days for the Army to secure the atoll. While his division returned to Hawaii, Radice was still assigned to the Navy and was aboard during the raid of Truk [Annotator's Note: Operation Hailstone, 17 to 18 February 1944, Truk Lagoon; now Chuuk Lagoon; Truk Island, Chuuk Islands, Federated States of Micronesia] The Navy sank a third of the Japanese Navy during that raid. After the raid, Radice was relieved of his duties by the Navy and returned to Hawaii to rejoin his artillery battalion [Annotator's Note: 57th Field Artillery Battalion] in the 7th Infantry Division.

Gerard V. Radice and the 7th Infantry Division left Hawaii and headed for Manus Island [Annotator's Note: Manus Island, Papua New Guinea], but they were not needed, so they continued West toward the Philippines. Radice was part of the eighth wave of the invasion at Dulag [Annotator's Note: part of the Battle of Leyte, 17 October to 26 December 1944, Dulag, Leyte, Philippines] as a forward observer [Annotator's Note: Radice was a member of the 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division]. On 22 December 1944, Radice was at Ormoc [Annotator's Note: Ormoc, Philippines] with the infantry when he was wounded in the leg during an ambush. There were several other soldiers injured more severely. He was sent back to a field hospital where he stayed for a couple of days and then returned to Hawaii. He rejoined his division in the Philippines in February 1945. Radice remarks that the biggest part of his job was to prepare the infantry well and make sure they had everything they needed to be successful. He did not care about killing Japanese but had to make sure to keep his men alive. He was there to do a job and he did the best he could. He conversed with some Filipino fighters and civilians, but mainly he wanted them to step aside so he could do his job. After securing Leyte, the 7th Infantry Division headed to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] in March 1945.

Gerard V. Radice and the 7th Infantry Division left the Philippines to invade Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. Radice recalls seeing ships and planes everywhere. He was part of the fifth wave and took a day to get the artillery set up [Annotator's Note: Radice was an officer in the 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division]. They did not see any action until the second day. The Japanese were well fortified and dug in, which caused the Americans many casualties. He will never forget coming across a quartermaster grave registration unit stacking hundreds of American bodies and pouring kerosene on them to keep the flies away. On 9 April 1945, Radice was called up to the front lines and was wounded in his back by shrapnel. He continued to the front line but does not remembered how he got there. He woke up in the medical tent that night, and was then taken to a base hospital. He returned to the front line three days later and stayed on Okinawa until end of June 1945. During the nights, the Japanese pounded them with artillery and tried to infiltrate their lines at first light. Radice was there because it was his job. He received two Purple Hearts [Annotator's Note: the Purple Heart Medal is award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy] and one Bronze Star [Annotator's Note: the Bronze Star Medal is the fourth-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy] for his actions in World War 2. Radice was happy the United States dropped the bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945] because he did not want to have to invade mainland Japan. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses to change tapes.]

Gerard V. Radice dislikes what the Japanese did to the local populations they conquered and still to this day does not trust them. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer adjusts microphone on Radice at 1:03:08.000.] Radice befriended some of the men he fought with after the war. He remarks that he had many close calls while fighting against the Japanese, but he knew he would survive World War 2. He believes he survived because God wanted him to, and had a plan for him. [Annotator's Note: Another individual off camera starts speaking during the interview and the discussion goes off topic from 1:10:14.000 to 1:11:00.000.] Radice received a package from the post office. When he opened it up, he received a Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: the Purple Heart Medal is award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy] with an oak leaf cluster [Annotator's Note: ribbon device to denote subsequent decorations and awards; bronze indicates one additional award; sliver equals five bronze clusters], and a Bronze Star [Annotator's Note: the Bronze Star Medal is the fourth-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy] with an oak leaf cluster. The Chicago Tribune [Annotator's Note: newspaper, Chicago, Illinois] and other local papers published articles about him after he received his medals.

Gerard V. Radice believes that the invasion of Attu [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Attu, 11 to 30 May 1943, Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska] was the worst planned invasion ever in America. As they headed to the island on the ship, his division [Annotator's Note: the 7th Infantry Division] was ill-equipped. They wore their shoes out in a couple of weeks because of the terrain and weather conditions. They did not have the proper clothing attire or blankets. They were better equipped when they fought on Kwajalein [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Kwajalein, 31 January to 3 February 1944, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands]. Radice believes that the war in the Pacific was second thought compared to the war in Europe. Radice thinks this country should be happy that they had men like those that fought and survived World War 2.

Gerard V. Radice thinks that it is important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] to continue to teach future generations. World War 2 did so much for Radice. He was able to share his life with others and learn from them. The war taught him responsibility for others. He is thankful he was in the Army because it allowed him to experience and survive. He was given an education and believe that people should learn to give back and help others to be better. The world knows what America has and wonders why they do not have it either. People want to come to America because they do not want to be at the heel of another. Radice disliked what the Japanese did to the local populations they conquered and still to this day do not trust them.