Haney Ambrose was born in 1922 in Baton, Rouge, Louisiana. His father was a carpenter and farmer 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]. Times were tough. He was with a few of his neighbor friends, working on a car, when he heard the announcement over the radio about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He knew immediately that he was going to fight in World War 2. Ambrose was drafted into the service on 27 January 1943. He did his basic training at Camp Howze[Annotator's Note: Camp Howze in Gainesville, Texas; now Gainesville municipal airport]. He was assigned to the Weapons Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 132nd Infantry Regiment, Americal Division. He was trained as a mortar man. After basic training he was sent on Louisiana maneuvers in the winter of 1943. It was cold. He was charged with keeping the fires going. The Army gave him a jeep and chains to rip stumps out for wood. He was given leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to go home to Baton Rouge for Christmas [Annotator's Note: in December 1943]. His brother-in-law met him at the bus station. He enjoyed visiting with his family before he was given orders to go overseas. He reported back to the Louisiana Maneuvers and then was sent over to Camp Livingston [Annotator's Note: Camp Livingston, now part of Kisatchie National Forest, Rapides Parish and Grant Parish, Louisiana] for four months before being shipped overseas. He boarded the USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43) at San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and saw the Golden Gate Bridge [Annotator's Note: suspension bridge in San Francisco, California] as he left the harbor. He became seasick very quickly and took some time to settle down. His ship landed in New Caledonia where he boarded another ship to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands], then onto Bougainville [Annotator's Note: Bougainville, Solomon Islands], and finally to the Philippines. There were no submarine scares during his transit across the Pacific. While they were on New Caledonia, they continued with training. He was only on Bougainville for a couple of weeks where they just waited around.

While on Bougainville [Annotator's Note: Bougainville, Solomon Islands], the island was not fully secured. Haney Ambrose [Annotator's Note: with the Weapons Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 132nd Infantry Regiment, Americal Division] helped fully secure the island by going on patrol duty. He often went with men that had machine guns. Ambrose carried a tripod. If they came under fire, his job was to load the machine gun. Ambrose spoke highly of Colonel Butler [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Colonel, later Major General Arthur Howard Butler]. The colonel gave him some whiskey once. At Bougainville, a volcano was spitting ashes. Some of the water that came down from the volcano was warm. The terrain was rough with thick jungle. Only the foot soldiers could move through the terrain, and not the jeeps, because the flora was so thick. If they ever needed support, his regiment called for air support or artillery support. Ambrose did not know what to expect from his Japanese enemy when he first arrived on Bougainville, but after being on the island for some time, he respected them as good fighters. One of his captains told him to save the last bullet for himself because being captured by the Japanese would be horrendous. Luckily for Ambrose, it never came to that. The Americans had superior ammunition and equipment compared to the Japanese. There was an island near Bougainville that the Japanese used to fire on the Marines. Eventually the military sent reinforcements to secure the island. Ambrose witnessed his first American casualties at Bougainville. While on the island, he interacted with some of the local population. They mostly stayed away and did not assist with the fighting. Ambrose was well trained for the battle in Bougainville. The most difficult part of the Bougainville campaign was fighting the Japanese.

After securing Bougainville [Annotator's Note: Bougainville, Solomon Islands], Haney Ambrose [Annotator's Note: with the Weapons Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 132nd Infantry Regiment, Americal Division]. [Annotator's Note: A woman off camera interrupts the interview at 0:26:40.000.] During their voyage over to the Philippines, they continued to train on the ship. They invaded Leyte [Annotator's Note: Leyte, Philippines]. His regiment set up camp. The air smelled of stinky fish. To maneuver around Leyte, he and his unit boarded ducks [Annotator's Note: DUKW; six-wheel-drive amphibious truck; also known as a Duck] and went around the island. They hit real action. He also saw action on Cebu [Annotator's Note: Cebu, Philippines] and he cut himself on the coral. He was offered 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] but declined. The local people on the Philippines were more civilized than those at Bougainville. The Filipinos were good people and they were happy to see the Americans. The Filipinos warned the soldiers coming in on the beaches to be mindful of the mines [Annotator's Note: stationary explosive device triggered by physical contact]. With that help, they were able to secure Cebu by nightfall. The terrain on Leyte was hilly, but open. The weather was constantly rainy for six weeks and dry for six weeks. It was easier to move around Leyte than Bougainville. The Filipinos often delivered them supplies. The combat on Leyte was difficult. Many mortar men were attacked while they were trying to climb up a hill. Ambrose volunteered with some others to go get the men during the night. He found one guy that had been wounded in the leg. They put him on the litter and began descending the hill when they came upon a Japanese machine gun and Japanese hidden around. None of them shot at them while Ambrose and the others retrieved the wounded men. After the Philippines had been secured, the Army had selected his regiment to be part of the invasion of mainland Japan six days before D-Day [Annotator's Note: the day on which an operation or invasion takes effect]. The mission was to hit Japan in a weak spot and kill anything that walked. They were told that there would be a 95 percent casualty rate. However, Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] dropped the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. [Annotator's Note: Ambrose is interrupted at 0:38:27.000. Video break at 0:38:33.000]. Ambrose was in the hospital at Leyte when he heard the news about the atomic bombs. He caught a parasite in his stomach and was given a penicillin [Annotator's Note: an antibiotic] regimen. Ambrose was told that he contracted the parasite from food consumption. After he left the hospital, he was shipped to Japan for occupation duty. Ambrose cannot say if he would have survived the invasion of Japan if they had not surrendered. During his occupation duty in Japan, he stayed in an old Japanese barracks. He held no animosity to the Japanese civilians. After the war he would often have bad dreams.

Haney Ambrose believes that America had no alternative to not get involved in World War 2 because the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. The United States was superior. He believes 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.