Harold Luers was born in in Brighton, Iowa in June 1924. He was not delivered in a hospital because that county did not have one yet. Luers grew up in Brighton with his five younger siblings, two sisters and three brothers. The first three children were born in the 1920s, when the family farm was doing well selling livestock. The three youngest children were born in the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. Luers' father and grandfather managed the farm well and did not have to sell the land to make ends meet. Other farmers who could not manage a living at this time were forced to sell their land for the money. Luers would go into town on Saturday nights with half a can of cream and half a case of eggs to sell for money to buy clothes and food. Luers' father was a hunter, always bringing ducks, geese, squirrels, and rabbits for the family to eat. When the family could not find enough food, they would shoot the pigeons in their barn and eat those instead.

Harold Luers was about 17 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], but does not remember where he was or what he was doing. World War 2 was always about what happened in Europe. He went to the museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum] in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] to learn about what happened in the Pacific Theater. He only really knew about MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area], and had not really learned about what happened on the other side of the world. Luers graduated high school in 1942 and enrolled in Washington Junior College [Annotator's Note: in Washington, Iowa] after his deployment had been deferred [Annotator's Note: postponement of military service]. The following year, in 1943, the military drafted all six of the men in his college class at once. The military sent them to Camp McCain, Mississippi [Annotator's Note: now Camp McCain Training Center, Mississippi National Guard in Grenada County, Mississippi] for training. The camp was still under construction when Luers arrived, so he ended up helping build the camp for the military. Luers' stay at Camp McCain was the first time he was away from home for an extended period of time. He does not remember much about basic training, besides having to hike 50 miles. Luers credits his upbringing on a farm for how easy he managed basic training. He also looks at his faith as a great source of help throughout his military career.

Harold Luers served in the 85th Infantry Division [Annotator's Note: Regimental Headquarters, 347th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division], a group filled with young soldiers. At the end of the war in Europe, they were sent back to the United States to Fort Benning, Georgia [Annotator's Note: in Columbus, Georgia] for 30 days rest and recuperation. They were meant to go fight in the Pacific after their rest was over, but during the 30 days the United States dropped the bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Luers went to the museum in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] was to learn more about the Pacific Theater, an area of the war he almost took part in. Luers served as the Regimental Clerk for the 347th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. It was his job to keep track of all the soldiers in the entire regiment. Each company had a clerk and those clerks reported to Luers on anything that happened to soldiers in their company: killed in action, wounded, or moved to an evacuation hospital. He had to travel each day from regimental headquarters to the headquarters of the 87th Division with his report on where every soldier was, Luers estimates this was in the 1,000s. He was thrown into this role shortly after basic training with no advanced training. After completing basic training Luers joined the 347th Infantry Regiment leaving Newark, New Jersey to Glasgow, Scotland as a member of the 87th Infantry Division. He was part of the 87th Infantry from when it was formed to when it disbanded. They regrouped in Southampton, England and crossed the Channel [Annotator's Note: the English Channel] at Normandy [Annotator's Note: Normandy, France]. When they came ashore, they regrouped with soldiers from their units. Luers arrived in Europe on either the Queen Elizabeth [Annotator's Note: the RMS Queen Elizabeth] or Queen Mary [Annotator's Note: the RMS RMS Queen Mary]. He returned to the United States on the SS America [Annotator's Note: SS America (1939) renamed the USS West Point (AP-23), 1941 to 1946]. On the voyages the ships traveled in zigzag patterns[Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver].

Harold Luers arrived in Scotland [Annotator's Note: with Regimental Headquarters, 347th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division], then went to England, and then he was transported to Normandy [Annotator's Note: Normandy, France]. In England they slept in their pup tents [Annotator's Note: small triangular tent], or in the hallways of government buildings. During battles when they were taking cities, they would often sleep wherever they could. There absolutely no lights after dark, and there was the noise of airplanes at all times. He was blessed that the battles were always away from him. Luers moved into a German city where all the men were gone. He is ashamed that his company [Annotator's Note: 347th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division] drained the pond in the center of the city to eat all the fish. Luers' distance from the front often varied, but he was never involved in the fighting. A typical day for him consisted of receiving reports from various company clerks and filing paperwork on the whereabouts of the soldiers. When the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945] happened, they had to immediately move out and could not even eat their Thanksgiving turkey. The Germans were throwing everything they had into that battle, so the Allies needed to regroup to mount a defensive. Luers drove through the wreckage of equipment and buildings on his way to the Czechoslovakian border, where the Russians were. The ride across Europe was uncomfortable with the winter cold and only K rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] to eat. Luers slept in a snow drift one night, and made a pot of coffee in an unclaimed steel helmet the next morning. Although he was in a headquarters company, Luers did not receive news or updates of what was happening in other places during the war. The soldiers were not informed of why they were moving for the Battle of the Bulge. He spent about three days riding in the back of a truck for his company to get where they needed to be. He received the European Medal [Annotator's Note: European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; awarded for participation in any of those three theaters], he also has three stars on the ribbon, signifying that he was a participant of three campaigns as well [Annotator's Note: interviewer states that this was for campaigns in the Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe]. Luers also received the Good Conduct Medal [Annotator's Note: Good Conduct Medal is given to enlisted military personnel for exemplary behavior, efficiency, and fidelity in active Federal Military service]. He had no idea that the Germans were attempting to break their lines during the Battle of the Bulge and did not think he was in any sort of position where he would be in combat. The Germans were running extremely low on fuel and their decision making at this point revolved around trying to get fuel through any means necessary.

Harold Luers traveled through Europe during World War 2 [Annotator's Note: with the Regimental Headquarters, 347th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division], and it was not rare for soldiers to get to know the people in the towns they stopped in. The USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] often held activities for the soldiers such as dances. Some fellow soldiers took some of the local women home as wives. He did not, Luers was very appreciative of the woman he had back home, who wrote him every day. He came from a German family in the United States, so he did not hate the Germans in Europe. He believes they were the same as everyone else, just people. Luers was at the Czechoslovakian border, near the Russian troops when the war ended in Europe. The end of the war in Europe meant that the able-bodied fighters of the Allies would soon make their way to the Pacific to fight the Japanese. He does not remember any big celebrations when the war ended in Europe. When the war ended it felt they were immediately pulled out of Europe and sent home for what should have been just 30 days. They were to reconvene at Fort Benning, Georgia [Annotator's Note: in Columbus, Georgia] and then make their way to the war in the Pacific. Before that happened, the United States used the bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], which expedited the end of the war with Japan. Immediately after discharge, Luers reenlisted in the Army Reserves and was eventually returned to service for one year during the Korean War in the 1950s [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. He served at Fort Custer, Michigan [Annotator's Note: Fort Custer Training Center, Michigan Army National Guard in Kalamazoo and Calhoun Counties, Michigan] as a buck sergeant [Annotator's Note: the lowest rank of sergeant in the military; E5]. Luers was with his girlfriend, and future wife, when the war ended. He went to Second Army Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee because his old unit had disbanded following the end of World War 2. In Memphis he received his discharge on 6 December 1945. He married his girlfriend two weeks later on 20 December 1945.

Harold Luers joined the Army Reserve following his discharge after World War 2. He was running a grocery store and continually got deferred [Annotator's Note: postponement of military service] because he could not find someone to manage it. Eventually he was forced to sell the store so he could fulfill his duties at Fort Custer, Michigan [Annotator's Note: Fort Custer Training Center, Michigan Army National Guard in Kalamazoo and Calhoun Counties, Michigan] during the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. His wife joined the nursing corps for one year while the family stayed at Fort Custer. Luers and another sergeant transferred draftees as their duty. In one instance they moved 99 draftees from Fort Custer, Michigan to Fort Dix, New Jersey [Annotator's Note: in Trenton, New Jersey]. On the way they had to change trains in Detroit, Michigan where they had a nine-hour layover. [Annotator's Note: interview pauses as a new tape is needed]. Every single one of them returned when it was time to embark again. Luers 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] by getting a private pilot's license. He flew for three or four years, but never owned his own plane. Luers did not have any difficulty returning to civilian life following his time in the Army. Even when he was in the Army he had part time jobs, such as working as a butcher. His wife supported Luers' decision to join the Army Reserves. Luers' and his wife seemed to move every five years. Every time one of the grocery stores that he worked at got bought out, he became an employee of the new owning company. He was promoted regularly and felt that the stores he was part of were always innovating. With the impending expansion of Walmart [Annotator's Note: Walmart Incorporated], Luers was offered a lucrative retirement as the company foresaw their grocery business being much less profitable in the face of this competition. Luers had to sell his own grocery store in 1951 when he was called to duty from the Army Reserves for the Korean War.

The Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945] left the biggest impression on Harold Luers from his time in the Army during World War 2. He wishes that he knew more about what happened in the Pacific Theater of World War 2. Luers served during World War 2 because he was drafted, but he feels that he would have enlisted if he was not selected. His younger brother Henry Leroy Luers served in multiple branches during his own military career and was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]. World War 2 changed Luers by providing him with a steppingstone into another chapter of his life. He looks at his World War 2 service fondly, as he feels that his country is celebrating him and others who served. Previously he did not want to participate in any celebration of veterans, but he has since changed his mind. He feels that World War 2 provided a steppingstone for America toward greatness. Luers is extremely thankful for all that he has experienced and considers himself very blessed. Luers says that institutions such as the National World War II Museum in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] are crucial for the education of people on World War 2.