Harold Watters was born in Mobile [Annotator's Note: Mobile, Alabama] in July 1922. He grew up in Mobile during the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. When his grandmother passed away, he, his mother, and his twin brother moved in with his grandfather. He had another younger brother by 1926 when a storm hit [Annotator's Note: a hurricane hit Mobile on 20 September 1926], flooding the streets. Watters' father was in the flooring business, he sometimes worked with his father. He was 19 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was ready to go and fight. He was drafted, but turned down the first time, accepted the second time. He did basic training at Camp Shelby [Annotator's Note: in Hattiesburg, Mississippi]. He then went to Camp Robinson in Little Rock [Annotator's Note: in North Little Rock, Arkansas] after summer 1944. He finally shipped out from Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston, Massachusetts] to Europe on the George Washington troopship [Annotator's Note: USAT George Washington] in a large convoy. The ship could not get into Le Havre [Annotator's Note: Le Havre, France] because of ships sunk in the harbor, it was too big to get through. They were unloaded by LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] and took trains, called "40-and-eights" because they could carry forty men or eight horses, to Château-Thierry, France. The trip lasted two or three days. He was issued a rifle, and about a month later the war ended with VE-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945]. Watters expected that they might be sent to the Pacific. They were preparing to depart for the South Pacific from Le Havre when they heard that the atomic bombs had been dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], and he was in Marseilles, France when VJ-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945] came. He was in the 355th Engineers [Annotator's Note: 355th Engineer General Service Regiment] and ended up doing occupation duty in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Harold Watters [Annotator's Note: with the 355th Engineer General Service Regiment] only ever talked to Germans in Chateau-Thierry [Annotator's Note: Chateau-Thierry, France] when he was overseeing German prisoners of war who worked in a cabinet shop. They were glad to be where they were and being fed. Watters went to Bremerhaven, Germany from Marseille [Annotator's Note: Marseille, France], where he had been when he learned of VJ-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945]. There was a lot of destruction in Bremerhaven, not too many buildings remained standing. Some of the Germans washed the troops' clothes. When he arrived, there was snow on the ground. It was cold, but they had nice barracks. He ended up being a driver in a motor pool [Annotator's Note: a group of vehicles shared by military personnel] and became acting motor pool sergeant. Watters left Germany in early May 1946 on a Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship], the trip home was rough.

Harold Watters [Annotator's Note: with the 355th Engineer General Service Regiment] passed the State of Liberty on his return home. He was discharged and sent home to Mobile [Annotator's Note: Mobile, Alabama]. He had no trouble readjusting to civilian life, he went right back to work with his father in the flooring business. They had a tough time during the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], and his father worked for the WPA [Annotator's Note: Works Progress Administration] for a while. Civilian life is much nicer than having to fight, but he is proud of his service, and we should all be proud of our servicemen. It was bad that two cities were done away with in order to bring the Japanese down [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], but it would have been worse if they had not have done so.