Harry Baughman was born in Findlay, Ohio. He grew up there during the Great Depression, when "things were tough." When Baughman finished high school he took a job with Marathon Oil Company, where he worked on IBM machines for five years before he was drafted. Baughman spent 14 weeks in basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama then went to San Francisco, California for keypunch training for "machine" records. Baughman made corporal, but decided that operating computers wasn't the job for him; he felt he could do a lot more for the country in some other way. His only avenue out was officer candidate school and he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he got his commission. Baughman was assigned to the 88th Infantry Division and sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana, then Fort Hood, Texas, and Newport News, Virginia. There, he boarded a Liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship], and took off in one of largest convoys of the time. For 18 days, and through one storm and three submarine attacks, he zig-zagged [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] his way to Camp Don B. Passage near Casablanca, Morocco. Baughman remembers spending three days on a rail car to get to Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria], and training on a hot escarpment every day, which counted as "mountain training." Just before Christmas 1943, the division moved out, sailing on an English ship that landed in the Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy] Harbor. Baughman said the waters there were filled with sunken ships and the soldiers, in full equipment, crossed on planks laid from one ship to another, until everyone was onshore.

The 88th Infantry Division made it into the port at Naples, and Harry Boughman moved through and crossed the Volturno River, dropping into the valley below Monte Casino. He noted that their combat positions were completely visible to the enemy above them on the mountain. The soldiers worked in 24 hour shifts, and had to bail ice water out of their foxholes. Command had sent out an order that any man who contracted trench foot would be fined 100 dollars, so the soldiers would rub each other's feet; Boughman carried a dry pair of socks in his helmet liner. Next, Boughman moved to a position at Minturno, Italy, overlooking the Gulf of Gaeta, during which time he participated in 20 to 25 patrols, and witnessed an eruption of the volcano at Mount Vesuvius. The 88th Division stayed in that position until 11 May [Annotator's Note: 11 May 1944], when they attacked the Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] Line, and everything "opened up." Boughman said the sky was alight with artillery shells from both sides for a day and a half. His reserve machine gun platoon moved left to capture a ridge and followed it down to Santa Maria [Annotator's Note: Santa Maria Infante, Italy]. They fought their way through the retreating Germans, some of it "real tough fighting." In the little of town of Itri, south of Anzio, Boughman was wounded by mortar fire, and was hospitalized in Naples for three weeks. He rejoined his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company D, 1st Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division], the first all draftee unit in combat, in Rome. On their way there, Axis Sally [Annotator's Note: Rita Luisa Zucca] had given their unit a nickname based on their blue patches. He quoted her announcement, "Most of them are gentlemen fighters, but the 88th is a bunch of Blue Devils."

On returning to his outfit [Annotator's Note:the 88th Infantry Division] in Rome [Annotator's Note: Rome, Italy], Harry Boughman went directly to the front. Combat seasoned, they led the attack north of Rome, and had the enemy moving to the rear using an attack strategy that began at around three in the morning, maintained the objective, and waited for a counterattack in daylight. On the next night they took the next ridge. Their battles were always uphill, and at one point they crossed an area where the Germans had blown the pressure pipes that transferred hot water from the mountains to Rome for the baths. Baughman noted that while he was going through all the noise and steam, he saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa [Annotator's Note: Pisa, Italy]. Baughman's unit moved into the rear of the 5th Army, in reserve along the Arno River close to Florence [Annotator's Note: Florence, Italy]. There they did some training in river crossings, getting in and out of boats, which Baughman said was a joke, since the river at that time was barely hip deep. The unit got word they were going north into the high mountains between Florence and Bologna [Annotator's Note: Bologna, Italy] where the fighting was "real tough at that time." There were many casualties; Boughman pointed out that the 88th Division started with 12,000 men and had a complete turnover; but they "did a lot of good." By the time they reached Castel Del Rio, Italy, Boughman had been transferred to patrols and intelligence work. As the division approached Mount Battaglia, where the 350th Infantry Regiment was engaged in "severe fighting," they moved left to Mount Cappello. Commanding Company B [Annotator's Note: Company B, 1st Battalion, 350th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division], which was down to 78 men, Baughman detected the Germans forming against the left flank of the 350th Infantry. His company laid down what ammunition they had and stopped the counterattack. But Baughman suffered a concussion, and his mouth, ears and eyes bled. He didn't stop in the middle of the attack but on the next day when he was hit again, in both legs, both arms and his back, he was taken to Rome where he spent a month in hospital. He was still suffering from headaches, but went back to outfit 15 miles south of Bologna. There, the fighting stopped because the snow was eight feet deep in the high mountains. Baughman was ordered back to the United States for R&R [Annotator's Note: Rest and Recuperation].

While Harry Boughman was on leave in the United States, the war ended in Europe. He was transferred to Fort Hood, Texas, and worked as a training officer until the war with Japan was over. He was released from service in September 1945, and went home. He was later contacted by a colonel from the 37th Infantry Division, and asked to begin a reorganization of the National Guard in his hometown of Findlay, Ohio. Baughman took the job, and his company of 147 men was voted the number one company in the state. He stayed in the National Guard until recalled for the Korean Conflict when he went back into service for two years at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Baughman was sent to Japan for a short time, then went back to Louisiana and finished his tour of duty as a major. Back home, Baughman stayed in the reserves, having served from May 1943 until completely retiring. He is glad he served in the infantry, and thinks he was a good officer. Baughman said he would do it all again.

When he was initially assigned [Annotator's Note: to the 88th Infantry Division], Harry Baughman was put into Company D, 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division as the heavy weapons platoon leader. Baughman said he had a good platoon; well trained, physically and mentally, for combat. They went through almost a year without the loss of a man. Baughman felt "something guided him," and he could usually put his men in safe positions. When he embarked on his journey overseas, he thought it was good to be an officer, because being responsible for others took his mind off his own worries. He got to know each man's background, and was always willing to talk. When they got into North Africa, no one could speak the language, and they went directly to the camp. On a couple of occasions they went into Casablanca [Annotator's Note: Casablanca, Morocco], but didn't find much of interest there. But, when they moved to the south of Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria], their camp was within ten miles of the French Foreign Legion [Annotator's Note: volunteers paid by the French for service in the country and abroad] headquarters at Bel Abbes [Annotator's Note: Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria]. Boughman found that city very picturesque. He saw some legionnaires, but his orders forbid him from contact with the locals. Some of their regiment's officers were sent ahead to Italy to get the lay of the land, but coming into Naples, the division marched across sunken ships while an air battle raged above them. Fortunately, no bombs were dropped. Baughman said it was "a little bit hairy." According to Baughman, the conditions around Monte Cassino were the most uncomfortable he experienced during the war. After being in combat a couple of months, and earning a Silver Star [Annotator's Note: the third-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy], he was promoted to first lieutenant.

Harry Baughman describes his experiences with the foreign troops that served with the Americans in Italy. In the Monte Cassino area, he became familiar with the Sikhs from India. In the north of Italy, he served alongside the "Gooms" [Annotator's Note: Goumiers, indigenous Moroccan soldiers, part of the Free French Army] who had the "right of pillage and rape," and traveled with their families and flocks. Baughman felt they were terrific horsemen, but had "no respect for human life." For some time, they were paid by the French government on the basis of the ears they cut off their presumably German victims. Thankfully, they got along with the Americans.

Training in North Africa concentrated on mortar combat and night missions, according to Henry Baughman, and when the troops left there, they were physically and mentally ready for combat. He remembered his first encounter with an enemy soldier. He was on patrol with six men, and looked up to see two Germans setting up a machine gun position within 50 feet. Baughman and a buddy killed them both. He went on to describe other initiatives he ordered, not necessarily according to procedure, which proved successful while breaking through the Gustave Line. Baughman mentioned meeting the Nisei [Annotator's Note: ethnically Japanese children born in America to Japanese-born immigrants] 100th Battalion on a couple of occasions, and said "they were good." However, they got the credit for capturing a large amount of German equipment on a road that Baughman's machine gunners had clogged with burning vehicles. Another memory that stands out in his mind is when he earned the Silver Star [Annotator's Note: the third-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy]. The 350th [Annotator's Note: 350th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division] was pinned down on Mount Battaglio and Baughman stopped the German attack on their flank by knocking out their machine guns. Depleted of men and ammunition when they gained the top of the hill, Baughman and his men rolled stones down to hit the enemy in their positions.

Harry Boughman said he wasn't scared. He had to concentrate on the job at hand. On the two occasions he was wounded, it was from mortar fire, which gives no warning. The concussion knocked him down and the red hot metal burrowed into his skin. The first time Baughman got hit, near Monte Cassino, he suffered four wounds. Asked if he could see the monastery from his position, Baughman recalled it was hardly visible; most of the time it was foggy and raining. He noted that it was the Polish troops that conquered the mountain; the Americans were well ahead in the campaign by then, the British moving a little slower. On the return from his hospital stay in Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy], Baughman was put in charge of Italian prisoners, former soldiers who had been retrained as muleskinners to handle the animals that carried supplies up the mountains, being transported by LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] to Anzio [Annotator's Note: Anzio, Italy]. Baughman said the muleskinners did a good job throughout the campaign in Italy. The second time Baughman was wounded was when he was in the north of Italy. He sustained 14 shrapnel wounds that affected both his legs, both his arms, and his back, and he almost lost one of his thumbs. He still has shrapnel in his left arm. Baughman said the German commanders was good at choosing the right terrain to defend; the Allied forces were always in an uphill battle. Asked if he saw a difference in the fighting between the areas around Monte Cassino and that in the north of Italy, Baughman said the further north the Allies moved, the more determined the Germans became. The closer the enemy troops got to their homeland, the shorter their supply lines became. When the Allied troops approached the Gothic and Hitler Lines, the Germans were ready and had every inch [Annotator's Note: of ground] covered by fire. It was only when they broke through the lines that they could make any appreciable ground. At the coast, the Allies didn't take many prisoners, but as they moved into the Po Valley, whole divisions of Germans were surrendering. Baughman pointed out that the war in Italy was won one skirmish at a time.

Harry Boughman's division [Annotator's Note: 88th Infantry Division] was about eight miles south of Bologna, Italy, when he was sent back to the United States for R&R [Annotator's Note: Rest and Recuperation]. Leaving his men [Annotator's Note: at this time, Baughmen was the company commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 350th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division] was difficult, and when he learned he would not be returning to Italy, Baughman was disappointed, feeling he had lost the opportunity to see the campaign to its end. While he was home [Annotator's Note: Findlay, Ohio], Baughman visited friends and places, and checked with his former employer. He was told his job running an IBM machine was secure, and he could come back when he was discharged. He worked for Marathon Oil after leaving the service, until he was called up for the Korean War, and again after it was over. Altogether, he worked for the company for 35 years, and Baughman said it was a good living. After he retired, he worked for the county as Veterans Service Officer for the next ten years. Then he went into farming, and started the Veterans Memorial Squad to serve at military funerals. He feels people who didn't serve in the military can't understand the effects of war: every day there are memories. Asked to recall the circumstances surrounding his Bronze Star decoration [Annotator's Note: 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], Baughman talked about the patrol that earned the award, one that he didn't receive until he got out of the service. It was a daylight patrol to investigate houses between the lines that the Germans had been using. Baughman put in the paperwork for himself and his men and they all got Bronze Star Medals.

During the Korean War, Harry Baughman was a battalion commander at Fort Polk, Louisiana and searched for a way to keep his men from going out and getting drunk. He made a deal with a hobby shop on the post, and they furnished the tools and materials for leatherwork. As the instigator, Baughman learned the craft, and has been making belts ever since. He gives them away. Asked if he thought the war changed him in any way, Baughman responded, "For a while," but he has never been bitter. More than anything, his son and his wife changed his life. Asked if he recalled funny stories, Baughman said there were many little funny instances; if the soldiers took war too seriously, they would "go nuts," and some of them did. Once he got out of it, he was happy. His first civilian meal was with his wife was at a hamburger joint as they traveled back to Ohio; but when he got home, his mother fixed him a meal. He doesn't remember what they had, but he knows it was good. In recounting his worst moment in combat, he said he was on a hot hillside, and the platoon was shelled for about two hours. A lieutenant, just out of West Point, who reported to Baughman during the night was killed in his foxhole. Baughman said he had to forget it. He kept in touch with several men who made it through the war.

Harry Baughman has attended a couple of his division's [Annotator's Note: 88th Infantry Division] reunions, but family circumstances and distance make it difficult to make them all. He talked about "finding" a German belt buckle in a cave just south of Bologna [Annotator's Note: Bologna, Italy]. He thinks it is important that Americans continue to study the accomplishments of World War 2, and that institutions such as The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] tell the story of what everyday Americans did, and what they had to go through, so that they can have the life that they have now. He said Americans should give today's soldiers credit for what they are doing now. Baughman said he was asked to do something for his country, and would like to be remembered as having done his best.