Harry Koukos, of Greek decent, was born in Albania in 1925 and came to the United States at the age of 13. His first home in the United States was in Danbury, Connecticut where he lived with his father. There, he attended school through the eighth grade, then worked in a hat factory and later as a turret lathe operator. Although he wasn't a citizen, when he was 17, he was inspired by patriotic movies, and wanted to join the military. When he was 18, he drafted into the Army and did 13 weeks' basic training at Camp Croft near Spartanburg, South Carolina. Koukos said boot camp did him "some good," and put him in shape to fight. After a short furlough, he left Fort Meade, Maryland with replacement troops that crossed the Atlantic on an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank], docking in Casablanca. From there, Koukos traveled on a slow train to Beirut, North Africa.

Just before Christmas 1943, Harry Koukos landed in the Naples-Salerno area of Italy and while disembarking, a German plane strafed his unit [Annotator's Note: 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division]. He traveled initially by truck, but it was "rough going" and he walked most of the muddy way to the front lines. Koukos remembers that around Monte Casino most of the supplies were carried by mules or on the soldiers' backs. The weather was terrible, adding to the rough routine. Fighting was from hill to hill. After a few months in the Monte Casino area, his division was bivouacked at the King's Hunting Grounds preparing for the invasion at Anzio. Koukos' 179th Regiment spearheaded the invasion that took place on an area about 15 miles wide and eight miles deep. Because there were not enough reinforcements to go forward, and there were no real areas for concealment on the flat beach, they dug in and stayed in their foxholes. They were under constant enemy surveillance and subject to aerial bombing during the daytime, but could go out on patrols and engage in skirmishes at night. The artillery duels were terrific. The weather remained "terrible," Koukos recalled, and there was no rest. Koukos' platoon participated in "severe" fighting, stopping only to remove the dead and wounded, and after a few days took over the "Factory" [Annotator's Note: American troops referred to the town of Aprilia as the "Factory" because of a cluster of red brick buildings located in it]. During the month of February they experienced two-thirds casualties. He said that by luck and hard fighting, they held the beachhead. After breaking through, Koukos' division went as far as Rome.

Harry Koukos became part of the 7th Army [Annotator's Note: Koukos served in the 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division which became part of the US 7th Army] for the invasion of Southern France. It was fall, and the weather was beautiful, he said, so much better than in Italy. About 31 days into the battle, one of the GIs [Annotator's Note: Government Issue; slang term for American soldiers] in Koukos' platoon became ill and was taken off the attack. Koukos was given the sick man's bandolier, and while the platoon was under mortar attack and small arms fire, a sniper hit Koukos in the leg and arm. Thankfully, a bullet meant for his heart ricocheted off the borrowed bandolier and saved his life. After a while in combat, Koukos became accustomed to living with fear. He said there were times, too, that he forgot fear; if a buddy got hit near him, he became so angry that fear didn't matter. He doesn't regret what he went through, because he felt he had to fight for his country, but now that he is older, he thinks that no one should take away what cannot be replaced, the human life. When Koukos was discharged, he was awarded US citizenship.

Revisiting his memories of Anzio, Harry Koukos said that at first, there was only one man in a foxhole, but the soldiers shifted to two men in a foxhole so that one could get a little rest while the other kept watch. They were fired upon when they went out on patrols, and the steady artillery fire was almost unbearable. The slippery mud made walking almost impossible, and the skin of soldiers’ feet would come off when they changed their stockings. Koukos was a machine gun tri-pod carrier at first, then he became a rifleman, and was made a runner (transferring messages when communications were out) and a scout. Scouting was “rather fearful,” Koukos said, pressing forward through the dark. On one occasion his squad was sent out to find out if a bridge was still intact, and he feared for his life with every step he took. Fortunately, the enemy had withdrawn and the squad was not fired upon. On the other hand, there were funny moments: once while marching toward the line a shell flew by. Koukos said he instinctively removed his helmet and covered what he referred to as “the best parts” of himself, much to the amusement of his buddies. Something that sticks out in his mind was the shelling; some of the bombs came too close. He noted that being fired upon by a rifle was less frightening than coming under machine gun fire. Soldiers sometimes followed tanks, thinking it would provide some safety, but Koudos once found himself following a tank that took a direct hit. His division never had to do any hand-to-hand fighting; nevertheless, they set out with 41 men; after Anzio, 13 remained.

The Germans were good fighters, according to Harry Koukos, and they were ruthless, cruel and brutal. He recalled going through a small village where the enemy had taken some American prisoners. They were defeated, but before surrendering the Germans shot the prisoners. Koukos was in the 45th Division [Annotator's Note: 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division], under the command of Mark Clark [Annotator's Note: US Army General Mark W. Clark], and he said that as an individual he had very little information about what was happening at the time. Later, it was recognized that mistakes were made at the Anzio Beachhead. Koukos would not talk about the war initially, and although he doesn't like to, he can speak about it now. Recounting his journey from the time he was wounded, Koukos said he felt something hit him and he dropped his field bag, but held on to his rifle. He ran a short distance, losing blood, and eventually losing consciousness. He was picked up by first aid men, loaded onto a truck and taken to an evacuation hospital where he got a penicillin shot every three hours. He was flown from France to a hospital in Naples, Italy, where he stayed for about three weeks. Koukos said the medical care was great. He slowly recovered, but not sufficiently to be classified 1A [Annotator's Note: Selective Service classification that identifies an individual as being fit and available for military service], so he was placed with the engineers and put to work in a factory "repairing things." When the war in Europe ended, Koukos had enough points for discharge. He traveled by boat from Naples to Fort Meade, Maryland, and was welcomed home by the Red Cross with a glass of milk and a doughnut. He was separated from the Army at Fort Devens [Annotator's Note: Fort Devens, Massachusetts]. Koukos was awarded the Purple Heart.

Harry Koukos went home to Danbury, Connecticut and became a member of the 52-20 Club [Annotator's Note: unemployment benefits awarded under the G.I. Bill of 20 dollars per week for 52 weeks]. His father was happy to see him, but Koukos wished he could have seen his mother. She was stranded in Europe when the war started, then was prohibited by Stalin's regime in Albania from emigrating when the war ended. Asked to comment on the inhabitants of France and Italy, Koukos said he thought the Italians had been forced to fight, and did not do so wholeheartedly. The French locals considered the Americans their liberators, and were happy to see them. On the whole, Koukos believes the Europeans like the Americans. Today, he believes that people do not solve problems with war and killing. He feels they should talk, and try to understand one another.

Praising the air and artillery support he got in the Casino and Anzio campaigns, Harry Koukos said the soldiers were thankful to get it, and amazed at the precision with which it was executed. He commented on a "huge, huge, huge gun" nicknamed "Anzio Annie" that discharged a shell that made a loud, distinctive noise from the time it left the barrel to the time it exploded. [Annotator's Note: Anzio Annie and Anzio Express were nicknames given to two massive Krupp K5 280mm guns used at Anzio. The Germans referred to the guns as Leopold and Robert.] Koukos said it was scary, but after a while the soldiers got used to it. Of all the places he saw action, Koukos thought the Factory [Annotator's Note: American troops referred to the town of Aprilia as the "Factory" because of a cluster of red brick buildings located in it] area at Anzio was the worst. "It was murder," he said. He feels it is important that people in this country continue to study history and to find out the truth. He feels that institutions such as The National WWII Museum allow visitors to "observe" what happened, and that is worthwhile. Asked if the war changed him in any way, he said it gave him a lot of experience, and made him thankful for what he has.