Hartsel Ross was born in January 1926 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Ross heard the news of the attacks on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] while sitting on his front porch with a friend. The conversation immediately turned to the war and the young boys hopes to join the service. Not long after the attacks, his father built a hangar to build gliders in. He helped his father in the hangar until he was 17 and the family moved to Houston, Texas. In September 1943, shortly after his brother joined the Navy, Ross attempted to join too but was still only 17. Instead, Ross signed up for service with the Maritime Service [Annotator's Note: the US Merchant Marine] and was sent to bootcamp on 6 January 1944, his 18th birthday. Ross could not serve in the Army or in the Marine Corps because of a severe allergy to poison ivy and poison oak. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, all the talk centered on the war. He wanted to fight but when war broke out, he was too young. When his older brother joined the Navy, he often worried about him never returning home. From the home front, Ross assisted his dad with building a hanger. He went all over the place finding things they needed. When the hanger was completed, Ross worked for the company that assembled gliders for the war efforts. At the time, he did not know how the gliders were going to be used in World War 2.

Hartsel Ross joined the Maritime Services [Annotator's Note: the US Merchant Marine] in January 1944. He boarded a train from Houston [Annotator's Note: Houston, Texas] to Florida for boot camp. The train went through New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] and it was the first time he had seen the city. When he reached Florida he and other new enlistees were assembled into groups and were taken to their sleeping quarters. He was told by the instructors that they were going to get in shape before being sent overseas. They got new equipment to build them up strong and to understand what they were doing. On the second day of training, the new recruits reported to the barbershop where a guy from California with a bad attitude was given the first buzz cut. The guy remained a problem throughout the training program. In training, they were required to walk a mile every morning and every evening before their meal. He was taught to fire a weapon, though he was never issued a weapon while on ship. He enjoyed his training in shooting a gun. He attended daily classes to learn how to stand watch, and how to operate the ship. Ross applied to work in the engine room because of the mechanical background he had learned from his father. He learned all about the 25,000 horsepower engines and how to keep them in operation. He also was taught how to train others how to operate engine. Once he was aboard ship and the fireman on board got sick. No one knew how to operate the boilers except for Ross. He had to teach the deck engineer how to do the fireman's duties. After finishing training, Ross boarded his first merchant vessel out of Corpus Christi, Texas bound for New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] with a cargo of oil. He is thankful that his ship was on the southern end of the convoy as two ships on the northern end were sunk by German U-boats [Annotator's Note: German for submarine]. There were destroyer escorts that ran beside his ship as they sailed overseas. There was another incident as he traveled overseas where an aircraft carrier lost an airplane while it was trying to land on the ship.

Hartsel Ross sailed for Scotland. He waited two weeks in Scotland while they outfitted his ship and then sailed with a convoy into the North Sea with a cargo bound for Murmansk, Russia. Ross's ship was separated from the other ships in the convoy in heavy fog. The refrigeration unit on board ship caught fire and Ross volunteered to repair it. While repairing the unit, the ship's alarms sounded. Ross ran to the top deck. They were within inches of hitting a British destroyer. The fog was so heavy they did not see them. The captain of the destroyer escorted Ross' ship to the Orkney Islands [Annotator's Note: Orkney Islands, Scotland] where they stayed for two weeks. Ross and the crew of ship taught the British mariners to play "work-up", a variant of baseball, which they played daily, from sunup to sundown. While in the Orkney Islands, Ross brought a shipmate of his to the medic's station with a broken foot. The man refused anesthesia as he did not want the ship to leave without him, so the doctor fixed his foot while completely awake. All of the ships Ross sailed on were equipped with a three inch gun [Annotator's Note: three inch, 50 caliber naval gun] on the bow and two 40mm guns [Annotator's Note: Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon] on the stern. A Naval guard crew manned them at all times. His ships never were in any real danger. While on board his second ship, Ross was stuck in London, England for a few days during the invasion of France [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. They were not allowed to sail because it was too dangerous. While not on duty, Ross studied to receive various Coast Guard licenses for jobs on board ship. Between trips, Ross returned home and received various licenses including one for fireman, water tender, oiler, deck engineer and another to become a pump man. He made friends with one guy that wore his life preserver all the time, never taking it off, even when he slept. When they returned to New York, his friend chucked his life preserver in the water, and it sunk. Ross next boarded the SS Margaret Brent, which he stayed on board for nine months and 14 days. The ship was bound for Italy with a load of wheat when news arrived that the Germans had surrendered. When they were unloading the wheat in Italy, Ross saw many of the workers wearing two pairs of pants, tied together at the end of the pant legs. He realized they were stuffing their pants with wheat. Ross informed the owner of the wheat that the workers were stealing, but he did not seem to care. Ross was happy when the war in Europe came to an end. The Naval guard on board opened fire on something out in the ocean but never hit it. They realized later that they were seeing Capri Island [Annotator's Note: Capri Island, Italy].

Hartsel Ross set sail on a ship loaded with cargo that was needed in the Pacific. The ship crossed through the Panama Canal on 2 August [Annotator's Note: 2 August 1945], shortly after, Japan was bombed [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945]. Everyone on board rejoiced that the war would finally be coming to a close. The ship sailed for 26 days through rain before reaching the Marshall Islands and, from there, sailed to Ulithi [Annotator's Note: Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands]. At one point, they had to make their own usable water by boiling it and running it through charcoal. The ship and its crew stayed in Ulithi for two months before sailing to Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands] to unload its cargo. Two of the crewmen made a skiff that they used while on Ulithi, but when they reached Saipan, the current was so strong it took the skiff away. Ross had to throw them life preservers. He then got into a lifeboat to rescue the crewmen. On Christmas Day, 1945, the crew got notice that they would be returning to the United States. The ship headed to Baltimore [Annotator's Note: Baltimore, Maryland] but when they saw a destroyer with a German U-boat [Annotator's Note: German for submarine] following them, they changed course and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia. [Annotator's Note: It is difficult to understand the location of where his ship docked because Ross mentions multiple cities.] In February 1946, Ross received his third engineer's license. Following this, Ross boarded his final ship bound for Cuba and South America. While in Cuba, Ross met a young college student named Fidel Castro [Annotator's Note: Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, Prime Minister of Cuba, 1959 to 1976, President 1976 to 2008]. Ross sat with Castro in a bar helping him with his English for hours. From Cuba, the ship sailed to Cartagena, Columbia to take on a load of sugar for transport back to New York. Ross was discharged in September [Annotator's Note: September 1946]. He was not upset by his ineligibility to receive benefits like men who had served in the other service branches. He did not serve so that he could receive benefits, but rather because it was the right thing to do. He feels like he helped save the world.

Hartsel Ross's most memorable experience of World War 2 was losing his convoy in fog while sailing in the North Sea. He later found out that the other five ships in the convoy had all been sunk by U-boats [Annotator's Note: German for submarine] on their way to Murmansk, Russia. He served because he wanted to be part of saving his county. He did not want the Germans or Japanese taking over our country. World War 2 changed his life by making him realize that he needed an education. He used his mechanical knowledge gained in the service to attend the University of Houston [Annotator's Note: in Houston, Texas] and studied mechanical hydraulic design. Ross did not understand what the effects of going to war would be, but he knew he had to do it. He is sorry that most Americans do not know or care to know about World War 2. That is why he is so grateful for Mr. Sinise [Annotator's Note: Gary Alan Sinise, American actor, director, musician, producer, philanthropist] and all his work to help veterans and kids understanding the sacrifices of World War 2. He hopes that the kids today step up and make a difference. He believes there should be institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana], and they should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. He is grateful for Mr. Sinise and what he is doing for our country.