Harvey Mittleman was born in New York City [Annotator's Note: New York City, New York] in May 1925. Mittleman and his older brother were raised in Brooklyn [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York], by their mother, a beautician, and their father, a waiter. He was a Boy Scout [Annotator's Note: Boy Scouts of America, scouting and youth organization founded in 1910] and active in his high school. Mittleman's brother joined the Air Force and was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His parents shielded him from the hardships they faced during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. They moved around a lot to take advantage of free rent. He went to a gymnasium with his mother to replace his shoes. His mother found one shoe that fit him but could not find the pair. She broke down and cried. Mittleman made a vow to himself to never be in that kind of poverty again and he hopes today he taught he children the value of working. A teenaged Mittleman was aware of the rise of Nazism. At one point, his mother owned a rooming house and two German teachers had stayed there. The Germans shared information about the events that were occurring the Mittleman and his family. He used to heckle people at the pro-Nazi meetings of the German American Bund [Annotator's Note: The German American Bund, or the German American Federation, was a German American Nazi organization which was established in 1936]. As a Jew, the anger Mittleman felt is what made him want to join the Navy. Mittleman considers himself patriotic and cries every time he hears the "Star-Spangled Banner" anthem [Annotator's Note: the national anthem of the United States]. He first heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor when he was exiting a movie house on Sunday 7 December 1941. When he walked into to his neighborhood Chinese restaurant, he heard the radio announcing the attack. He immediately ran home to find his mother listening to the radio. They did not hear any news about the whereabouts of his brother until days later. Mittleman took his brothers birth certificate and tried to enlist but was denied. It was not until his brother returned to the United States that his mother agreed to let Mittleman enlist in the Navy at 17 years old. His mother had a party to celebrate the return of his older brother and a farewell to him. To help the cause of the war, Mittleman raised money through a cake bake sale. He also collected magazines and jewelry to send kits to servicemen. When he enlisted into the Navy, he was excited, but soon reality set in. He took basic training at Williamsburg, Virginia. The training was difficult. He then was sent to advanced training in Gulfport, Mississippi. He had an opportunity to remain at Gulfport but turned it down. In December 1943, he shipped out from New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. It was snowing. He was assigned to the 58th Construction Battalion [Annotator's Note: 58th Naval Construction Battalion] and was eventually assigned to a demolitions team.

Harvey Mittleman [Annotator's Note: with the 58th Naval Construction Battalion, also known as Seabees] was shipped from New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] toward the Pacific. The ship took him to Panama and there he met a police officer from his neighborhood that was stationed in the area. While aboard ship, he had duty in the sick bay. He assisted with dressing wounds and help prepare the deceased. He was asked to stay on board, but the orders did not come through. Eventually he discovered that the ship sunk. He was lucky. After about eight days of being adrift due to engine problems, he disembarked at the Russell Islands [Annotator's Note: Russell Islands, Solomon Islands]. He was taken to a camp and attended a USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] show. At first there were no construction assignments, so Mittleman was given orders to continue training. Then a volunteer opportunity to a demolition unit became available and he decided to join it. He worked underwater laying boobytraps and dissolving enemy booby traps [Annotator's Note: an apparently harmless object containing a concealed explosive device]. He sunk a ship with one of his booby traps. He was then stationed at Los Negros [Annotator's Note: Los Negros, Admiralty Islands] and Los Manus [Annotator's Note: Manus Island, Admiralty Islands]. He continued to do some more training and schoolwork. Many of the guys in his unit tried to get him drunk so they could tattoo him, but never came to fruition. He then was sent to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] where his unit built a recreational center for the Red Cross. At the grand opening, he was perturbed that he had to pay for his own refreshments. They trained again on Guadalcanal and then received orders to board a ship that took them to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. During the voyage his ship was attacked by kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft] but survived. At Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945, Okinawa, Japan], they were exposed to heavy enemy fire and witnessed a lot of carnage. Men grow up very quickly when they see men next to them get hit and cannot do anything about it. At night, everyone had to be very vigilant because the Japanese often creeped through the camp to kill or just to steal food. One time he slept through a raid and was only awakened when a bomb hit the front of his tent. Once, they were fighting off kamikazes and the bottom portion of the ship was hit, killing several servicemen. Mittleman often prayed to God to get him out of the situation. After a week on Okinawa, his area was secured. His unit then began to repair the airfield. Not long after they secured the airfield, a Japanese plane landed on the strip not realizing it had been taken. Mittleman is proud to have been a Seabee. Mittleman was assigned to drive the gravel truck and deliver mail after he completed his assignment as a demolition man on Okinawa. He always looked forward receiving mail. His father sent him salami from a local deli in Brooklyn [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York] regularly. He even tried to send him eggs which became rotten in the shipment. Because he hated bivouacking [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary campsite], he traded two rolls of film for a jungle hammock from a Marine. On the first night on Okinawa, he could not find trees to hang his hammock, so he had to sleep on the ground.

Harvey Mittleman and his unit [Annotator's Note: with the 58th Naval Construction Battalion, also known as Seabees] was on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] when they received orders to prepare for the invasion of mainland Japan. He did not know that war was coming to its end. He was given more training and intensive training in demolition work to prepare for the invasion [Annotator's Note: Interviewee's phone rings and he speaks on the phone from 0:34:10.000 to 0:35:41.000]. Mittleman was devastated when he learned the news of Ernie Pyle's death [Annotator's Note: Ernest Taylor Pyle, American journalist and war correspondent died at Ie-Shima, Japan 8 April 1945]. He also got word that his cousin was on Okinawa. When they reconnected, his cousin told him that another cousin was killed at Normandy [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. Mittleman's superiors told them to expect heavy casualties at the invasion of Japan. He was not fazed by the message. He was scared, but he knew he had to do it. Mittleman felt that he would not be killed, even though he had seen so many of his friends perish. The Japanese were just as cruel as the Germans. On one instance, he came across some dead Marines that had been skinned by the Japanese. That vision had always stuck with him. Mittleman also faced anti-Semitism in the Navy. He received animosity from mainly men from the South. As the war progressed, religion did not matter to most servicemen and the anti-Semitism lightened up. Mittleman was still on Okinawa when the Japanese surrendered. They were all jubilant. They knew that they would not have to go through with the invasion. President Roosevelt's death [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States died 12 April 1945] hit him hard. While he waited to be sent back home, a typhoon hit Okinawa. After the storm, they were ordered to rebuild the camp. Then they waited around until it was their turn to be sent home. Mittleman was pissed off [Annotator's Note: slang for angry], because there were replacement men going home before he got his orders. Because of the point plan system [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home], men that were older and had a family took precedence. He was discharged in January 1946 with the rate of Seaman, 1st Class. Returning to civilian life was difficult for him. He returned to high school and felt like he was sitting with a bunch of children, even though he was only a couple years older than his classmates. He decided to quit high school and get a job working for a newspaper. He returned to school later. He had trouble sleeping at night. He would often take naps on trains because the movement helped him fall asleep. He was short-tempered with his mother. Eventually he was admitted to a hospital to help him relax and overcome his fears. He did use the benefits 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] to go to school. He got a job in the fabric industry. He married and had children.

Harvey Mittleman's most memorable experience of World War 2 was the heavy combat during the first few days on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945, Okinawa, Japan]. The war made him grow up and made him realize that individuals need help and individuals should help others. He fought because his country was attacked, and it was his moral duty. He has always been patriotic to his country. Mittleman's service means the world to him and nothing to America today. Children do come up to him and thank him for his service and that gives him hope. There should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and they should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because people need to remember the devastation of the past, so they do not repeat it.