[Annotator's Note: There is a very loud humming noise throughout this clip.] Henry Parham was born in November 1921 in Weaver County, Virginia [Annotator's Note: Greenville, Virginia]. He grew up on a farm. They were sharecroppers. In those days, it was pretty fair. They worked hard. He had one brother and one sister, and they all worked on the farm. School was a distance and they had to walk over two miles. They often did not go to school during planting and harvest times. He made it through the seventh grade, which was good back then. The higher schools were too far away and expensive to go to. He then just worked full time on the farm. During the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], they managed to have plenty to eat. His mother was away working, and his aunt raised them until they were grown. It was difficult but, in those days, you did the best you could. They learned to live with it. He knew there was a war going on. He did not realize it then that he would be in it. He was busy as a kid with a lot of work. His aunt raised him from a baby. She and her husband took him in as their child. His mother helped support them. They always went to church. Parham is 94 years old [Annotator's Note: at the time of this interview]. He received his draft notification after he registered. Many others went too. Most of his neighbors were Black farmers but he had white neighbors as well. It was a good childhood.

[Annotator's Note: There is a very loud humming noise throughout this clip.] After he was drafted [Annotator's Note: in 1942], Henry Parham went to Fort Meade [Annotator's Note: Fort George G. Meade in Anne Arundel County, Maryland]. They were in segregated camps. He was sent to the 320th Antiaircraft [Annotator's Note: 320th Antiaircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude (Colored)]. Training was not that difficult. He had had training, like marching, in school. He had around 12 weeks of training. They were to protect the areas with balloons [Annotator's Note: large, tethered kite balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack] attached to cables to keep bombers from coming in. They were well-trained by nice officers which meant a lot. He never questioned being in all-Black battalion because segregation was the way things were. They had both white and Black officers. He was treated very well. He did not make enough money to send any home. They were well-fed. He wrote home. He got a furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] home once in a while. He got orders from Tyson, Tennessee [Annotator's Note: Camp Tyson near Paris, Tennessee] to England [Annotator's Note: November 1943] and then to France. He was not in England very long doing some training. They did not know when the D-Day invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] was going to happen. He was not nervous but was not happy to be there. The beaches were mined [Annotator's Note: Parham landed on Omaha Beach, Normandy, France]. He was in an encampment and got the word to go. The trip across the Channel [Annotator's Note: the English Channel] was rough. The weather was not pleasant. They were nervous; some were scared and some just took it. They went ashore in smaller boats. Getting in those boats could be dangerous. He went off into water up to his neck and had to hold his rifle above his head. They had to carry some of the shorter men ashore. He carried an M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] and his backpack. There were mines [Annotator's Note: stationary explosive device triggered by physical contact] on the beach, and they received artillery fire. Some of them managed to survive.

[Annotator's Note: There is a very loud humming noise throughout this clip.] When he hit the beach [Annotator's Note: Omaha Beach on D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944], Henry Parham [Annotator's Note: 320th Antiaircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude (Colored)] tried to dig in and protect himself. The mined areas [Annotator's Note: areas where mines, stationary explosive devices triggered by physical contact are buried or under the water] were not roped off yet. It was a game of chance. He saw fatalities. Their orders that day were to live as long as they could. He lost some friends. It was not a pleasant thing. They set up as quickly as they could. Some balloons [Annotator's Note: barrage balloons; large, tethered kite balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack] had already been carried in. The other equipment came in later by boat and then trucks distributed it. He had three to five men in his group depending on the demands. There were four or more ropes to one balloon. They had to let the ropes hit the ground before touching them due to the static electricity they would collect. They flew them at around 200 feet to block fighter planes. Keeping them higher impeded their accuracy. There were a couple of hundred balloons there. They received artillery shelling from the enemy. He did not have any sense he was liberating Europe until that time came. The biggest danger he faced on the beach was the mines. He saw people blown apart. They come down in pieces. It was a horrible thing to see. There were casualties on the beach too. He was on the beach for 68 days. His job was protecting the equipment coming in which started immediately after he landed. From dusk to dawn, the British Air Force [Annotator's Note: Royal Air Force] protected the beach. He then moved to Cherbourg [Annotator's Note: Cherbourg, France].

When Henry Parham's unit [Annotator's Note: 320th Antiaircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude (Colored)] moved to Cherbourg [Annotator's Note: Cherbourg, France] from Normandy [Annotator's Note: Normandy, France], his duties were the same. Cherbourg was just off the beach where a lot of equipment was coming in. The French were very respectful. He stayed in his camp and rarely got leave. He never got a chance to go to London [Annotator's Note: London, England]. It was busy and exciting to a certain extent. His group was not too segregated there. He never had any problems with the white troops. They were all fighting for the same purpose. He stayed in Cherbourg a couple of months. He does not recall how long it was before he returned to England. Things eased up after Cherbourg. He returned home through New York Harbor [Annotator's Note: in New York, New York]. He wrote home occasionally while in Europe. He did not save any of his letters.

Henry Parham is proud of his service. His aunt and his mother were very proud when he returned home after the war. He returned to his job as a porter in the bus terminal in Richmond [Annotator's Note: Richmond, Virginia]. He has had an interesting life. He got married. He wonders if giving advice to young people today will make any difference as their worlds are very different from how his was growing up. He will never forget about the war. It never leaves him. He just accepted it and kept on moving.