Herbert Siebert was born in April 1925 in Saint Louis County, Missouri. He was one of five siblings; his father died when he was six-year-old. His mother cleaned houses for a living and his older sister also worked to support the family during the Great Depression. He remembered that his family got by the best way they could. He did odd jobs to get spending cash, like take out the trash for a neighbor. When he was older, he worked as a soda jerk at an ice cream parlor. He remembered he was working there on 7 December 1941 and heared the customers talking about the attack on Pearl Harbor. After his 18th birthday, he registered for the draft and received orders in August 1943 to report to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri for service in the Army. He was then sent to Camp Wallace, Texas for basic training. He learned how to drill and how to handle a rifle. He was then transferred to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana for infantry training. He learned infantry combat, hiked, and did field maneuvers. He was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division. He was then trained on a .30 caliber air cooled machine gun [Annotator's Notes: Browning .30 caliber M1917 machine gun]. He trained in the United States for a year before he went overseas and was given a couple of furloughs before he shipped out.

After infantry training, Herbert Siebert was sent to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and shipped out of New York on a converted ocean liner with a convoy headed for France. Luckily, somehow, his squad [Annotator's Note: Siebert was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division] was assigned to a states room. There were four of them in the room, so they slept in shifts. Siebert had a little bit of sea sickness for the first 24 hours. During the transit, his ship had a collision with another ship so the 335th Infantry Regiment ended up going to England, while the rest of the 84th Infantry Division headed for France. His regiment was in England for about a month before they traveled to France. When he got ashore, he put on a new pair of boots thinking they would get a ride to their meet up place, but they ended up walking. He had blisters by the end of the day. His regiment ended up on the Siegfried Line near the town of Geilenkirchen, Germany. This was Siebert's first major battle. He recalled crossing an open field with pill boxes in front of them. The following day, they attacked again and realized the pill boxes were deserted. Soon, mortars were fired in their direction and killed his sergeant. They eventually loaded his regiment up in trucks to make their way to the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. Siebert remembered the weather being cold, but he had overcoats and overshoes. By Christmas 1944, his unit was in Marche [Annotator's Notes: Marche-en-Famenne], Belgium staying in a hotel. Siebert recalled the various kinds of food and meals while in service. During Thanksgiving they were given turkey in their foxholes. Usually when they were on the front lines, they would eat rations, but when they were taken off the front line, they received a hot meal. As they made their way through Germany, they would march from one flattened town to another.

In January 1945, Herbert Siebert and his regiment [Annotator's Note: Siebert was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division] were amid the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945] when he was wounded. He was setting up the machine gun aiming towards the woods to provide support when he felt a sting on his arm. He was hit by shrapnel. The injury was not serious, but he stayed in the hospital for a few days before he was released back to his regiment again. He remembered the hospital care as excellent considering the situation. Around spring of 1945, they had reached the Rhine River. They used boats to get across. He could hear guns going off in the distance, but they were not confronted with a defense. He thought the Germans were well disciplined soldiers and many that they took as prisoners of war were older men. Siebert can remembers that they would walk all day and sleep at night. As they would come through the towns, they were not met with much defense. However, he remembers taking a town and mortars were coming into their direction. One landed near him, but it was a dud. When they took the city of Hanover, Germany, he does not recall any resistance. While in the city, they were able to rest for a while. Many of the civilians were happy the Americans had come to occupy them, instead of the Russians. As they made their way to the Elbe River, Germany. They crossed the river and mingled with some of the Russians who were offering vodka to the American troops.

While Herbert Siebert's regiment [Annotator's Note: Siebert was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division] was on the Rhine River, he heard news that the war in Europe was over. He knelt and prayed. Some of his buddies and himself found a German ammunition truck and began blowing up everything in it, until they were told to stop. Siebert was put on occupation duty. They practiced on machine guns and mortars for the invasion of Japan. After America dropped the atomic bombs, he was thankful the war was over, and he would be going home. Siebert was discharged on 14 February 1946 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He came home on a converted liberty ship [Annotator's Note: a class of rapidly produced cargo ship]. It took 22 days for them to finally reach the United States. His homecoming was a little disappointing because things had changed and many of his buddies were still in service. He did not take advantage of the G.I. Bill but instead decided to work for a family friend. [Annotator's Notes: The tape skips around 0:55:00:000]. He transitioned back to civilian life without much issues.

Herbert Siebert's most memorable experience of World War 2 was when he was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. Machine gun fire was all around him. The gunner was slipping and sliding on the snow and Siebert was trying to help him when he got hit in the arm with some shrapnel. [Annotator's Notes: There is a tape change around 0:58:00.000.] He remembered another close call. They had just crossed a river on a foot bridge, and they were lying around. They spotted two German planes that dropped fire power to take out the bridge. Siebert fought in World War 2 because he knew it was his duty. The war made him appreciate America. He is proud to do his part in the war efforts. He believes that America appreciates the greatest generation and thinks it's important to have The National WWII Museum because without historical record of the war, it might be lost to the future generations.