Herbert Yudenfriend graduated high school at 16 and enrolled in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science [Annotator's Note: now the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] where his uncle had gone. He was a Chemistry major. It was embarrassing because their courses at the beginning level were below his high school courses. He would cut class and spend a lot of time playing football. As a result, the Dean called his mother, asked him to leave the school, and returned their tuition money. He went to work at the Signal Corps [Annotator's Note: Procurement and Distribution Service, Philadelphia, US Army Signal Corps] at 17. He was a clerk. He handled Signal Corps equipment, evaluated it, and sent it out for repair or to the trash. It was an interesting experience. He wanted to work for them because it paid more than most things that were available at the time. He did not have any friends being drafted. He was following the war effort. The more he was at the Signal Corps, the more patriotic he felt. That inspired him to enlist in the Army. He saw a description of the Army Reserve that allowed one to go to college. He wanted to go to college and knew he would probably be drafted at 18. He thought it was a chance to experience both at the same time. He got his mother's permission to enlist while 17. In May 1944, he enlisted and 5 July [Annotator's Note: 5 July 1944] was sent to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore [Annotator's Note: Baltimore, Maryland]. Basic training was what he expected. It was at Camp Blanding, Florida [Annotator's Note: in Clay County, Florida]. It gave him experiences he never expected, and it helped him physically and mentally. It taught him self-discipline.

Herbert Yudenfriend was born in November 1926 in Philadelphia [Annotator's Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. His parents divorced when he was eight. He lived with his mother and maternal grandparents. They had no indoor plumbing and only had gas lamps. They had no heat except for a wood stove in the kitchen. In the winter, they heated bricks to take to warm up their beds. He went to school there. It was a very Jewish neighborhood, and they were close with their neighbors. They left there when he was six. He returned later but did not do communal things. He played with some kids there. His idol when he was five was a girl who lived a few doors away and was a few years older. She looked after him and he loved her. Her daughter is a member of his synagogue now. Yudenfriend did not experience any anti-Semitism there. When he was six, he moved near his paternal grandparents. He changed schools constantly. His mother went to Normal School and became an elementary school teacher. She taught him to read at three years old. He got into first grade when he was five. His mother remarried. He graduated from high school in June 1943. His extended family lived in the United States. The impending war did not have to be discussed at home, because they did so at school. He remembers 8 December 1941 when Roosevelt spoke about the date that will live in infamy [Annotator's Note: Infamy Speech; President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a Joint Session of the United States Congress, 8 December 1941]. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Yudenfriend if he remembers hearing about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941.] He does. The whole area was in an uproar and their whole lives changed. They did not discuss the way the Jews were being treated in Europe [Annotator's Note: The Holocaust, also called the Shoah; the genocide of European Jews during World War 2] in his home. The students did talk about how the war would affect them. In the spring of 1942, rationing started. They had severe change in their daily consumption of things they were used to. The entire country was affected. Things taken for granted were no longer available or were rationed. He missed food. He was not affected directly but there were no new cars built. Canned products were limited. They did what they had to do to cope with it. Scrap drives were constant. It was a difficult time.

After basic training, Herbert Yudenfriend was sent to Camp Howze in Texas near Dallas [Annotator's Note: Cooke County, Texas in June 1945]. He went to advanced infantry training there. He got weekend passes [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to Dallas which he enjoyed. The training was not as difficult as basic training. That prepped him for the future. He left there for Fort Ord [Annotator's Note: now Fort Ord National Monument Monterey Bay, California] to get ready to go overseas. He could not go to Europe because the war had ended. It did not matter where he was sent, because he had to go. The first that happened was that their mail was censored. He corresponded a lot with his family, and he wrote a book about it [Annotator's Note: "Dear Everybody…: Adventures of a Teenage Soldier", published 2009]. Yudenfriend got seasick quickly. They stopped at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. They were not allowed off the ship. The USO [Annotator's Note: United Services Organization, Inc.] sent a nice group of young ladies to do a Hula Dance for them. They stopped at Eniwetok [Annotator's Note: Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands] and Ulithi [Annotator's Note: Ulithi, Caroline Islands]. They were allowed off the ship and got three cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer that was warm but great to drink. He learned about what a troop ship does in terms of food and where they slept. They slept deep down under the deck on a piece of canvas hooked to iron poles five cots high with 18 inches between them. It was tough. His group was fortunate because a couple of guys worked in the kitchen. They saw to it that they got extra food. They were happy to hear that the war was over on their way over. They crossed the International Date Line [Annotator's Note: internationally accepted boundary between one calendar day and the next]. It was not bad until they landed [Annotator's Note: in Manila, Philippines on 13 September 1945]. The landing was a difficult experience emotionally and he wrote a lengthy letter about it home. What appeared to be a beautiful city on the outside was totally wrecked on the inside. When Manila was left to the Japanese, it was left an open city. This meant that it would not be defended. When the Japanese left, they blew up every Federal building and gunned down over 100,000 civilians on the way out [Annotator's Note: Manila massacre, also called Rape of Manila, 3 February to 3 March 1945]. It was a horrific experience seeing the results of that.

Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines] was a very beautiful city from the outside to Herbert Yudenfriend. There were lights along the waterfront. Once they got in, they realized there were no lights in the city at all. The population was close to starvation. Women and children were trying to sell them bananas and coconuts. They had garbage details where garbage from the military facilities was collected and sent to the dump in metal cans. When the trucks got to the dump and turned the cans over, there were people waiting to get the garbage to get food or anything else usable or sellable. Yudenfriend wound up in the military police [Annotator's Note: 784th Military Police Battalion, US Army Forces, Western Pacific, Military Police on 26 September 1945] and was assigned to guard a stockade of American GI [Annotator's Note: government issue; also, a slang term for an American soldier] prisoners who were there for everything from murder to AWOL [Annotator's Note: Absent Without Leave]. There were towers that overlooked the stockade. The duty time was four hours up and 12 hours down. He became friends with a number of people in his outfit. [Annotator's Note: There is lawnmower noise in the background.] He did not come close to the inmates until his duties were changed from tower guard to assistant supply sergeant. Then he associated with a number of the inmates who performed duties that he oversaw. He came across some interesting people and throughout that he learned of a plot to assassinate the president of the Philippines [Annotator's Note: Sergio Osmeña, fourth president of the Philippines]. He reported this and had to continue a close relationship with the prisoner who had given him the information [Annotator's Note: Jimmie Rogers; unable to positively identify]. The prisoner had a friend who was AWOL who was going to the gunman. Yudenfriend had the prisoner write some letters to the man and his girlfriend who worked in a bar. CID [Annotator's Note: US Army Criminal Investigation Division] took Yudenfriend out of the loop and he never found out what happened. They were apparently successful in preventing the assassination. Yudenfriend was assistant supply sergeant [Annotator's Note: in January 1946] and was responsible for resupply. He would get some surprise inspections to make sure he was not stealing or misusing anything. His stay in Manila was a learning experience. He developed friendships that lasted a while. He was appointed his Company's historian for several months. He was also a librarian for the Division and was able to send home a number of Army books. Ultimately, he was appointed Chief of Section which put him in charge of 12 to 13 Filipino girls who were typists. He was the chief statistician for the Manila area for the commanding officer. He had a secretary and an errand boy. He also had a houseboy. He knew at the age of 18 he would never have that experience again, but it was extremely pleasant. The people were pleasant, but the black market was extreme. He paid his houseboy with a carton of cigarettes which was worth a lot of money.

Herbert Yudenfriend heard the war crimes trial [Annotator's Note: conducted by the Philippine War Crimes Commission, 29 October to 7 December 1945] of the supreme commander of the Japanese forces [Annotator's Note: Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita] was going to happen. He was responsible for the gunning down of over 100,000 civilians when the Japanese left [Annotator's Note: Manila Massacre, also called the Rape of Manila, 3 February to 3 March 1945] and other things equally bad. Yudenfriend heard it was possible to sit in and listen, so a friend and he got off duty and went to the trial. The trial was held in a partly shattered building. There were 300 seats for people to watch from. 150 seats were reserved for officers. Yudenfriend waited three hours to get in. It was fascinating. There were three defense lawyers and about ten on the prosecution. Yudenfriend thinks Yamashita was pretty convinced he was going to hang. He was totally unemotional. It was obvious what was going to happen even though Yamashita himself was not responsible. He did not want to defend Manila and wanted the entire Japanese force to go to the mountains of Luzon. The second-in-command of the Japanese Naval forces took over command [Annotator's Note: Japanese lieutenant general Masaharu Homma]. At the time, it was "die for the emperor". Every one of the Japanese forces was killed [Annotator's Note: in the Battle of Manila, 3 February to 3 March 1945, Manila, Philippines]. When they hanged him [Annotator's Note: Yamashita, on 23 February 1946], the whole area celebrated with parties. Yudenfriend did not participate in the festivities.

Herbert Yudenfriend took classes [Annotator's Note: from the United States Armed Forces Institute or USAFI]. The Philippine Institute was holding classes and they filled up within 30 minutes of their availability. He attended performances of the Manila Symphony Orchestra [Annotator's Note: in Manila, Philippines]. He visited Corregidor [Annotator's Note: Corregidor Island, Luzon, Philippines] which was filled with caves. When the troops retook it [Annotator's Note: Battle for the Recapture of Corregidor, 16 to 26 February 1945], there were three companies of Americans there. There was an outdoor theater for watching movies. During one, Japanese forces came out of the caves, fully dressed and armed and could have killed all the American troops. They had come out to surrender because their commanding officer was a graduate of the University of California [Annotator's Note: unable to identify which campus] and knew the war was over. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Yudenfriend what the thought of the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945.] Thank you, Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States]. He went over in the 42nd Infantry Division scheduled to be the lead to invade Japan. Since the ethic of Japan was to die for the emperor, the projection was that there would be over one million casualties. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Yudenfriend what he thought of the Japanese after spending time in Manila.] There were still the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] and were still the enemy. Some of them were still in the hills refusing to surrender. Several came in and surrendered because they were starving. They surrendered to the Americans instead of the Filipinos. The Filipinos would probably have killed them on sight.

Herbert Yudenfriend left [Annotator's Note: from Manila, Luzon, Philippines on 23 September 1946] on the tail end of the typhoon. He thinks he lost 19 pounds on the trip back because he was so seasick. They docked across from San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California]. He could not wait to be back. He remembers his first meal because he went back four times for vanilla ice cream. In Manila, they had been asked to reenlist for a year. A number of troops did and got much higher paying jobs in the Philippines. There was a benefit, but it meant staying in the Philippines for another year. He wanted to go home because he had a new baby sister, and he was crazy about his other sister regardless of other incentives to stay. He went back to school immediately and worked. He used 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 its fullest extent. He had earned 44 days of terminal leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. He had developed a cyst on his spine and had to go into Valley Forge General Hospital [Annotator's Note: now the University of Valley Forge in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania] for ten months. He had two surgeries. Penicillin had been discovered a couple of years before which helped to cure him. The hospital is now a college. While a patient, one of the doctors told him that a hand injury he got in the Philippines could be helped by playing the piano. He played every day and then started to write what became a piano concerto. He called it "The Impressions of a Dream." He played it at the USO [Annotator's Note: United Services Organization, Inc.] in Phoenixville. The director of the USO told the officer at the hospital who was responsible for programs on WNAR [Annotator's Note: radio station] in Norristown [Annotator's Note: Norristown, Pennsylvania] a half hour a week. He was asked to play it on the radio, and they gave him a copy of the performance. He recorded it in 1949. He met the musical director of Temple University [Annotator's Note: in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] who converted it into the actual score. He turned it over to the Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] for its archives. Yudenfriend was a consultant at the White House [Annotator's Note: the official residence of the President of the United States, Washington, D.C.] for ten years. While there, he had the opportunity to play the piano in the East Room [Annotator's Note: East Room of the White House, event and reception room].

Herbert Yudenfriend did not find it difficult to adjust to civilian life. 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] allowed him to go to school and gave him a stipend, part of which he gave to his mother. Without it, he could not have gone to college. It was the best thing to happen to him as a reward for the time spent in the military. He got his bachelor's and master's degrees in education and completed the coursework for his PhD [Annotator's Note: Doctor of Philosophy] before he had to leave and go to work. The War Crimes Trial [Annotator's Note: conducted by the Philippine War Crimes Commission in Manila, Luzon, Philippines], his visit to Corregidor [Annotator's Note: Corregidor Island, Luzon, Philippines], and being a Chief of Section at 18 are his most memorable experiences of World War 2. His motivation to serve was total patriotism. He would not be where he is if the war had not happened. His education is what has allowed him to do all he has done since he left the Army. He owes everything that he has to the result of his service. The war is still the best era for the United States from an economic and sociological basis. Yudenfriend thinks institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] are important without a doubt as a constant reminder of how we got to where we are today. Most of it is the result of World War 2. The number of people who served and came out and were trained and educated, developed the persona [Annotator's Note: of America]. When they left [Annotator's Note: when men left for the war], there was such a shortage that they changed the whole prospect for women in the United States. They became available to do jobs that had only been done by men. The war had a permanent effect on his family and will continue to have it. His family understands and appreciates the benefits that resulted from his being in World War 2.