Ivan Van der Pool was born and raised in New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York]. He had a normal childhood there. They could play in the streets, parks, and pools and had places to ride bicycles. He had two sisters and a brother. His father passed away in 1937 at age 57. He finished school and became interested in traveling using the subway. He saw many military personnel that looked good in their uniforms, leading Van der Pool to want to join the Army. On 29 September 1940, Van der Pool joined the Army. He did some training at Governors Island [Annotator's Note: Governors Island, New York] before completing basic training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. While there, he did maneuvers in the snow and even trained on skis. Later, he did more maneuvers in Vermont. While he was at Fort Devens, he was informed about the attack at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His next station was in Puerto Rico. He arrived on the troop ship USS Chateau Thierry (APA-31). In Puerto Rico, he practiced amphibious assaults in Higgins Boats [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP]. He also trained in Fort Benning, Georgia. It rained a lot there, making the ground soggy. At Fort Blanding, Florida, he trained in jungle combat, making him think he might go to the Pacific. He learned how to fire a rifle in Segert, New Jersey. He practiced on the M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand], becoming a sharpshooter. While practicing with the Higgin's Boat, the soldiers would climb down a rope net and jump into the craft. When landing on the beach, they would have to jump from the bow [Annotator's Note: forward part of a ship's hull] and into the water. When they left Puerto Rico, they encountered bad weather, forcing everyone below deck. There were cases of seasickness. After returning to the United States, Van der Pool saw the riggings on the ship were frozen over. In Puerto Rico, the soldiers did not have any interactions with the locals.

Ivan van der Pool was in Hershey, Pennsylvania, when he received his orders to go overseas. From there, he boarded the MV Reina del Pacifico [Annotator's Note: a fast British luxury liner] and left for England. He was quartered in a town called Tidworth, 60 miles from London. He received some leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and went to London. After leaving London, he traveled to Glasgow, Scotland where he did last minute maneuvers. From there, Van der Pool boarded a transport and joined the rest of the force for Operation Torch [Annotator's Note: Invasion of North Africa on 8 November 1942].

On the ship, Ivan Van der Pool took part in a seminar where the officers told them their mission. He boarded his troop carrier, and started for land. Van der Pool landed in Arzew [Annotator's Note: Arzew, Algeria] with no problems. When he passed by Gibraltar, Van der Pool saw the large rock [Annotator's Note: the Rock of Gibraltar]. When he landed, he thought the area looked like pictures of Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy]. He heard dogs barking, then saw a man on a bike. It was early in the morning. After dawn, the troops began moving to their next objective. He realized he was at war when his column ran across an American jeep with dead soldiers around it. [Annotator's Note: Van der Pool shows emotion.] Shortly after that, he heard artillery shells landing around him. He remembers the noises they make. Van der Pool was constantly on the move. By the time he arrived in North Africa, Van der Pool had gained weight and muscle, but was green [Annotator's Note: an untested soldier]. He knew there was fighting going on, but he thinks it was mostly through artillery. He dug many foxholes. He did not experience any hand-to-hand combat. While firing into a wooded area, one of his friends stood up to get a look ahead and was shot.

Ivan Van der Pool's unit [Annotator's Note: Company L, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] was put into a position far from the main road. The Germans always had the high ground. Once he was settled into his foxhole, Van der Pool looked through some binoculars and saw movement on a mountain across a ravine. Thinking it was an American cavalry unit, Van der Pool and the other soldiers did nothing about them. Suddenly artillery shells started landing around their camp. They were told they had set up camp in the wrong area, leading them to "strategically withdraw" from the area. Looking back, he thinks it was kind of a funny incident. During the withdrawal, his web belt came loose, allowing his pack to almost fall off. When the soldiers stopped for a break, the artillery started hitting them again. Eventually they made it back to the main road. The following day, a patrol went back to pick up equipment, but never came back. Van der Pool remembers the terrain around Kasserine Pass [Annotator's Note: in Tunisia]. After he moved from a spot in a waddi, a machine gun started firing on his old position. He never experienced hand-to-hand fighting. The terrain was very rough. He remembers the first time he was told to fix his bayonet.

[Annotator's Note: Ivan Van der Pool points on a map to various locations he saw in North Africa.] Ivan Van der Pool fought near Mareth, Gabes, Gafsa, and El Guettar [Annotator's Note: all in Tunisia]. He was wounded on 29 March 1943. Prior to that, he was on a ridge when he heard trucks and tanks moving through some fog. When the fog cleared, he saw Germans and French coming towards them. American artillery started firing on the oncoming enemies. When the battle ended, Van der Pool's company [Annotator's Note: Company L, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] lost 30 or 40 percent of its troops. The tanks came close to his position. A half-track [Annotator's Note: M3 half-track; a vehicle with front wheels and rear tracks] was hit by a German shell, killing three or four Americans. When the American artillery passed over, Van der Pool felt like the shells would land right on him. The Americans outnumbered the Germans. The following day, Van der Pool saw the carnage from the day before. The Germans surrendered North Africa on 13 May 1943. On his march to Tunis [Annotator's Note: Tunis, Tunisia], Van der Pool's unit was hit by German 88s [Annotator's Note: German 88mm multi-purpose artillery]. During that time, a shell exploded behind him, sending shrapnel into his arm. A jeep came by and took him to a field station for treatment. During his stay in the hospital, the doctors wanted to amputate the arm, but decided not to. He had limited motion in his arm. There was also shrapnel in his back. From there, Van der Pool was sent to an evacuation hospital in Casablanca [Annotator's Note: Casablanca, Morocco]. After some time, it was decided to send him back to the states [Annotator's Note: United States].

There was a barber in Ivan Van der Pool's company [Annotator's Note: Company L, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] who would give haircuts in the rear. Once while having a haircut, the barber told him to take his shovel and wound him so he could leave. The same shell that wounded Van der Pool wounded the barber. Sometime later when they were back home, Van der Pool met the barber's family. He thought they were wonderful. When the food truck came in, they would cover it with camouflage. Soldiers would run out to the truck to get their meal then run back to their quarters. Once, a Stuka [Annotator's Note: Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber] strafed Van der Pool when he was trying to get his meal. He managed to get his meal without being hit. A day or two after the Battle of El Guettar, the Americans took many prisoners. [Annotator's Note: Van der Pool starts looking through a book for pictures.] Ted Skinner was a corporal in Van der Pool's company. He liked to carry candy in his back pack. They knew each other in the United States. They were taught to be still if a flare was sent into the air. One night, the two were talking when a flare hit him in the back. Van der Pool and three G.I.s [Annotator’s Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] carried him to an aid station. Skinner was sent back to Fort Devens, Massachusetts. When Van der Pool was wounded and sent home, he took a trip to Fort Devens when the two reunited at a diner. He later reconnected with Skinner after running across his information in a Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy] directory.

After he was wounded, Ivan Van der Pool was sent back to the United States where he was hospitalized in New York. He was then sent to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He then spent a year in a hospital at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He is not sure how long he was hospitalized. After his hospitalization, he was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina as a military policeman. One day, he received orders to go to Fort McPherson [Annotator's Note: in Atlanta, Georgia]. He was not excited about going there. He served with the 1428th Military Police Detachment, which he enjoyed. He rode passenger trains from Atlanta to different cities around the country. When he got to Atlanta, he realized it was not as bad as he thought. While there, he met his future wife.

Kasserine Pass [Annotator's Note: Battle of Kasserine Pass] was the one time Ivan Van der Pool was told to fix his bayonet. It was a scary time. He also thought leaving his foxhole to get food was scary. He did not like going into bomb craters to use the bathroom, just to have another shell hit nearby. He does not know if he would have survived Italy, Normandy, or the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. Van der Pool did not experience hand-to-hand combat. By the time his unit [Annotator's Note: Company L, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] took a position, the enemy wound move again. When they corned the enemy it became the Battle of El Guettar. He thinks he was ordered to fix bayonets several times. He never needed it though. It was scary to get that order and it gave him a sick feeling. He felt lucky that he did not have to use his bayonet. He did not knowingly kill anybody. It was scary while walking along the side of the road and suddenly being under fire. When Van der Pool first landed in North Africa, he was being fired on so he jumped off the side of the road and landed on a dead body. He had to find humor to make him keep going forward. He never saw French people, but found the Arabs friendly. They invited the soldiers to their houses. The soldiers gave them candy and bought eggs from the locals. The kids were always around. Sometimes, horsed raiders would come into the camps, but they worked with the Americans. Van der Pool witnessed several dog fights and P-38s [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] looking for submarines.

Ivan Van der Pool believes it is important to study Word War 2. He thinks it is a good training manual for what war is about, both in its successes and failures. His training as an infantryman made him physically and mentally fit. He thinks the war made him realize the country needs to be ready. The current war [Annotator's Note: Global War on Terror] is not against an organized army, but a people with misguided beliefs. Van der Pool does not think today's enemies fight for a cause like he did in World War 2. When he returned home, he was asked to bring his girlfriend to a movie. That was the first time Van der Pool experienced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [Annotator's Note: often referred to by it's initials PTSD]. When the mail plane would fly over at night, he would jump out of bed. While transferring to a new base, he was passing through Virginia on a train. He fell asleep on the train, but woke up cold, shaking, and clammy. It kept happening to him, so the train conductor made an arrangement to get him to a hospital. When they did not find anything wrong, he was put back on a train. He did not talk to anyone about it. When he arrived in Atlanta [Annotator's Note: Atlanta, Georgia], he was examined by doctors who indicated he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Van der Pool remembers the psychiatrist, his office, and the questions he asked. He had problems during the first years of his marriage, but he does not suffer anymore. Sometimes watching movies about the war moves him to tears. He suffers from anxiety.

Ivan Van der Pool believes having The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is important to keep the information of what happened during the war. He also believes it should be taught in schools. He does not know if the younger generation is being taught enough about it. He thinks people should know what has happened in this country since the beginning. Van der Pool wants people to know that freedom is not free. While wearing his Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy] hat, a woman thanked him for his service. Several nurses have also thanked him. He thinks people that are closer to it realize what it all means. Van der Pool does not think he is a hero, but thinks he would do it again if he had to. He thinks it would be terrible to spend 15 months in combat. He thinks it is totally different serving today than when he was in the military. He believes the draft should be reinstated.