Jack Albert Del Monte was born in May 1921 in Brooklyn, New York [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York]. He had two older half-brothers from his father's previous marriage. Both of those brothers served in the First World War. During the Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945] his father lost his job in the diamond trade and had to work odd jobs to support his family. Those jobs included working for the WPA [Annotator's Note: Works Progress Administration] in the city. Del Monte's mother worked as a cashier for the Brooklyn Queens Electric Company. Del Monte attended several different schools growing up and easily made many new friends. Del Monte remembers hearing about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] while listening to a professional football game. No one seemed to know where Pearl Harbor was located or what it was. He immediately joined the civilian New York Guard [Annotator's Note: New York Guard; state defense force of New York State formed in 1917] company until he was drafted in September 1942. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, everyone felt they had to contribute in some way to the war effort. Prior to entry into the service, Del Monte used his diamond cutting apprenticeship skills to work on cutting crystals that would be used in proximity fuses in artillery shells. He thought that would help the wartime efforts.

Jack Albert Del Monte was drafted in September 1942 and sent to Fort Dix [Annotator's Note: now Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Trenton, New Jersey]. He was then assigned as a replacement to Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was trained as a supply clerk but occasionally fired weapons on the firing range. He did what was expected of him. He went through Fort Campbell [Annotator's Note: Fort Campbell, Kentucky] and then Fort Kilmer [Annotator's Note: Camp Kilmer, New Jersey] for overseas deployment. Despite being issued winter gear, his destination turned out to be North Africa. The voyage was on the SS Monterey from New York Harbor [Annotator's Note: New York, New York]. He landed in Casablanca [Annotator's Note: Casablanca, Morocco] in March [Annotator's Note: March 1943]. He shipped out with many others to Tunisia. He joined the 751st Tank Battalion at the Army Force Training Center [Annotator's Note: Armored Force Replacement Training Center; unable to identify location]. Del Monte acted as an MP [Annotator's Note: military police] for the replacement center. After ten months, he shipped to Italy and a beautiful mountain region in the town of Eboli [Annotator's Note: Eboli, Italy]. He had a leisurely life there and enjoyed the time. His mother sent him many things for his enjoyment while he was there. That included recordings of Artie Shaw [Annotator's Note: born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; American composer, bandleader, actor, and author] and Glenn Miller [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Major Alton Glenn Miller; American musician and big band leader] performances. The recordings were played for the troops there. He had to leave those behind when he was reassigned as an armor replacement in July or August 1944.

Jack Albert Del Monte had never been in a tank before being given two days of training on how to drive one. He was then sent to a replacement center. He traveled from Naples, Italy to Marseilles, France. He was at a Repo Depot [Annotator's Note: slang for replacement depot] again. He would spend over two years in service since September 1942 before being assigned to a combat unit. In October [Annotator's Note: October 1944], he became a member of the 191st Tank Battalion attached to the 45th Infantry Division. He was made assistant gunner in a tank. They fought against the German rearguard until 15 December [Annotator's Note: 15 December 1944] with the outbreak of the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. After the first of January [Annotator's Note: 1 January 1945], his unit set up a battle line at the Meurthe River [Annotator's Note: in France]. As the 191st progressed, Del Monte suffered a hand injury when his tank went off the road and the hatch fell on his hand. He had to be hospitalized. When he returned to the battalion, he discovered that the individual he had given his heavy winter clothes to had been killed by a friendly artillery shell. It was an emotional feeling. After more action, the 191st was pulled back to the Alsace region [Annotator's Note: Alsace, France] to prepare for the invasion of the Rhineland [Annotator's Note: name for loosely defined area of western Germany along the Rhine River]. They were to cross the Saar River at Saarburg [Annotator's Note: Saarburg, Germany]. The Americans and Germans came in close contact as the enemy hastily retreated. Del Monte's tank threw a track and was left with the rear echelon. The Germans were known to fire on American rear echelon troops so when Del Monte spotted the enemy, his tank killed 30 or 40 of them. The Germans were wide open. Engagements continued to Aschaffenburg [Annotator's Note: Aschaffenburg, Germany]. From that point, the armor was on the main road to Nuremburg [Annotator's Note: Nuremburg or Nürnberg, Germany]. There was a big battle there in the zeppelin stadium where Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] made all his big speeches. A German 88 [Annotator's Note: German 88mm multi-purpose artillery] destroyed an American tank entering the field. The enemy gun was smashed by another American tank. Del Monte had an opportunity to destroy the large swastika overlooking the field, but his commander told him to let it go for fear of hitting friendly forces. After Nuremburg, the battalion advanced on Munich [Annotator's Note: Munich or München, Germany]. En route, the Dachau concentration camp [Annotator's Note: Dachau concentration camp complex near Dachau, Germany] was encountered. The infantry entered the camp, but the armor was diverted because of blown bridges. Del Monte did observe boxcars loaded with corpses. Most of those dead were Russian prisoners of war. After taking Munich, headquarters was set up in the opera house. A former Luftwaffe barracks was also used. The war ended at that time. German pilots flew their aircraft into the airfield and surrendered their pistols to the Americans. The war ended on Del Monte's birthday in May [Annotator's Note: May 1945].

Jack Albert Del Monte felt he had finally made it when he was assigned to the 191st Tank Battalion [Annotator's Note: 191st Tank Battalion, 45th Infantry Division] instead of being a Repo Depot [Annotator's Note: slang for replacement depot] commando. He had been a replacement since basic training from September 1942 through October 1944. It was over two years. His tank [Annotator's Note: M4 Sherman medium tank] was one of the older ones with rounded sides and 75mm gun [Annotator's Note: M3 75mm gun]. He joined a battalion of veteran troops. His assistant gunner had been awarded a Silver Star [Annotator's Note: the Silver Star Medal is the third-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy] at Anzio [Annotator's Note: Battle of Anzio, 22 January 1944 to 5 June 1944, Anzio, Italy] for rescuing members of a burning tank. There were two crewmen in the lower part of Del Monte's tank. One was a driver and the other manned a .30 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning M1919 .30 caliber air cooled light machine gun]. Del Monte became a gunner on 1 January 1945 when he was transferred to a different platoon. His training was minimal. The crew got along well. They were like a family. There was only limited contact with the local population as the force traveled through Germany. Progressing through the Alsace region [Annotator's Note: Alsace, France], the Germans fired on the tanks with their 88s [Annotator's Note: German 88mm multi-purpose artillery] and other weapons. Del Monte got along well with his first platoon commander, Lieutenant Levy [Annotator's Note: Army Lieutenant Phillip Levy] but they were separated after he became a gunner. Lieutenant Levy and two members of his crew were killed when an enemy grenade was thrown into their tank from the rear. Later in January [Annotator's Note: January 1945], Del Monte was injured when the hatch of his tank collapsed on his hand. The battalion advanced into Germany, crossing the Rhine River at the city of Worms [Annotator's Note: Worms, Germany]. The 191st stayed in Germany until September 1945 when sufficient points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] allowed the unit to return home.

Jack Albert Del Monte felt great returning home after the war. He had been away for 30 months. He was a replacement for 24 of those months. He had a job lined up in the diamond trade as an apprentice after his discharge. After a year, he saw the diamond business was not a healthy one, so he moved to a different trade. He used the G.I. Bill to take courses at NYU [Annotator's Note: New York University in New York, New York] in the paper industry. Del Monte's father-in-law took him on in his paper business. He retired in 1986. He had no trouble adjusting to civilian life after his service. His injury during his service [Annotator's Note: a severe hand injury suffered when his tank went off the road] was a major experience that sticks in his memory. Another was when his replacement was killed. Del Monte was 20 years old when the war started so he did not enlist because he had so much going on. He knew he would be called soon enough. Del Monte enjoys meeting fellow veterans of the war who experienced similar events as he did. Many people have forgotten the war today. Institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] should continue to teach about the war. Del Monte has visited the monument in Washington to the war [Annotator's Note: the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.]. After all his experiences, he has learned that the human body and mind can absorb quite a bit. His battalion [Annotator's Note: 191st Tank Battalion, 45th Infantry Division] supported the liberation of the camp [Annotator's Note: Dachau concentration camp near Munich, Germany]. The Americans did not know what to expect when they saw the towers and the Russian prisoners. The battalion was fortunate to arrive after the action. The American troops were well supplied during the war.