James Anthony Saint Julien, Senior was born in January 1923 in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. His father worked at an icehouse, for Arctic Ice Company, and his mother was a housewife. Saint Julien went from job to job. Before the war he worked in putting up fences. He married in 1943, and his oldest daughter was born in 1944. He was not drafted but volunteered under the buddy program [Annotator's Note: the idea of the buddy program was that two recruits who enlisted together would be placed in the same unit], but that was not how it actually worked in the service. He trained at Camp Sutton [Annotator's Note: in Monroe, North Carolina], Dothan, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina before going to Oakland, California by train. That's when Saint Julien knew that he was going overseas. After a long voyage via ship, he arrived at Leyte Island in the Philippines. MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] was trying to enter Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan] at this point, and Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] had already been taken. Saint Julien was blind for 30 days from cataracts in his eyes, and was hospitalized at Saint Luke's Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. He was assigned to the 766th Engineer Dump Truck Company [Annotator's Note: with the 1st Cavalry Division], driving trucks and hauling material. He was in the Philippines most of the time and took on the duties of postmaster. No one in his outfit died. At this point in the war, the Japanese had been cleared out of the Philippines and it was largely cleanup duty. There were, however, enemy snipers that remained, who would be in the same chow [Annotator's Note: slang for food] line as US troops. Once, a Japanese man was caught and when his shirt was removed, they found several hand grenades around his stomach. Another time, one of them killed himself in the chow line. Their tents were regularly shot at by Japanese snipers, just so that US troops were kept awake and aware that they were there.

James Anthony Saint Julien, Senior [Annotator's Note: deployed to the Philippines with the 766th Engineer Dump Truck Company, 1st Cavalry Division] was responsible for carrying soil for fixing roads, hauling lumber, and that type of work. They did not have to worry about being hit by snipers. There were LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] at New Guinea where Saint Julien went from the Philippines. At this time MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] was organizing the invasion of Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan] until the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] were dropped. Living conditions on Leyte [Annotator's Note: Leyte, Philippines] were alright. He used to go to Catholic services and would never go without weapons and ammunition. The church had no roof or pews. In New Guinea, Saint Julien did not see the native population very often. They had very red hair and were very friendly. They could not understand each other's languages though. During time off, Saint Julien would watch movies and play cards. In the Philippines, the USO [Annotator's Note: United Services Organization] had set up a game room with a pool table, dice table, etc. His unit was under command of Staff Sergeant McFadden [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] and John Durand [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling]. The 766th Engineer Dump Truck Company was attached to the 1st Cavalry [Annotator's Note: 1st Cavalry Division]. Saint Julien never saw any combat. However, one night in the Philippines some of the remaining Japanese began firing. He could see tracers [Annotator's Note: a bullet that leaves a luminous or smoky trail for correcting a shooter's aim]. Saint Julien's truck was fitted with a .50 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun] and he used it to fire toward the trees where the shooting was coming from. He does not know if he hit anyone or not. It was war, if you were shot at, you shot back. In New Guinea, they did not do anything, saw no movies, and did not even receive mail. His unit was there a few months. After they left New Guinea, they mounted boats for the invasion of Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Operation Downfall; proposed Allied plan for the invasion of Japan], but peace was declared. He was then sent to the hospital [Annotator's Note: Saint Julien was sent to Saint Luke's Hospital in Tokyo for treatment of cataracts] for nearly 30 days. He rotated out with his company and headed back to the United States. They arrived in and were discharged from service at Fort Bliss Annotator's Note: Fort Bliss, in New Mexico and Texas].

James Anthony Saint Julien, Senior [Annotator's Note: deployed to the Philippines with the 766th Engineer Dump Truck Company, 1st Cavalry Division] never experienced any racial issues while in the service. He carried a rifle, a pistol, and a submachine gun given to him by a friend when he was leaving Oakland, California [Annotator's Note: for deployment to the Philippines]. He made a lot of friends during his time in the service. Other than that he was not affected by the war. When they returned to the United States, there were racial issues, such as segregation on trains. He was with friends in a coach, celebrating and drinking, and was told by a conductor to move to a different coach. His friends told the conductor to move on, that they came together and were going to stay together. His friends were there to help him. In the States, it was as he left it: he could not drink from certain faucets, had to enter through the back of certain stores, and more. He did not see anything positive in the war, he just did what he had to do, and to help the people that lived in those areas. It was a job, and he did the best he could.