John Holton Ford was born in October 1921 in Hamilton, Ohio. He was also raised there. After the war, the family moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. He attended the University of Cincinnati before the war began. He was a member of ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps] during those years. Instead of being drafted, he and a group of classmates joined the Army. He had basic training at Camp Davis in North Carolina. Afterward, he attended OCS, officer candidate school, at Camp Stuart in Georgia. He came out as a second lieutenant and held that rank for a number of years. With his ham radio operator experience, he was placed in electronics and trained in radar. He attended super-secret radar training at MIT in Boston [Annotator’s Note: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is in Boston, Massachusetts]. Related information and notes were kept very secret, even restricted from being taken back to the students’ quarters. From MIT, he went to Camp Stuart for training with an anti-aircraft radar battalion. He, along with other graduates with similar training, were flown overseas to England where he joined the 749th AAA gun battalion [Annotator’s Note: 749th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion] with its 90mm guns. He crossed the Channel [Annotator’s Note: English Channel] with them.

John Holton Ford was deployed to France and joined the 3rd Army [Annotator’s Note: he was a second lieutenant battalion radar officer with the 749th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion assigned to the Third Army]. Most of the war, he used radar at night to target unseen single enemy aircraft until the Luftwaffe [Annotator’s Note: German air forces] collapsed. [Annotator’s Note: He chuckles.] He could also read messages for the battalion. The battalion may have hit five of the targeted planes, but no wreckage was ever discovered. By the time the German Army was gone, the battalion arrived at a beautiful little German town that had not been destroyed. That became an enjoyable experience. Returning to the United States, Ford remained in the reserves until 1957. He retired and joined the VFW [Annotator’s Note: Veterans of Foreign Wars] and became the captain of the honor guard rifle squad called upon for funeral services [Annotator’s Note: for deceased veterans]. Retiring from the honor guard, he remains a VFW member. He was deployed by aircraft to England in early 1944. In England, the battalion practiced avoidance of friendly fire incidents on front line troops. His outfit made it to Normandy, France after the invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. There was still combat to the south of his position when he entered France. There was no firing in England, but the battalion fired on enemy aircraft at night when it reached France. The war ended and the little village was enjoyed. It was better than what Ford had waiting for him at home. With 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], he arrived home in December 1945. He reentered school [Annotator’s Note: he had attended the University of Cincinnati prior to his enlistment] and joined the VFW. The squad used M1 rifles [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] firing blanks to perform nearly a thousand ceremonies. Ford was the battalion radar officer for the four batteries in the 749th during his time in Europe. He used the SCR584 radar unit. It could track a plane in automatic until the necessary firing data could be ascertained. The nighttime enemy flights seemed intended just to bother the Americans. That was kind of dull.

John Holton Ford [Annotator’s Note: a second lieutenant battalion radar officer with the 749th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion assigned to the 3rd Army] was on the north end 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]. The battalion guns were ordered to defend a main artery to Liege [Annotator’s Note: Liege, Belgium] which was in the American sector. The four large 90mm guns were setup on either side of the road. When the Germans reached about ten miles from Ford’s position, they were turned back by other forces. The 90mm guns were wicked. The German 88s [Annotator's Note: German 88mm multi-purpose artillery] were only a bit smaller than the 90mm. The 749th made it to the west side of the Rhine River but did not cross. Turning south, the battalion made it to Bavaria before going home. While on the Rhine, a large tank made it to the pontoon bridge but sank [Annotator’s Note: he gestures to indicate the rapid sinking]. The crew was lost. While the Germans retreated, they herded cattle along with them. The Americans found one and butchered it to make a good meal. They had been living on C and K rations [Annotator's Note: C rations are prepared and canned wet combat food while K rations are individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals]. Ford did not mind the C rations as long as he could heat them up. The food was good if you were hungry. In southern Germany, Ford enjoyed himself and even did some sightseeing. In October 1945, Ford sailed home in a Victory Ship. There were rough seas. Ford’s father was a veteran of the First World War [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918]. He told his son that to avoid being seasick, he should go topside and face the sea breezes. [Annotator’s Note: He laughs.] It worked for him. Below deck, the ship was a mess with all the sick troops. Ford was separated at a camp in Indiana south of Indianapolis near his parents’ home in Hamilton, Ohio. He worked with the VFW and the Legion [Annotator’s Note: Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion]. Ford was a second lieutenant when he was deployed. Promoted to first lieutenant, the TO (table of organization) called for a captain in his battalion position. Nevertheless, he did not make captain until his separation. He was not called up for the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. He was in the reserves and attended two-week training sessions. A different type of radar was developed and was quite ineffectual. It was mounted directly to the gun so it lost its bearing each time the weapon was fired. The radar was probably never utilized in combat. Ford had to obtain security clearance for the tasks he was required to perform in the military.

After his time in the Army, John Holton Ford returned to the University of Cincinnati [Annotator’s Note: in Cincinnati, Ohio] and graduated. He was then employed for 30 years by a company in Indiana. After retiring, Ford kept busy with the honor guard [Annotator’s Note: he attended many funerals as honor guard captain for a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) honor guard squad]. Ford’s trunk was always loaded with M1 rifles [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] for ten years. He had fired the rifle on the range before deployment, but as a member of the honor guard, he fired the noisy weapon using just blanks. Ford 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 attend college. It paid for his education, and he was appreciative of that. That was why he signed off his NSLI [Annotator’s Note: National Service Life Insurance] rights to the Museum. As years go by, more people are interested in museums such as The National World War Two Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana]. Young people are interested in what their ancestors did in the war. Ford has a lot of grandchildren, but so far none are in the military. Nevertheless, he feels military life is a good experience. The war matured Ford. When the Germans surrendered on V-E day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945], Ford’s unit was in Germany, but nothing special is memorable about the event. There were no parades where he was located. Ford attempted to attend a reunion for his outfit [Annotator’s Note: 749th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion], but most of the members were from New England. Consequently, he never managed to do so. Most of the guys have passed by now.