John Kreutzberg was born in July 1927 and grew up in Lake Bluff, Illinois. He lived with his parents and aunt. He attended public school and graduated from high school when he was 16 years old. He then attended college at Northwestern University [Annotator’s Note: a private research university in Evanston, Illinois] for one year of college. Upon turning 18 in July 1945, Kreutzberg signed up for the draft and volunteered for immediate induction. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], he lived moderately well because both of his parents worked. His mother worked at a ladies’ clothing store, and his father worked as an automobile salesman for Ford. Kreutzberg, being only a young child, did not pay attention to the rising hostilities happening in Asia and Europe. He was too busy playing with his friends and enjoying his childhood. As a young boy in 1941, Kreutzberg says he did not truly appreciate the gravity of the situation when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], but when he heard the news, he went screaming around the neighborhood, “We are at war!” With the country at war, he says he and his family adapted to their new reality. Rationing began, and he joined the Boy Scouts [Annotator’s Note: The Boy Scouts of America; youth organization in the United States]. After he enlisted in the Navy in July 1945, he was inducted in Chicago [Annotator’s Note: Chicago, Illinois] in October and attended basic training at the Naval Training Center at Great Lakes [Annotator’ Note: Great Lakes, Illinois], just two miles from his hometown. Boot camp was a good experience and he learned a lot. From there, he was sent to Camp Shoemaker, California for several months to await assignment. He boarded a ship that took 21 days to cross the Pacific because one of the engines malfunctioned on the way there. He arrived in Shanghai, China where he was assigned to the USS Cocopa (ATF-101), a seagoing tug. He was assigned as a deckhand which included duties such as scrubbing, painting, and line handling. His ship went to Hong Kong, and Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He recalls his three-month tour of duty as heaven. Kreutzberg thought his service in the Navy was extremely well-managed. He was trained to listen to orders and follow them. He was returned to the United States in July 1946 and was discharged as a Seaman First Class. He signed up for the 52-20 club [Annotator's Note: a government-funded program that paid unemployed veterans 20 dollars per week for 52 weeks]. He returned to Northwestern University in 1947 and graduated with a degree in physics in 1950. He returned to the Navy as a civilian to work in the underwater sound lab helping to develop passive submarine sonar.

In 1954, John Kreutzberg was drafted once more, this time into the Army. He was married at the time, so his wife went to live with her parents, and he attended to military training. While in the Army he was stationed at the Army Chemical Center near Baltimore for 15 months working on projects related to electrical components of nuclear weapons. After he was discharged from the Army, he was able to secure a position at Bell Laboratories of AT&T in Baltimore. He worked with Bell Labs for 29 years. His second service changed his life because he probably would not have been selected to work for Bell Labs if he had not gone into the Army. In 1971, he moved to Atlanta [Annotator’s Note: Atlanta, Georgia] and retired in 1985. Kreutzberg did not approve of communism and appreciated the opportunities he was given by being an American. During his Navy experience after World War 2, a local boat came up to his tugboat, asking for help when pirates took over their village. He also recalled when the Navy gave orders for them to remove their weapons from their ship. He was able to visit Shanghai [Annotator’s Note: Shanghai, China]. He was surprised when he received his second draft notice to the Army.

John Kreutzberg’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He realized it was a major event in world history. He also recalled hearing the news of the conclusion of World War 2 because he was in a firehouse and was allowed to signal the town. Because he did not enter the service until after World War 2, he did not think it had a significant impact on him. He worked night-shift duty for a company that supplied medical supplies to the military. He served because it was what you were supposed to do at the time. He wanted to support the United States. He is grateful and feels privileged for his service today. He believes that World War 2 means a lot to America today because it was an event that ended two unlawful nations. Kreutzberg believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because it is a significant event in United States history. He believes that every American should visit the Museum. He is very appreciative for all the professionals at the Museum that are preserving this history.