John A. Pogue was born in North Madison, Indiana in April 1921. He attended North Madison High School. He participated in softball, baseball and basketball while there. He attended Hanover College for two years. A required surgery for sinus problems resulted in him exiting college. He was employed by the State Highway Department of Indiana for a short period. He entered military service in October 1942. The Great Depression had an impact on everyone during that time. Pogue's father was a railroad employee who worked in Indianapolis. Pogue worked part-time at his uncle's service station while he attended college at Hanover. College did not cost him anything. He had received an academic scholarship which afforded him free tuition. He also worked on the campus and earned 30 cents per hour. He found it very interesting and never tired of the work. He heard of Pearl Harbor while he represented the State Highway Department at a Civil Defense meeting at the Madison Court House. It was a Sunday afternoon when the announcement was made to the meeting attendees. When he heard the notification, he knew he would be going into the military at some point. He wanted to do his part in future events. Following his departure from college, he could tell that, with Hitler's [Annotator's Note: German Dictator Adolf Hitler] actions in Europe, the country would eventually have to enter the war. Several of his friends enlisted. A few would not survive the war. He kept in touch with several friends while in the military. He saw some of them while in service. He did not have a girlfriend at the time. While he was in the military, his father worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad and was based in Indianapolis. After his return home, Pogue lived with his parents in Indianapolis. Pogue's younger brother was with the 13th Armored Division. He managed to see his brother while both served in Europe. Following the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Pogue elected to wait until he was called with the rest of the men in his community. He was drafted and entered service at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis. His discharge papers erroneously stated that he entered at Louisville. In the anxiousness to complete his discharge, he did not see the location error at the time. He was released at Camp Atterbury in Indiana in 1945.

John Pogue was a capable typist when he entered the Army. He was told that with his ability to type 70 words per minute, he would likely spend his career at Fort Harrison [Annotator's Note: Pogue entered service at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana in October 1942]. That was not his idea of contributing to the military. He requested that he be assigned to something else. He was sent to Camp Roberts in California for infantry basic training. He went on to advanced infantry training there. In February 1943, he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina near Fayetteville. He served in that division for his entire military career. He adjusted to military life just fine. Some others did not. Camp Roberts was situated about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The men would start early in the morning on the rifle range firing '03 rifle [Annotator's Note: Springfield M1903 bolt action rifle] and M1 rifle [Annotator's Note: M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle]. With his marksman rating, he knew he would be assigned to a combat unit. That rating paved the way for his transfer to Fort Bragg. Glider training was provided at Laurinburg-Maxton on the southern border of North Carolina. When gliders were not available, the troops used C-47 planes [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft]. He never wore a parachute while aboard a glider. He always made sure he had one if he flew in a C-47. He had flown in planes but not in gliders prior to entering the military. A glider was made out of plywood and carried 12 or 13 men. Flying in a glider did not bother him, but it did other fellows. Once on a glider mission, an angry man slammed his M1 rifle butt against the floor. The flooring was so thin that the rifle penetrated it and slipped out of his hand. The man lost his weapon. Pogue told him not to punch any more holes in the glider. He wanted to get down in one piece [Annotator's Note: Pogue chuckles]. The troops got used to the gliders not making smooth landings. In combat, some men were injured in the crash landings. Behind German lines, a glider that had survived in good shape would be burned to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Pogue was never injured in the landings. He never jumped as a paratrooper although he did wear a chute several times. The men had no idea of their eventual destination or assignment after training was completed. While in training, he received liberty to visit his family. He rode in a C-47 daily mail plane. Two paratroopers were with him. In flight, the C-47 door flew off. The cabin was not pressurized so no one was pulled outside. Pogue held on tight after the door was lost. Pogue liked the gliders. Eventually, high casualty rates eliminated their use. Prior to that, the gliders were used not only for transporting troops but also for carrying supplies and equipment to the men on the ground. Pogue went overseas via Camp Shanks, New York. The British ship that first carried them could not keep up with the convoy. With the risk of German submarine attack, the ship turned back to Saint John's, Newfoundland. After spending a few days there, the men boarded an American ship, the SS Ericsson [Annotator's Note: elements of the 101st shipped to England in September 1943 aboard the SS John Ericsson] and went to Halifax, Nova Scotia. They departed there in another convoy and sailed to Liverpool, England. From there, they traveled by train to Reading, England near London. The trip from Camp Shanks to Reading took 40 days because of being stranded at Saint John's and then Halifax. The men thought the war would be over before they got to their destination. The troops trained and kept in good physical shape while they were stranded. While on his sea voyages, Pogue did not like being confined so he slept on deck with his equipment. He could get fresh air above deck. It was quite an adventure for him.

There was more training for John Pogue after he reached Reading [Annotator's Note: Reading, England]. The 401st Glider Infantry Regiment moved into Brock Barracks which was part of the Royal Brookshire Regimental Headquarters. They had good quarters there. There was no glider training available at that location. The men stayed in good physical shape with continuous hikes and exercises. Pogue went overseas in early 1944. The men carried all of their gear with them to a destination unknown. Pogue missed D-Day by just of few days. His personnel records showed that he was a good typist. Consequently, he was pulled out of his unit a few days ahead of D-Day to work in regimental headquarters. He understood the assignment to a service company was to be just temporary. Later when he went into combat, he was assigned to a rifle company.

John Pogue experienced his first combat in the Ardennes at an unknown location. He went in by glider. His glider and a second one were towed by a C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft]. A few days before D-Day, he had flown over the coast of France and thought he would be part of the invasion. Instead, a few days prior to the amphibious and airborne landings, he was assigned to regimental headquarter [Annotator's Note: Pogue was a skilled typist and was temporarily assigned to Headquarters, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment. 101st Airborne Division]. His first contact with the enemy was in the Ardennes after he landed in a glider. Similar to his experience during Market-Garden in Holland, his glider crash landed. In order for his outfit to be hurriedly deployed for the Battle of the Bulge, they traveled by truck. They left France and went to Bastogne to face the enemy. They did not pass through Bastogne but were positioned a few miles outside of the town. They held a hilly, wooded location. They dug foxholes during the winter with two feet of snow on the ground. Digging a hole with an entrenching tool in the frozen ground was not easy but they did it [Annotator's Note: Pogue chuckles]. There were no facilities to wash clothes or clean up. Pogue got used to the hardships. There were no regular hot meals, only C or K rations. Pogue did not miss many meals. As a rifleman, his unit was attacked by the enemy. If not under attack, he performed guard duty. He was fortunate with that. Instead of an M1 [Annotator's Note: M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle], he carried a carbine. The carbine was .30 caliber but not a large rifle [Annotator's Note: the M1 carbine was a lighter weapon than the M1 rifle and did not have the stopping power of the M1 Garand rifle]. After finding out that the outfit was surrounded and things would get worse, he found a Tommy gun [Annotator's Note: Thompson .45 caliber submachine gun] and extra clips. He carried that the rest of the time during the battle. He was in an unknown rifle company on the line. Pogue fired his weapon during the Battle of the Bulge but never had any bayonet fights. His unit sustained casualties. Once on guard duty at battalion headquarters near Bastogne, the Germans fired on the building and set it on fire. The men withdrew to a new firing position as a result. Pogue observed an advancing German tank. He knew he could do little with his Tommy gun. He simultaneously saw a wounded man and moved him to safety. He did not know the man. As the tank neared them, it opened up with its machine gun. The two Americans got out of the line of fire, and the tank passed them. It apparently was going on to Bastogne. That was one of Pogue's close calls in battle. Pogue adjusted to the cold weather, but some of the men got trench foot after their feet got wet. Once while he was sharing a foxhole with a replacement soldier, Pogue was assigned guard duty late at night. After he completed his turn, he returned to the foxhole. The replacement said he had trench foot and requested that Pogue relieve him of his turn. Pogue agreed and went back to the location which was several hundred yards away. God was with Pogue because the Germans fired 88s [Annotator's Note: 88mm multipurpose artillery] into the area where the foxhole was located. The replacement did not make it. The Battle of the Bulge required that Pogue get used to living in a foxhole under the worst winter conditions. He made it alright without getting sick. He was not comfortable trying to sleep but he got through it. He was very fortunate. To him, the Bulge brings back memories of living in those extremely cold conditions in a foxhole. He was glad to get it over with and behind him.

John Pogue had combat missions throughout the rest of the war [Annotator's Note: following the end of the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945]. After the war ended and V-E Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945.], Pogue's outfit [Annotator's Note: Headquarters, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division] continued to train in preparation for a surprise airborne jump in some of the cities in Japan. He thought they were going over there. After the big bombs were dropped [Annotator's Note: the two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in early August 1945], he felt sorry for the people in those cities, but he also felt it saved the lives of many American servicemen. The casualty rates for invasion forces had been projected to be very high. The surrender of Germany was not particularly significant for Pogue. He did not celebrate because the war in Japan continued on. Fortunately, he did not have to go there.

John Pogue flew into Holland in a glider as a member of a rifle company. He was under fire there as he was in the Ardennes. He has no specific memory of his first combat. He had been trained well at Camp Roberts using live fire and was not bothered by being in combat. He was never hit, but some of his buddies were. The man Pogue admired the most was the chaplain. He lost his life in the area around Bastogne. Pogue was glad to get the war over with. He wrote to his family while he was overseas, but the messages were heavily censored. They could not talk about the weather conditions or their location. He was fortunate during the war and has a lot to be thankful for. He returned to the United States by ship and arrived in New York. He was discharged at Camp Atterbury. It was good to be reunited with his family. He had seen them a few times before going overseas while he was on leave. He did manage to visit with them while he was on maneuvers in Tennessee. He did not have any girlfriends or others he was leaving behind so it worked out well for him. God was with him in combat and he has much to be thankful for. It is important to have a National WWII Museum to show they did the right thing. Some people opposed Korea and Vietnam but Pogue was convinced they did things correctly to avoid living under a dictatorship. Pogue learned quite a bit about the Pacific during his tour of The National WWII Museum. Maps depicting the battles showed him the locations of those conflicts relative to Japan. He was disappointed about not seeing more about the Battle of the Bulge but understands that there will be more about it later [Annotator's Note: the "Road to Berlin" in The National WWII Museum opened after this interview and contains a large depiction of the Battle of the Bulge]. It is important to teach young people about World War 2. Pogue is not aware of how much is taught in the school systems on the topic, but he does not think it is very much. As a final thought, Pogue would leave to posterity the principles to stand up for your rights and do the best you can. Seeing The National WWII Museum was great. He learned a lot even though he has read many books. It is also great to see the veterans who volunteer at the Museum. If he lived closer, he would like to volunteer at the Museum.