John Rogers was born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. He went to college in Indiana then got a job as a recreation director and coach in Wisconsin. Rogers had to go back to Camp Atterbury to get into the service and from there he was sent to Pine Camp, New York as an enlisted man in the 4th Armored Division. From there he went to the armored officers school at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Rogers was an enlisted man but was advised to be an officer. There were 100 in the class and 60 people graduated. Upon graduation, Rogers was sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana where they were forming the 11th Armored Division. Rogers was there for about a year, going through Louisiana maneuvers, then trained in the desert. The Louisiana maneuvers were good because they learned how to make decisions on the spot in emergency situations. They had day and night maneuvers constantly. The training paid off later in combat. They conducted desert maneuvers in California with the 11th Armored Division and it was cold at night and hot during the day. One of Rogers' buddies was Tom Barr from Boston. They came out in the middle of the night and grabbed Barr and Rogers and told them that it was their time to go overseas. They went overseas to Glasgow, Scotland then caught a train to Bristol, England. From there they went to a castle in Glastonbury, England. They had a tank range there and the guys practiced doing different things with their tanks. They knew D-Day was getting close because more and more stuff was coming in. They were on the range the morning of D-Day. They could tell because the sky was completely full of all types of aircraft. Rogers then got orders to report to the 2nd Armored Division in France. This was about D plus 8. They were hogtied a few miles inland. Rogers had to report to the battalion commander and he was assigned to Company E [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion. 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division]. Rogers did not know too much about the Sherman tank. He knew that it was more maneuverable than most of the German tanks. The German tanks packed a punch but they were fairly slow. They were able to outflank them most of the time. Most of the time when they saw Tigers [Annotator's Note: German Mark VI main battle tank, known as Tigers] they would attempt to outflank them. Hitting a Tiger tank in the back where the engine compartment is was key for success against it. They would lose tanks but a lot of times within an hour they would have replacements. That kept everybody mobile and ready to go. The Germans did not have that ability. The only problem with that is that gas can become hard to get. They had the Red Ball two and a half ton trucks that brought up the gas and they did not have to wait too long. The logistics were wonderful. They always had what they needed.

John Rogers' unit [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division] was stalemated for days in different places. St. Lo in particular was a tough assignment. They had a rough time as well negotiating different obstacles such as hedgerows which were a staple of the terrain. Rogers took part in the first two major battles that the 2nd Armored participated in. They captured thousands of troops and a lot of equipment as well. They closed a gap with Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton] and were able to surround a lot of Germans. The Sherman [Annotator's Note: American M4 Sherman medium tank] was fast and maneuverable and had a reliable engine. Rogers had a good tank. The radio communication was wonderful. Rogers had to maintain constant contact with his other platoons and the battalion commander. They were very capable and very dependable. The gun they had on the Sherman was horrible for tackling German armor. The Sherman was also very good at laying smoke screens. Their gun did the job so long as they got the German tanks where they wanted them. They were warned about the German tanks back in the United States. They learned about the Panther [Annotator's Note: German Mark V main battle tank, known as the Panther] and the Tiger [Annotator's Note: German Mark VI main battle tank, known as the Tiger] tank. They knew what to expect. Rogers' first day in combat as a platoon leader saw him leading men through a hedgerow. The hedgerows had been there for a long time and some of them were just a single hedgerow intersected with dirt roads. Other hedgerows would open up into a field. They had no idea what to expect on either side of the hedgerows. Many times, there were anti-tank details hidden throughout the hedgerows. Rogers had bulldozers put on the front of his tanks. Other companies had "the teeth" mounted on them. That way, they were able to break through easily. With the bulldozer and the teeth on the front of the tanks they were able to get right through the hedgerows. They negotiated hedgerows for days until they broke out at St. Lo and from there closed the Falaise Gap [Annotator's Note: also referred to as the Falaise Pocket] with Patton and the British as well. They fought an 18 day battle around St. Lo. They sat there firing at each other. No one was really accomplishing anything tactically except killing. They did not sleep well during those days. Food was not an issue. The weather had a lot to do with it in the beginning because it was overcast and air support was nonexistent. When the weather broke it really helped them out. They had air superiority from that point on. The piper cubs were able to spot for their artillery and that helped tremendously. Once the Shermans could get out in the open so that they could maneuver, they were able to do their job effectively. Rogers witnessed Operation Cobra which was a bombing operation conducted by the Air Force. Rogers had an Air Force liaison officer with him. Some of the Air Force guys dropped bombs on their own tanks. As a result, they had big bright panels that they put on their tanks to identify them as friendly. Many a time they saw airplanes flying overhead. The Air Force liaison officer had a lot of assets at his disposal. That was a Godsend. That happened throughout the war.

John Rogers enjoyed the Air Force officer that served with them. He was always able to locate a chicken to eat. It was humorous going into combat sometimes because Rogers remembers seeing that chicken always hanging off of that officer's tank. They could feel and hear the bombing that was going on. Rogers' unit [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division] never experienced friendly fire. They heard later that some of the bombs fell among friendly troops. It was constant and impressive. They enjoyed seeing the bombers because, in their minds, that was making the road ahead easier. The devastation of the towns was unbelievable as they made their way through. Some people would be left in the buildings but they looked to be in miserable shape. A lot of times, they saw people and did not know if they were German soldiers at first. Rogers lost a platoon leader to a sniper. It [Annotator's Note: the sniper's bullet] went right through the back of his head. They were in an open area in France when that occurred. They could usually make about 95 miles before they ran out of gas or had to stop. Rogers never did like to sit there. Rogers developed a keen sense of paranoia to ensure they were always on their toes. They ran out of gas three times as far as Rogers can remember. They were fortunate because they never ran out of materials. One thing they had trouble with after they broke out were the apple orchards in France. They took the .50 caliber machine guns off of the turrets. They really did not need them as far as he could see. Going across France was an amazing experience. They had to clear out towns. The towns were nice to liberate because the civilians were happy to be liberated. Some of them greeted the GIs with roses and champagne. It was a marvelous feeling because he felt like he had accomplished something. They would be in some of the towns for awhile. Sometimes the young girls would come out and write their names on the tanks. The civilians were incredibly grateful. Rogers got into a town in Holland and they took it and then were told to hold. They had the 29th Infantry Division on one side and the 30th Infantry Division on another side. When they got stopped there they were told to hold. Rogers had a sore throat for about three days and he felt lousy. A teenage girl came by with a Red Cross band. She could tell he did not look well. She offered to get him a bowl of potato soup. She came back a few hours later to check on him. There was a post where he stopped the tank and he took a picture of her. She sat on the post and Rogers took a picture of her. They were there for about three days. The Dutch people were incredibly gracious and very accommodating. Rogers still has pictures of some of these civilians. They hovered around the guys when they were there. Rogers got two or three letters from Dutch civilians. They were incredibly thankful that the Americans came and drove out the Germans. They wrote wonderful letters.

John Rogers went back to France for the 50th Anniversary. Rogers went with his choir from the First Methodist Church in Shreveport [Annotator's Note: Shreveport, Louisiana]. They were sitting down on a bench in the church and a woman came in and asked who they were. They told her who they were. Rogers informed her that he was in the 2nd Armored Division. The lady was six years old when Rogers came through and cleared the town of Germans. She went through school and the university and eventually became a history professor. She told Rogers that she made sure to tell her students what the Americans did during World War 2. The Belgian civilians were great and hospitable people as well. Rogers recalls being in Belgium and figuring out where to bivouac for the night. A woman greeted Rogers and she informed him that it was her job to bivouac Rogers' men. She came back and told Rogers that he could grab a shower after he was done setting his men up. Rogers went over there and she and her daughter were there. They got to talking and Rogers found out that her husband was a major on King Leopold's [Annotator's Note: Leopold III of Belgium] staff. Rogers got his shower and then checked on his company [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division]. She told Rogers to come back in the evening to meet her husband. The grandfather was there too. He could not speak English but he had very comical actions and body language. It was a marvelous experience. Rogers finally got a three day pass later on and went back to the house and they were happy to see him. They ended up liberating Belgium twice. Everything appeared to be going well right up until the Battle of the Bulge. They made a 100 mile march at night. Their reconnaissance company marked a path to show where the guys needed to go. They marched in the middle of the night through snow, mud and rain. They lost about 30 vehicles on the way due to the conditions. The battalion and division maintenance was able to get those 30 vehicles back up and running. They had radio silence. Their job was to creep along at six miles per hour and keep the vehicle in front in their sights. At daylight they traveled 75 yards apart and traveled 35 miles per hour. They arrived at their destination in two columns. One column turned off early and the second column turned onto the next highway. Rogers was in the second column. Sometime that day they got word to move out. When they moved out, the Germans were to the south. They met the German column head on. The Germans had two or three tanks and a spattering of random vehicles and artillery. They were able to push the Germans back ten miles. They were only a few miles from the Meuse River.

John Rogers recalls that the area they were operating in and out of was Modave, Belgium. Modave was where they lost the advantage of being on the attack. When people think about the Battle of the Bulge, they think about the weather and routes of supply. One affected the other. The roads were particularly hard to navigate on tank tracks. Most of the trees were pine trees. Passing vehicles on the roads was tough. They were narrow enough and there was enough snow that it made it a tough thing to do. They got to a clear place and the battalion commander asked if Rogers would send his maintenance crew back down the line to help fix vehicles. On the way back, it was daylight and Rogers could see some soldiers milling around a cooking area. Rogers realized at this point that they had not had a bite to eat for about 24 hours. Rogers had a meal of rice and beans for breakfast. The Brits were not known for their cuisine. This is why it was called a Limey Kitchen. Most of the time, they were facing German armored divisions. By the end of the war, they were facing old men and young boys. In Normandy they fought good, solid German troops and even at the beginning of the Bulge they were facing the cream of the crop. Rogers recalls going up against two German divisions that had been transferred from the Eastern front. These men were trained and brought up to defend the German homeland so it was a rough fight. Rogers witnessed a panzerfaust [Annotator's Note: German single shot, shoulder fired anti-tank rocket] fire at one of his tanks. The 30th Infantry Division and the 29th Infantry Division were on either side. One of the infantry boys recognized Rogers' .45 caliber pistol on his side. The man had a Tommy gun [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun] and Rogers proposed a trade. From that point on, Rogers carried a Tommy gun with him. Rogers saw the German who fired the panzerfaust and emptied the Tommy gun into him. Many times he used the gun. Whenever he got out of his tank he carried the Tommy gun with him. Rogers really liked the weapon because it was easy to use.

John Rogers was fighting on Christmas Day [Annotator's Note: 25 December 1944] during the Battle of the Bulge. They were able to push the Germans back ten miles and after that their job was to go and help relieve the situation at Bastogne. They were told that Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton] had come from the south and relieved Bastogne so they were no longer needed. Their mission changed and they continued to fight. After the Bulge they pressed on into Germany in early 1945. The German women were thankful that the Americans came. The German men were kind of standoffish. There were not many able bodied fighting men left in Germany. A lot of the German women invited Americans into their home. It was an interesting experience. The kids were just kids. Rogers remembers seeing a kid who was a member of the Hitler Youth. He was taken aback by the American presence. He had a small rifle and was firing at the tank. That was the only fanatical resistance he encountered. The boys were standoffish as well. The women and the girls were the exact opposite. The Germans were a breath away from making the Battle of the Bulge a success for them. When they first got there and made a push to stop the Germans they realized it was going to be a tough fight. They realized quickly that they needed to be prepared for anything that Hitler [Annotator's Note: German Dictator Adolf Hitler] threw at them. Rogers made company commander after they broke out of St. Lo. His company commander was killed attempting to perform maintenance on his tank outside of the tank. Rogers became the company commander shortly before they went into the Battle of the Bulge. There was a points system set up to get people home. At the end, Colonel Hilliard, the regimental commander, instructed Rogers that he was going to become the battalion S3 [Annotator's Note: operations officer]. His first job was putting on a big battalion parade. Rogers had been in these parades but he had never put one on. Rogers was called into an office and he was informed that he was holding down a major's position. He was told that he had enough points to go home. They asked Rogers if he could stay for a little while. Rogers told him that all he wanted to do was go home. Rogers was told to think about it overnight. If Rogers stayed, he would have been made a major on the spot. Rogers told him he had to go home. The war was over at this point. They were listed to land on the southeast shore of Japan. The atomic bombs took care of that. The Germans were adamant about defending their homeland. Going across Germany was a rough ordeal. Rogers's tank column was strafed by a Luftwaffe fighter plane one time. The plane was shot down and Rogers ended up finding the pilot. He asked the German pilot what he needed and the pilot said he needed to surrender. Rogers told the man to hop on his tank and he did. Come to find out his parents lived in Germany and he had just graduated from Harvard Law school. That was right towards the end of the war.

John Rogers found dug in tanks that were dispersed throughout [Annotator's Note: throughout Germany]. One time, they lined up their battalion's [Annotator's Note: 2nd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division] tanks with just the nose sticking above the ridge and used them as artillery. They were used as artillery for about a day and then moved into the town they were shelling. There was always a sniper or two around. Rogers' assignment one day was to go down a highway and to not be surprised by what he found. They went past a concentration camp and the humans inside were nothing but skin and bones. Rogers could tell that some of them were trying to yell for help but they clearly did not have the strength. Rogers will never forget seeing those people. [Annotator's Note: Rogers gets quite emotional talking about witnessing concentration camps.] Rogers knew that they were doing the right thing after seeing that. Rogers can still see those people in his sleep. It left no doubt in their minds as to why they were there. They already hated the Germans and seeing the concentration camps certainly did not help. It definitely had an effect on his troops. Rogers ended his combat near the Elbe River. The battalion commander told them that they were to hold fast until they received orders. They were finally told that they could not cross the Elbe. From that point they thought that they could make Berlin in 17 hours. Rogers was told to wait for the Russians on the Elbe River. After about a day or so, the Russians showed up. They started screaming and yelling and they started crossing the river. The Russians had all types of music and booze. It turned into a party. It was quite a show. They were told that they had to let the Russians take Berlin. They realized then that the German resistance was pretty much over. Guys could sense that the war was coming to an end. Rogers's group was pulled back after they met the Russians and was sent to another town in Germany. Rogers sat down with the mayor of the town to work out how to get basic utilities up and running. There were some guys associated with the mayor who worked in government before the war. They were anxious to get going. Lieutenant Frank Jones from Detroit, Michigan was one of Rogers's platoon leaders and an excellent scrounger. Rogers gave each one of his platoon leaders a different job that was needed to help get the people back on their feet. Jones was sent out to go scrounge for useful supplies. He came back with a bag full of all types of liquor and beer. Jones found a warehouse that was full of booze. They never did drink all of it. He got the job done.

John Rogers left Frank [Annotator's Note: Lieutenant Frank Jones of Detroit, Michigan] in charge. They went to the Riviera with 30 guys from his unit [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division]. A major got onto the plane and his bag was filled with booze. Glen Miller's band came to the hotel they were at and played a concert for them. They toured the area and it was a wonderful ten days. The tenth day they went to the airport. They were told that bad weather was in store so they had to come back in the morning to catch their flight. Weather ended up delaying their flight for four days. On the fifth day he said load up its time to go. The pilot had a girlfriend, apparently, and that negated his reasoning for staying. It was actually nice to get an extra four days. Rogers took the option to go home. It was hard to leave his guys. He had been with them forever it seemed like. Rogers never had a bit of trouble with any of his men. Whenever they stopped to service their tanks, they set up a volleyball net and played volleyball. The enlisted guys liked it because it was a good chance for them to get back at their company commander. Rogers enjoyed that. The only trouble he ever had was in Berlin after the war. Rogers got a call one day from the Red Cross in downtown Berlin. They told Rogers that they were holding two of his soldiers who had gotten in trouble. They were both privates and they worked in the kitchen. Rogers got them in the jeep and he started asking them what trouble they were in. They found a couple of German girls they liked and raised a bunch of hell with them. The parents finally said that it was ok to go ahead and get married. The parents got to thinking about it and they went back on their marriage decision. The two GIs were arrested and the marriage was dissolved. Rogers put them on extra harsh kitchen patrol duty for a week. That was the only thing he had happen and it was not even that bad in terms of discipline. One of the guys in Rogers's company wrote to Stars and Stripes and said that Rogers' going home could not have happened to a nicer guy. Rogers's first battalion commander was a West Point graduate. He called Rogers one day after he had been with him awhile and instructed Rogers to get in his tank and come to his headquarters. When Rogers arrived, he was told that the engineers had been working on the Elbe Canal. They had done their work successfully, however, they were being pestered by German snipers. Rogers was instructed to bring his tank up with the battalion commander's tank and bring fire upon the Germans. The trapped officer who had been commanding the construction workers was rescued and that is why Rogers was awarded the Silver Star. Rogers got the map case he is displaying for the camera on the ground near his tank. The map case contained a German compass.

[Annotator's Note: This segment begins with John Rogers showing a map to the camera which has different code words on it. Rogers has a collection of World War 2 memorabilia including maps, medals, map cases and other assorted material.] John Rogers kept most everything that he came across during the war. He spent five years in the reserves. Five years was the requirement for reserve officers. They had five tanks in the National Guard unit in Shreveport. Rogers spent his time overlooking those tanks and then after the five years he got out. When Rogers got out he was already coaching and teaching at Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. He worked as an offensive lineman coach there for 20 years. For the last five years he was the head coach of the school's basketball and baseball teams. Rogers also taught three academic classes in the morning. Byrd was a big school and they needed teachers. They had two to three thousand students per year. Rogers told the principal that he would like to teach three history classes. Rogers retired as a coach and teacher. His son graduated in 1975 so Rogers retired with him. The First Baptist Church in Shreveport wanted to start a small school and Rogers ended up helping out with it. Rogers enjoyed every minute of his teaching days. Rogers's son and his wife moved to Madison, Wisconsin where they opened a book store. Rogers's son had two sons back to back. Rogers moved to Madison for six years to baby sit and they really enjoyed it. From Madison he moved to Galveston, Texas and had a condominium there. Rogers was in Galveston for about three years. They got rid of the condo and moved to Baton Rouge. Rogers remembers going to his first hockey game at the University of Wisconsin. Rogers got to know the hockey players and was signed up to the Wisconsin Hockey Traveling squad. They went to all of the home and out of town games and tournaments. They also had season tickets to all of the home athletic events at the University of Wisconsin.

[Annotator's Note: This segment begins with John Rogers and the interviewer chatting about Belgium.] John Rogers was all over Belgium. He notes that the southern part of the country speaks French while the northern part speaks German. Rogers was in Northern Germany the entire way through. Rogers has not been involved in any of the 2nd Armored Division reunions. He was so tied up with coaching and teaching that it has become an afterthought. Rogers did talk about the war with other people. Rogers graduated from Indiana State University. There was a military organization in Wisconsin dedicated to supporting veterans. They asked Rogers to come and talk to their unit and tell them about the war. That was the first time that Rogers really talked about it. Rogers was able to tell people what he did during the war. Some of the people asked about strategy and Rogers informed them that their strategy was going forward. Rogers had 200 people in his company. Another person that Rogers served with taught elementary school during the war. He told the people that he was not a soldier but rather a misplaced citizen. Rogers think that it’s important for people to see what goes on at The National WWII Museum. He believes that it is most important that they know. Rogers is incredibly proud to have served.