John F. Ward was born in 1925 and raised in Pontiac, Michigan. He grew up with one brother and two sisters. His father was a graduate of a teachers’ college [Annotator's Note: The State University of New York at Albany in Albany, New York] and raised money for the Irish rebellion. His father eventually met T.F. McManus, head of the largest advertisement agency at the time, who hired Ward's father. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer adjusts interviewee 0:02:09.000.] During the Great Depression, his father quit his job because he and McManus were in a disagreement. So, he started his own consulting business. Ward growing up never knew he was poor because they had enough clothes to wear, food to eat, and even had a maid. Ward was sitting in his family station wagon talking to a couple of girls when he heard over the radio that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His first thought was "Where is Pearl Harbor?" He recalled from then on, Detroit [Annotator's Note: Detroit, Michigan] was all about war production. He recalls everything was rationed. He hid his new tires because he did want them to be rationed. Tires, cars, gas, coffee, meat were all rationed. Ward says the citizens took the rationing in stride. No one cried over it, but many complained. Everyone lived with it.

John F. Ward volunteered for service in December 1943 and took his basic training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He initially wanted to go into the Navy Air Corps but was rejected because of his bad teeth. He then applied for the Army Air Corps and was accepted. Ward felt compelled to volunteered for the service so he could do his part for the country. Ward would go on to train fighter pilots, glider pilots, and bombardiers. Just before completing basic, however, Ward had a punctured eardrum and was sent to the hospital. After being released from the hospital he was sent to Sheppard Field, Texas where he took basic training again. He remembers that basic training consisted of marching a lot while singing songs, rifle drill, and military courtesy. From there, Ward was sent to South Plains Army Airfield in Lubbock, Texas where he was supposed to be trained as a glider pilot, but the government did not have a need for them and did not want to spend the money to train them. He remained at South Plains for several months but was never trained to fly. He recalls when the Army made P-51 [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] pilots train as glider pilots. The P-51 pilots were so mad, they crashed the gliders on purpose. Ward comments that he flew in a C-47 [Annotator's Notes: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft]. That was his favorite airplane. There were very close calls with gliders. A glider almost hit a glassed-in truck. While he was on furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], the Air Force closed Sheppard Field. A telegram was sent out to all the men to return as soon as possible, but Ward never received his message. Apparently, there was a mix up with his address. When he did return to base, it was completely empty. No one was there. He finally found someone, and he helped Ward find his orders. Ward eventually ended up at San Angelo Army Airfield [Annotator's Note: San Angelo, Texas] where he was reunited with an old friend, Mike Perry, and whom he worked with at McCarthy Chevrolet in Detroit, Michigan. Perry was the commanding officer at the airfield and Ward was happy to know he had a friend at the base. Near the end of the war, Perry was murdered by an enraged husband for having an affair with his wife.

John F. Ward was very excited to find out that his commanding officer at San Angelo Airfield [Annotator's Note: San Angelo, Texas] was a good friend. Ward thought highly of his friend, Mike Perry. They both worked at the Chevrolet dealership [Annotator's Note: Detroit, Michigan]. Perry and Ward had a lot in common and a lot of the same friends. Ward also got along well with his First Sergeant. While Ward was at South Plains [Annotator's Note: South Plains Army Airfield in Lubbock, Texas], he petitioned two emergency furloughs [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] with the Red Cross to visit with his sister who was a nurse in the Army because his parents had died the year before. Ward's father was a soldier in World War 1 and his mother was a nurse. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer shares a story and then there is a long pause from 0:32:05.000 to 0:33:04.000]. Ward worked as an orderly for Perry doing a lot of paperwork, mail call, and taking care of furloughs. Ward shares a story about a friend who drove a mail bus, but the chauffeur of a colonel complained of his speeding. Ward was annoyed by this and figured a way to ship the chauffeur to Guam [Annotator's Notes: Guam, Mariana Islands]. Another incident happened when Perry needed a new water cooler and Ward was able to make a couple of phone calls to replace the broken one. Perry was very impressed with Ward, he gave him his gold leaf and took Ward's cadet patch.

John F. Ward was stationed at San Angelo Airfield [Annotator's Note: San Angelo, Texas] when the war ended with Europe. He recalls that everyone was talking about it. About a month before the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] dropped on Japan, he had heard rumors that the United States had a new and very powerful bomb, and that is all he knew. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer shares a story from 0:41:00.000 to 0:42:03.000]. Ward had mixed feelings about the United States dropping the atomic bombs. He was glad it put an end to the war, but he did not like the idea of how it slaughtered innocent people. He was discharged as a corporal. Even though Ward did not go overseas, he felt that he was part of the war effort stateside. Ward looked forward to going back to civilian life and reuniting with his girlfriend in Detroit [Annotator's Note: Detroit, Michigan]. Ward's sister had married Ward's girlfriend's brother, and together had 11 children. Ward returned to his girlfriend, Dottie. They eventually parted ways after World War 2. Before he left San Angelo, Major Perry set up a joyride on a bomb trainer airplane for Ward and a fellow cadet to fly to Washington D.C. with a short stop in Cleveland [Annotator's Note: Cleveland, Ohio]. They had flew into a storm. The bomb bay doors began to leak, and Ward was getting wet. The pilot was having a problem keeping the plane level. Ward was able to help stabilize the plane and they were able to arrive at their destination safely. When they arrived in Washington D.C., Perry took his cadet friend to meet Senator Vandenburg [Annotator's Note: Arthur Vandenburg, United States Senator for the State of Michigan from 1928 to 1951]. Ward's father was a good friend to the Senator.

John F. Ward was discharged from the service in late 1945 from in Rome, New York as a corporal. He was given a four-year scholarship by an Irish organization and did not use his G.I. bill benefits. He studied English and History. After school, he began a career in sales and worked for Jerry McCarthy's Chevrolet Company [Annotator's Note: Detroit, Michigan] for 14 years. He then worked for a company that made industrial tooling in Rochester, Michigan. Ward's fondest memory of World War 2 was going on a picnic with a girl and sharing a watermelon. Ward believes that he did not change much after the war.