Kaare Allan Johnson was born in May 1924 in Staten Island, New York [Annotator's Note: Staten Island is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York]. He is a first generation American who grew up with one younger brother. Johnson's father was a Swedish immigrant and a carpenter by trade. His Norwegian immigrant mother was a member of The Salvation Army [Annotator's Note: a Christian church and international charitable organization founded in 1885] before she married. She worked as a housemaid for various families during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. Johnson lived in a neighborhood that had a good number of Scandinavians, Italians, and Jews. His school reflected that mix. Everyone got along just fine because everyone was poor. His father fell ill with stomach ulcers which required surgery and hospitalization. His family relied on government assistance to make it through. One night a couple of Jewish women came by and asked Johnson's mother if she would like to join them at the synagogue to pray for Johnson's father. [Annotator's Note: Johnson struggles to speak due to his emotions.] Johnson supports Israel greatly. He attended public school for his entire education. He hated math but excelled in history. He collected model planes from World War 1 and would go on a nearby hill to fly them. He was also fascinated by ships. He enjoyed attending the neighborhood Italian festivals as a kid and tried all the food.

Kaare Allan Johnson lived one lot away from a movie theater, The Victory Theater [Annotator's Note: in New York, New York]. During the summers, he worked there as an usher so he could pay for flying lessons. He had a lot of good friends from high school and graduated in 1942. Johnson heard about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] from his neighbors. Johnson's history teacher recommended his students finish high school before they joined the service. His mother was also adamant about his waiting to join. One day, Johnson went down to the recruiter's office to ask when he would be drafted and was told it would happen eventually. Johnson went to work as a boat builder apprentice and helped construct PT-109 [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat; PT-109 was commanded by US Navy Ensign John F. Kennedy, later 35th president of the United States]. During his time at the shipyard, he injured his back and was put on bed rest for two weeks. He got so bored lying around that he picked up smoking.

Kaare Allan Johnson was drafted in the Army in March 1943. He was sent to Camp Upton, Long Island [Annotator's Note: now Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York] for induction. He volunteered for the paratroopers. [Annotator's Note: A telephone rings at 0:31:18.000.] He was sent to Toccoa, Georgia [Annotator's Note: Camp Toccoa in Toccoa, Georgia] for two or three nights to be interviewed, and then went to Camp Mackall [Annotator's Note: Camp Mackall, Hoke, Richmond, and Scotland Counties, North Carolina] for boot camp. Since he was one of the first guys to get to camp, he was ordered to clear the brush away. To this day he hates clearing brush. His officer trained the platoon well. He held Lieutenant Flannery [Annotator's Note: unable to identify] in high esteem. Flannery listened to his enlisted men and gave them the proper support they needed, although he was never chummy with them. Eventually the Lieutenant was killed in Italy. During training, Johnson was issued a carbine [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic carbine], and later replaced it with M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. He learned to build bridges, work with explosives, and had basic infantry training. He practiced attack maneuvers. After completing airborne school, he participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers [Annotator's Note: series of seven large scale training exercises in Middle Tennessee, 1942 to 1944] in February 1944 [Annotator's Note: as part of the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division]. The weather was very rainy. He lived in a pup tent and had to dig tunnels to keep the water from getting in.

Kaare Allan Johnson spoke highly of Colonel Walsh [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant Colonel Louis A. Walsh, Jr.] who was relieved of his duties and replaced by Colonel Graves [Annotator's Note: US Army Colonel Rupert D. Graves] prior to the regiment [Annotator's Note: 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment] being sent overseas. Walsh's training was difficult, and Johnson was personally worried that he would not pass basic training. Johnson later formed a friendship with Walsh after reuniting with him at reunions. In May [Annotator's Note: May 1944], Johnson was shipped out from Newport News [Annotator's Note: Newport News, Virginia] in a six ship convoy to Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy]. He was on a liner called the Cristobal [Annotator's Note: the USAT Cristobal], which was a ship that took passengers and freight through the Panama Canal to South America. The swimming pool was used as the latrine. The waters were very calm for most of his trip. His job on the ship was to assist with a 20mm gun [Annotator's Note: Oerlikon 20mm antiaircraft automatic cannon]. He did a lot of reading to pass the time. The neatest thing he saw was how the destroyers gassed up by attaching a pipe to the oil tanker mid-voyage. When they landed in Naples [Annotator's Note: on 28 May 1944], they marched to an extinct volcano [Annotator's Note: Mount Vesuvius] where they camped until mid-June. Johnson took a hike up to the volcano's rim and saw that locals had farmed the other side of the mountain. During this time, his unit was granted leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to the neighboring town. The civilians would make them meals in exchange for cigarettes. Johnson and a friend borrowed a boat from a local man in exchange for cigarettes. They took the boat out and swam in the Bay of Naples.

Kaare Allan Johnson and his unit [Annotator's Note: 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment] were attached to the 36th Infantry Division while stationed in Italy [Annotator's Note: in June 1944]. He conducted various patrols but was never in combat. On one patrol, he had to locate two Americans who were killed by a mine. This was the first time Johnson had seen anyone shot or killed. His unit continued to march trying to locate the Germans. The Army took his unit offline and ordered them to board LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] beached at Civitavecchia [Annotator's Note: Civitavecchia, Italy] where they camped for several days.

Kaare Allan Johnson and his unit [Annotator's Note: 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment] were part of Operation Dragoon, also known as Operation Anvil [Annotator's Note: in Provence, Southern France, 15 August 1944]. They used C-47 [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft] planes that were stationed at a small dirt field in Italy. Bundles of supplies were loaded on the planes, including machine guns. Right before they left for the mission, his unit was shown a movie. Johnson's officers did a good job preparing the troops for the mission. He admired their aggressive attitude and maturity. The flight was uneventful, except that everyone was smoking. When Johnson jumped, he floated in the air for a minute and then landed in a tree. He had to use a knife to cut himself out of the tree. Because they were dropped in the wrong place, they did not receive any opposition. They had landed right outside of a small town called Callian [Annotator's Note: Callian, France]. As the sun began to rise, he saw a P-38 [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] dive down into a valley and bomb a target. Eventually British Pathfinders [Annotator's Note: a group in Airborne units specially trained to operate navigation aids] picked up Johnson's unit and were able to reassemble the battalion. In the end the operation was a success.

After Kaare Allan Johnson's unit [Annotator's Note: 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment] pulled out, the Germans moved back in but were again pushed out by one of the seaborne units. The 3rd Infantry [Annotator's Note: 3rd Infantry Division], 36th infantry [Annotator's Note: 36th Infantry Division], and 45th Infantry [Annotator's Note: 45th Infantry Division] had come in from the sea. They, the British, and a French unit were able to swiftly advance and takeover the area in Southern France. Johnson's unit had the mission to block off Germans from entering and exiting the Italy-France Border. One night when they bivouacked [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary campsite], they met a Scottish battalion. The next day, they begin marching but were lagging because they had two men who had injured their legs in the jump. They stopped for a break to eat some K-rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] when a bunch of French came running in their direction saying that the Germans were coming. Johnson and his unit decided to scatter and hide up a hill. Johnson found a good spot to hide. He began shooting at a person standing next to a truck but missed him. Johnson continued to shoot at trucks as they passed by. Johnson heard an explosion and found out later that a British grenade killed an Allied soldier. They found a teenager who was drunk and injured. They handed him over to the British. Not long after this skirmish, Johnson heard artillery fire going off in the distance. Johnson and his unit continued on through France, going from one town to another, carrying equipment.

Kaare Allan Johnson's unit [Annotator's Note: 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division] moved through Southern France and came upon some wounded men retreating from the front. Johnson helped carry the men on stretchers down the hill. Johnson and his unit, were responsible for disarming a rigged explosive. Johnson suggested that they just put explosives around the large wooden pegs and blow it up. His friend said no. Johnson later heard that several of his friends were blown up trying to diffuse it. He went through the city of Grasse [Annotator's Note: Grasse, France]. The houses were painted in pastel colors. In September 1944, a friend was teaching Johnson to drive. Johnson lost control of the vehicle and ended up flipping the jeep, killing his friend. That event was the worst part of the war for him. Johnson was sent to a field hospital, and then to a hospital in Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy] for six weeks. He then journeyed back to his unit sometime in January 1945. He stopped in Marseilles [Annotator's Note: Marseilles, France] and Belgium. He recalled hearing the V2 rockets [Annotator's Note: German Vergeltungswaffe 2, or Retribution Weapon 2, ballistic missile] zipping by while in Belgium.

Kaare Allan Johnson finally reunited with his unit [Annotator's Note: 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division] in Stavelot, Belgium near the 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] and they headed out the next day for Germany. They had a new mission which was to blow up the Ruhr Dams [Annotator's Note: on the Ruhr River]. Johnson's unit went out at night fall and as they near the target all hell broke loose. A bullet zip passed his ear. Suddenly, a hailstorm [Annotator's Note: weather phenomenon] came over. His unit retreated. On a patrol once, Johnson accidentally tripped over a wire and a mortar shell blasted in the air. During this time, Johnson and his unit slept in a pigsty. His company stayed in Chablis [Annotator's Note: Chablis, France] for a while. They lived in a house with a barrel of wine in the back. They drank and played pool at the local bar. The townspeople were very friendly. They established their own police department, and the duty was to get drunk soldiers home before they got into trouble. One day they were given orders to pack up and get ready to cross the Rhine [Annotator's Note: Rhine River] into Germany. Then they were given the word that the mission has been cancelled.

Kaare Allan Johnson's unit [Annotator's Note: 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment] was reassigned to the 13th Airborne Division [Annotator's Note: on 1 March 1945]. Johnson did not like being part of the 13th Airborne. The end of the war came anticlimactically for Johnson. His commanding officer asked each soldier by name if they wanted to go to the Pacific and fight with the 13th Airborne. All but one soldier said no. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to changes tapes.] Johnson was then folded into the 307th Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division [Annotator's Note: 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division]. He met his company in France on 14 July 1945. Johnson was sent to Berlin [Annotator's Note: Berlin, Germany] for occupation duty. He lived in a three-story house, and he slept on the top floor. The family that owned the house had use of the kitchen and cellar. Johnson always brought food back to the family from the mess hall that was in another house down the street. During his occupation time, he was put on guard duty. For entertainment, he and a few others attempted to put on a show. The show was so filthy, they were not allowed to do it again. They also played or watched football. Johnson was fortunate to have great officers. [Annotator's Note: A telephone rings at 2:12:14.000.] Johnson was in Germany for about three months. He returned home in time for Christmas 1945.

After World War 2, Kaare Allan Johnson did not want to stay in the service and was discharged from the Army. He worked as a carpenter for a short period of time with his father before attending school. Johnson used the G.I. Bill to go to Harvard [Annotator's Note: Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts]. The G.I. Bill was the greatest program the government ever created. After he spent two years partying, Harvard asked him not to return. Johnson returned home and attended Wagner College [Annotator's Note: in Staten Island, New York, New York]. He enjoyed the instructors he had at Wagner. He graduated with a Modern European History degree in 1952 and began teaching school. At first, he had a hard time teaching young kids, but after teaching at various schools, he was recommended for a fifth-grade teacher position and loved it. He stayed there until he retired in 1989. The parents overall were very involved with their children's education.

Kaare Allan Johnson's most memorable experience of the war is his jeep accident and the death of his friend. Also, he recalls the night when he was saved by a sleet storm during combat. The war changed him. He believes life is sacred and should not be wasted. [Annotator's Note: Johnson tells the interviewer that his chair is unhinged at 2:26:39.000.] Johnson believes he did his part for the war effort. He was a small cog in the great wheel. He believes that Americans have a lot of interest in World War 2. Most Americans believe that World War 2 was the last war that had to be fought by Americans. There was such discontent in America regarding the Vietnam War [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975] that people moved to Canada. Those veterans were treated horribly when they returned home. He wants younger generations to know that it is a great feeling to be part of something worthwhile. World War 2 was worthwhile. You should try to do what you like to do.