L. Vinson Freeman, Jr., in his Army records it is Leslie V. Freeman, was born in Saint Louis, Missouri in June 1923. He grew up there. He had a younger brother and sister. His father was a salesman during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s]. He sold adding machines from a motorcycle. He ended up in Real Estate. They had it pretty well. A salesman is not a dependable occupation. His father took advantage of the better times and they struggled through the others. They were never without anything. Freeman had been where he was living about a year when Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] happened. His father said that it would cut back on transportation, so they moved closer to his office. He thinks his father heard the news on the radio. His father was a veteran of World War 1 and knew the significance of it. The next day at school, they listened to President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] make his speech [Annotator's Note: Day of Infamy Speech; President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a Joint Session of the United States Congress, 8 December 1941]. Freeman graduated from Cleveland High School in January 1942. He signed up for Washington University [Annotator's Note: Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri] and went for three semesters. He was not getting good marks and decided to sign up. He got drafted in January 1943 before he could enlist. He was inducted at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri [Annotator's Note: Jefferson Barracks Military Post, Lemay, Missouri] and sent to Camp Roberts, California. It was nice there. It was January and it was like summer. He was in the infantry in basic training in a heavy weapons company. He learned 81mm mortars [Annotator's Note: M1 81mm mortar], heavy machine guns, as well as the M1 rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. He received his expert badge in both rifle and pistol.

After basic training, Leslie V. Freeman went on maneuvers near Sacramento [Annotator's Note: Sacramento, California]. Some people who had college training were picked to help out the schools. Freeman was picked for the Army Specialized Training Program [Annotator's Note: generally referred to just by the initials ASTP; a program designed to educate massive numbers of soldiers in technical fields such as engineering and foreign languages and to commission those individuals at a fairly rapid pace in order to fill the need for skilled junior officers] and went to Oklahoma University in Norman, Oklahoma. The military people challenged the Oklahoma football squad to a touch football game and did well. He was there in May 1943 and stayed through December. He did well but not well enough to continue. He was sent to Camp Carson, Colorado [Annotator's Note: now Fort Carson, Colorado] to the 71st Division [Annotator's Note: 71st Light Division (Pack, Jungle) at that time] which was a light division that carried everything themselves or by mule pack. They trained for cold weather and had tents you could seal up. They went on maneuvers in the hills. They had rain and storms. They lost many mules sliding down the hills. They got isolated and did not have supplies for two days. A lot of them had a worse experience there than in combat. He stayed there three or four months and then went to Fort Meade, Maryland [Annotator's Note: Fort George G. Meade in Fort Meade, Maryland] in May [Annotator's Note: May 1944]. They trained and got ready to ship overseas. On 1 July [Annotator's Note: 1 July 1944] he was sent to England and arrived 14 July. They then went as replacements to the 83rd Division [Annotator's Note: 83rd Infantry Division].

[Annotator's Note: Leslie V. Freeman arrived in England on 14 July 1944 and was assigned to the Army's 83rd Infantry Division as a replacement.] He went overseas aboard a tourist ship [Annotator's Note: unable to identify]. It was a round bottomed boat and not too steady. It took 13 days to go across [Annotator's Note: the Atlantic Ocean]. It was crowded. He joined the 83rd Division shortly after they left the battle at Saint-Malo [Annotator's Note: Battle of Saint-Malo, France, 4 August to 2 September 1944]. They had been pulled back for a rest. They were near Angers, France which was nice. The people were trying to be very nice. Freeman was fortunate and had dinner with a family's daughter. He went to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 329th Regiment [Annotator's Note: Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division]. He was in the S-2 Intelligence section. He carried munitions, did observing and reconnoitering. He went on a lot of pioneering investigations. Those got interesting later on. They went along the Loire River [Annotator's Note: Loire River, France] going east and captured 20,000 prisoners [Annotator's Note: 17 September 1944] but he did not see them. As part of Headquarters Company, he was not always on the front lines.

Leslie Freeman's first close contact with the enemy was after crossing France and Belgium and going into the Hurtgen Forest [Annotator's Note: Battle of Hürtgen Forest, 19 September 1944 to 10 February 1945; Hürtgen, Staatsforst]. They came up to the woods and he was told to protect himself. There were a lot of high trees that would shred the shells coming across and create a lot of shrapnel. He and some others made a large foxhole but then had to move on. The terrain was not too bad. Earlier, the hedgerows [Annotator's Note: man-made earthen walls that surround a field that are often overgrown with impenetrable vegetation] were bad. He had problems with his feet and had to soak them in potassium permanganate [Annotator's Note: medication used for skin conditions] which made them purple. The weather got worse as they went on. From the Hurtgen Forest, they liberated Belgium and Luxembourg. Luxembourg was nice and the people were appreciative. He went into the northern part of Germany to Duren [Annotator's Note: Düren, Germany]. It was December [Annotator's Note: December 1944] and it was snowing. Freeman had to cross an area to deliver a message. He heard a few shots and hit the ground. He got across but it scared him. They got close to Duren on Christmas Eve [Annotator's Note: 24 December 1944]. Freeman went to a country club and had Christmas dinner. On 26 December they got the call that they were needed at the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. They loaded up on trucks and rushed 75 miles back to Belgium. They spent the next three weeks pushing back the Germans. They liberated Belgium and Luxembourg twice. When he was in Duren, they went in and discovered it was all bombed-out and everyone was gone. Being in intelligence, he had to look around. He was amazed to see they had electric refrigerators. He saw two dead German bodies. A mortality squad [Annotator's Note: likely a graves registration unit] came by. They found an engagement ring on one of the bodies. [Annotator's Note: Freeman gets emotional.] They were checking houses, and, in a basement, they found a dead American lieutenant. This was before the Bulge.

After the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945], they [Annotator's Note: Leslie V. Freeman and the 83rd Infantry Division] recaptured Belgium and Luxembourg then went into the middle of Germany. They were looking over a ravine and were there to watch the area near Herborn, Germany. They were in a small home in a farming community. The manure was stored on the street. The families were still there. In one case, they had a death in the family. They put the dead person in the living room. He went up to the edge of the ravine and dug a deep foxhole. There were two of them observing and they had a telephone back to Battalion Headquarters. They would phone in for artillery fire on any activity. A Colonel heard about the outpost and sent some troops to find them. They could not find them for three days. They observed troop movements. They did not have radios at that time. They thought they were pretty secure. The town was the Battalion Headquarters [Annotator's Note: Freeman was a member of Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division]. One of his squad members was doing guard duty and was killed by a mortar shell. That is how arbitrary it was. Just random. This was in late March or April 1945. The fighting was winding down. In another area, they had a situation where the location of the enemy was unknown. They laid a smoke screen to invite fire. Several of the men were asphyxiated by the smoke and got the Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: the Purple Heart Medal is award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy]. They had come into Germany from the West. They went to the Elbe [Annotator's Note: Elbe River]. Officially they did not cross the Rhine [Annotator's Note: Rhine River] because they were not allowed to, but some of the men did. They did not meet the Russians. Roosevelt died [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States; died 12 April 1945] and Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] took over when they got to the Elbe. They took a house to stay in and the people were happy that the Russians had not made it there first. They planned on crossing the Elbe the next day but were told to hold up. Then the war ended.

Leslie Freeman was not involved in his Division's [Annotator's Note: Freeman was a member of Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division] concentration camp liberations. He did not go on patrols. He would setup an outpost and observe things. Freeman feels he was well prepared for combat. After basic training, he got to go home but that was his only leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] until he returned [Annotator's Note: returned home] in December 1945. He had never left the United States before and it was interesting. He had not given it much thought. He had some interesting experiences. Once, in a rest period, he got to go to Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France] for two days. He bought a package of dolls that he sent home to his mother. He had a person appraise them and found they were worth about 95 dollars apiece [Annotator's Note: at the time of this interview]. Freeman did everything he could in Paris. He went to the Folies Bergère [Annotator's Note: cabaret music hall, Paris, France]. There were girls walking around everywhere. The temptation was everywhere but he was true to his girlfriend back home. A lot of people were not. [Annotator's Note: Freeman looks at his notes.]

When the war was over, Leslie V. Freeman was pulled back to a rest area. They came up with the point system [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] for men to go home. He had 71 points. There was no opportunity to go anywhere. A lieutenant said he needed a haircut and Freeman gave him one. Freeman's father, who had been in World War 1, was called back for World War 2 and was at Fort Leonard Wood [Annotator's Note: Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri] as a Quartermaster. He contacted the Red Cross and asked them to get his two sons together. Freeman's brother was in Nuremberg [Annotator's Note: Nuremberg or Nürnburg, Germany] and he was in Plattling [Annotator's Note: Plattling, Germany]. The Red Cross got them together. They had not known where each other was. His brother was in the 26th Division [Annotator's Note: 26th Infantry Division] in the infantry. Freeman got the word of the German surrender [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945] when they were set to cross the Elbe River. They were not anyplace to celebrate. He had enough points that he would not have been sent to the Pacific. He does not recall hearing about the Japanese surrender [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945]. His occupation duty was near Regensburg [Annotator's Note: Regensburg, Germany], about 20 miles south. In the occupation area in the middle of May [Annotator's Note: May 1945], civilian agencies asked for volunteers to help out the schools. He was picked to do it. He was sent to France to the University of Besancon [Annotator's Note: Besançon, France]. He enrolled in French, Zoology, and Botany. The program was just to keep the schools open. He did well towards his degree at Washington University [Annotator's Note: Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri]. He did that for three months. He came back and was attached to the 79th Division [Annotator's Note: 79th Infantry Division], which he came home with. He was anxious because he was ready to go.

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Leslie V. Freeman how it felt to be part of a liberating force.] He felt very satisfied. He felt we [Annotator's Note: the United States] needed to do it and was glad we did. He is not sure we had that responsibility. His father was interested in the America First Committee [Annotator's Note: foremost isolationist group against American entry into World War 2] before the war. Once Freeman got in the Army, he had no thoughts like that. We had to defend ourselves. He left Europe on 1 December [Annotator's Note: 1 December 1945], got back on the 13 December, and was discharged on the 18 December. He was home in time for Christmas. He was separated at Jefferson Barracks [Annotator's Note: Jefferson Barracks Military Post in Lemay, Missouri] as a PFC [Annotator's Note: Private First Class]. He took advantage of the G.I. Bill. He went to work for his father and went to Washington University [Annotator's Note: Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri]. He had no trouble with PTSD [Annotator's Note: post traumatic stress disorder], but his brother did. He had no trouble finding work or transitioning back to being a civilian. He was fortunate in that he was going to school and many of the people there were also veterans. He does not have one thing that is most memorable. His one close call was crossing an open area. It was the only time he ever felt actually exposed. Freeman fought in the war because we [Annotator's Note: the United States] were defending ourselves and he felt obligated to participate. The war took three years of his life. It was great. He says that because he came back. He was exposed to many things and there is no other way you could do it. It was not something he would expect to repeat. He is proud of what he did but it was because he had to and not because he volunteered to do it. He does not like to blow his own horn, but it was great to be able to do what he did. He thinks The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is great in that it is making the knowledge available to people who have no idea of, nor care about, what happened.