Lionel Lopez was born in New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] in August 1921. He is 84 years old. He had three sisters. He was the third child. His father worked all his life. Lopez went to work at a shoe store when he was 17 years old. He was selling shoes when the war started. He went to Tulane University [Annotator’s Note: in New Orleans] after high school. He was out dancing when he heard about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He did not know where Pearl Harbor was. He was drafted into the Army in July 1942. He was discharged in October 1945. He went to California for basic training at Camp Roberts, where he learned how to code and decode messages. He was sent to the East Coast to join the 29th Infantry Division. They stood honor guard for President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States]. They were sent to South Carolina and then Panama City [Annotator’s Note: Panama City, Florida]. They went to jungle warfare and survival training school. [Annotator’s Note: Lopez describes what survival training entailed.] They were there for 90 days.

Lionel Lopez remembers that they took a ship to Australia, but ended up in San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California]. Every night they jumped the fence and went to town. They did not have any officers with them. They did a lot of drinking. They went out one night and put whiskey in their luggage. They took the whiskey on the ship with them. When he got to Australia, Lopez was assigned to the 32nd Infantry Division. They would go on patrols every day. Some of the patrols were going to capture a Japanese general. This was before they went to the Philippines. This was in July 1944. They killed many Japanese soldiers. The Japanese would tie the vines in the jungle to trees. The vines shine like lights in the dark. They thought the natives were using the vines. Some Japanese had wheels tied to their backs that went to the cannons. Lopez remembers they stayed on the hill for two days. There were two companies of men that were cut off at the time. Lopez was a private and the first scout of the company.

Lionel Lopez would have followed his captain anywhere. He was half-Indian. He was a fighting man. Lopez carried an M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] and a lot of ammunition for it. He got off 25 to 30 rounds during the initial attack. The Japanese were about 50 yards and across the river were about 120 yards away. They did not know who hit who most of the time. The company machine gun was about 25 yards from him. They were in foxholes. With the flares, they could see them coming. They were coming in crowds. There were three of them in the foxhole together. They had food. [Annotator’s Note: Lopez describes the food rations, clothing, and equipment they were issued in the jungle]. Everyone had to go down the back of the hill on the cliff to get back to the basic camp. They called in for air support. The P-39s [Annotator's Note: Bell P-39 Aerocobra fighter aircraft] gave air support against the Japanese. One of Lopez’s friends was killed. Then they were taken to Hollandia. They had a few men wounded. This was the first major action in New Guinea. After they left Hollandia they went to the Philippines.

Lionel Lopez went to Leyte Island in the Philippines [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Leyte, 17 October to 26 December 1944; Leyte Island, the Philippines]. He was in the sixth wave during the invasion of the Philippines. There was no resistance when they landed. They left equipment on the beaches for them. Lopez saw General MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] come onto the island. Lopez was the lead scout. It was grassy and there were coconut trees. He was on the left flank. Lopez got ahead of the others and sat on the ground to smoke a cigarette and wait. He could see the Japanese on the hill up ahead. A Japanese soldier jumped out and shot his pistol at Lopez. Lopez pulled out his rifle and shot at the Japanese soldier and killed him. He then started picking off the snipers. Lopez was called back to the unit [Annotator’s Note: 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division] and they had to set up communications. As he headed back he saw a dead Japanese soldier and the body was fat from being left out there for days. As Lopez went to the right, he was hit in the back of the fifth vertebrae. He fell backward onto a log. His stomach hurt. He thought he was going to die. He saw blood on his shoulder and then thought he was not going to die. Another soldier helped him get to the aid station.

Lionel Lopez was shot in the back and it came out of his chest. He was taken to a field hospital. The doctor stitched him up. His arms and chest were swelling up. He had a hole in his lung and every time he breathed, the air was going under his skin. The doctor had to stitch on the inside and then the outside. He earned a Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: the Purple Heart Medal is an award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy]. He had to take penicillin shots every few hours. He came back from the Philippines on a hospital ship. Lopez was put in charge of German POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] in Louisiana when he was back in the United States. He was going to be discharged after they started the points 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]. Lopez got a Silver Star [Annotator's Note: the Silver Star Medal is the third-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy] and he did not know anything about it. Two months later, his mother received a package for him and it was the Silver Star. The German POWs were working on a sugar cane plantation. They were being paid by the plantation owner. They were able to watch a movie every night. They earned a dollar a day.

Lionel Lopez had trouble with two men he was supervising. [Annotator’s Note: Lopez was overseeing German prisoners of war in the United States]. They were pulling corn. The food truck had pulled up. The two men wanted to eat instead of finishing the job. Lopez did not care, but the man with him made sure they got back to work. Lopez did not get to talk with them or be friendly with them.

Lionel Lopez met his wife on his first leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. They were married 13 weeks later. He went back to work selling shoes. He had bad times. He was concerned someone was going to break into the house. He had malaria [Annotator's Note: disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans] a couple of times. There are some things he cannot remember about what he was doing. The VA [Annotator's Note: United States Department of Veterans Affairs; also referred to as the Veterans Administration] put him through a psychiatry program to help him adjust. It took him about a year to adjust. He went to work for the federal government. His wife went to work for New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] Public Service. They had four children, two girls and two boys.