Mahlen P. Arledge was born in Dixie, Louisiana in 1924. As a young man in the Depression era, his father had oil wells. With the price of oil dropping significantly, his father lost everything. Afterward, his father went to work for Standard Oil Company. Arledge was hired by Standard Oil as a roustabout, but soon he was assigned as a truck driver for transporting the oil. He would move the oil from treatment plants to rail cars. He started working as a roustabout at 16 years of age, but a year later became a truck driver. The local refinery was shutdown and demolition began on the facility in 1941. Arledge worked there, too. When called into service in July 1943, Arledge was still driving a truck. Arledge completed high school prior to going into the service. He heard about Pearl Harbor when his uncle called his dad. Arledge's uncle had a son at Pearl Harbor on a minesweeper that had been attacked during the raid. Arledge was at home when he heard about the attack. He was close to the cousin who had participated in the defense of Pearl Harbor. Afetr he was born, the Arledge family moved from Dixie to Lewis, which changed its name to Shoreline when a refinery was built there. The communities are all approximately 20 miles north of the city of Shreveport, Louisiana. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, his cousin's status was uncertain. His cousin had been sleeping aboard his ship. When he woke up, he had been thrown overboard as a result of the attack. There had been fire on the water forcing his cousin to swim out from under it. When Arledge was drafted, he had the choice between the Navy and the Army. He chose the Army after his hearing of his cousin's experience at Pearl Harbor.

Mahlen Arledge received his draft notice in July 1943 and went into service the next month. He elected to go into the Army and was sent to Camp Adair in Oregon. On the train trip to Oregon, the men were uncertain about their destination. The troops rode in a Pullman car. At one point, the train stopped and someone shouted that the location was Shoreline, Louisiana. With this being his hometown, Arledge got down from his upper bunk and looked outside of his car. Not only did he spot his home, but he saw his father on the porch reading the paper. After getting his father's attention, the two communicated for a few minutes. Arledge could not leave the train, and his dad was not allowed any closer than 30 yards from the train. They talked for about half an hour. It was quite a coincidence. The train would subsequently make its way to Camp Adair. That was where Arledge received his Army basic training. At that time, the 70th Division [Annotator's Note: 70th Infantry Division] was being mobilized and trained there and he was to be part of that division. After the training, it was determined that replacements were needed for the 81st Infantry Division and Arledge was selected to be one of those replacements. He was placed in Company K, 321st Regiment, 3rd Platoon, 81st Infantry Division [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 321st Infantry Regiment, 81st Infantry Division]. After practice amphibious landings at San Luis Obispo, he was given a five day furlough in April 1944. Upon return from his time at home, he was sent to Hawaii for more amphibious training. The training in Oregon involved various infantry weapons including the BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle], rifle, and machine gun. As a result, Arledge became a BAR man. A mock village was set up where the troops would practice liberating the village which was interesting. That training was accomplished while Arledge was with the 70th. After joining the 81st, there was more hiking and rifle training. During amphibious assault training they would be loaded aboard landing craft, taken offshore, then run up to the beach. They could experience the trip to the shoreline and the drop of the ramp and setting up a beachhead position. When the troops boarded the ship for transport to Hawaii, they had to climb up cargo nets to access the vessel. An orchestra played Sentimental Journey for them as they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. When the men reached Hawaii, they had to climb down the cargo nets to disembark the ship. They proceeded to set up camp in a pineapple orchard on the island of Oahu. There were two practice amphibious landings made on a small nearby island. There was a rumor that Arledge and the 81st Infantry Division would take over garrison duty in Hawaii, but their commander refused that assignment. The 81st was a fighting unit, not a garrison unit. While in Hawaii, Arledge had only one day of leave. He did not see much of the surroundings because of his limited time off. He did maintain his assignment as a BAR man during all this time. The BAR is an automatic rifle that has a bi-pod mounted to the barrel. It has a 20 round magazine. It was a shoulder weapon that was like a machine gun. It was .30 caliber and could fire the magazine of ammunition quickly. At 18 years old, Arledge had quite an experience shipping out to Hawaii. On the ship, bunks were three or four high. There was no luxury on the trip but there was food provided to the troops in shifts. The food was Navy chow and included navy beans and cornbread. The boat would rock and the food tray had to be held so it did not slip away. Arledge never experienced sea sickness. The men would go topside to exercise and stay in shape.

Mahlen Arledge and the 81st Infantry Division were placed on ships that were destined for the island of Angaur. The troop ships loitered in the Pacific for about a month prior to the assault. The troops had no idea where they were headed. Communication to the lower ranks about the upcoming battle plans was minimal. When the ships arrived at Angaur, Arledge watched the offshore bombardment of the island by the Navy ships. As the landing craft made their way to the beaches, the shelling lifted. The 322nd and 321st Infantry Regiments were involved in landing from opposite directions on the island. Arledge's regiment [Annotator's Note: the 321st Infantry Regiment] was assigned the easier part of the island. There was little enemy opposition where Arledge landed. After the first day of the assault, the men set up that night. During the night, the men heard some random noise and everyone opened up. They were firing tracers and the sky was full of lead and the color from the tracers. Arledge scratched out a small depression in the ground to sleep. It was shallow because the soil had coral rock under it. He managed to get his body in the depression but his feet were exposed. The next day, the troops moved out and encountered a number of pill boxes. Arledge knew he had a job to do, but shooting someone was not easy for him. The enemy shot at him, and he had to respond. It was an experience. There was quite a bit of resistance with the enemy in pill boxes with mortars and hidden snipers in the trees. The Americans had to watch everywhere as they advanced. There were caves with the enemy sheltered in them. The best weapon to counter the enemy in the caves was the flamethrower. It was a terrible weapon but had to be used. The caves were connected so once one was destroyed the enemy could flee to another and come out behind the American troops. Japanese artillery was mapped to facilitate placing rounds on specific locations. In attacking the fortified positions, Arledge found that the best weapon they possessed was the flamethrower. If the flamethrower could be brought up close to the emplacement and a charge could be tossed into the position, it would blow up the enemy stronghold. It would still be an ordeal to overcome the position. Troops would crawl up to the enemy and throw a hand grenade into the opposing position. If a flamethrower was available, a satchel charge was thrown in before the flamethrower did its business. That would blow up the enemy position. There were no bazookas available to Arledge's 3rd Platoon. The 4th platoon was the heavy weapons platoon. They had bazookas, machine guns, and flamethrowers, but the 3rd platoon did not have those weapons. The 3rd platoon would call on the weapons platoon as they needed them. Arledge's platoon would spot where they wanted the fire to be directed and relay the information to the weapons platoon who would shell the target. On the first night on Angaur, the enemy counterattacked. They began yelling and assaulted the American positions. In Arledge's sector, there were few counterattacks so it was an easier location than others. The troops learned two valuable lessons. When the American advance shut down for the night, the men would pull back slightly and leave the more advanced location vacant. The Japanese expected them to be in the advanced location when they attacked. It gave the Americans an early warning of the enemy infiltration that way. The troops also learned to remove their helmets at night because the enemy would toss a pebble into where they thought the Americans were located. If the infiltrator heard a ping from the stone hitting the American helmet, an enemy grenade would be tossed in next. In the days on the line on Angaur, Arledge remembered only one incident of Japanese infiltration of his area. The end of the island where Arledge's unit advanced was not as fortified as the other end where caves and railroads were located. It took three days for Arledge's regiment to go from one side of the island to the other. Arledge and his regiment left Angaur and headed to Peleliu. Having no opportunity to clean up for several days on the island, the men felt very dirty. The sailors on the ship were very good to the soldiers. The troops were provided with a bath, food, and new clothes.

Mahlen Arledge experienced his first combat on Angaur. He had no idea what to expect in combat. The first night on the island, firing erupted with tracers flying all over the place. The Japanese troops were well trained. They knew the islands and what they were doing. This was especially true on Peleliu. On Angaur, the topography was flat. It was different on Peleliu where there were ridges and caves. Advances were made to take one ridge and then the next. It took time to take them. The adversaries were shooting back and forth. There were four close calls in the fighting that involved Arledge. The first close call was when Arledge was moving forward on Peleliu. He was crossing through a small spot when he heard a crack of a rifle. It was close by so he went down immediately. It was not his time. Another incident happened when Arledge was about to take a step. Before he took the step, 15 or 20 machine gun bullets hit at his feet. He moved out of the way fast. The bullets could have taken his leg or foot off if he would have taken that step. Another time on Peleliu, Arledge and a buddy crawled up to a rock. When they rose up to look over the rock, a bullet hit his buddy's helmet and knocked it off. Neither man was injured, but it was another close call. In Arledge's squad, one man was lost. He was a runner who had been sent back to headquarters, but he was never heard from again. No one knew if he was captured and brought to the enemy caves or what might have happened to him. The platoon first lieutenant and sergeant were both lost on Angaur. That was his first experience of losing someone in the platoon. When Arledge saw the first individual killed in action, it was obvious that combat was serious stuff. Other men in the company were lost, but Arledge did not know them. Even though the regiment's [Annotator's Note: 321st Infantry Regiment, 81st Infantry Division] casualties were light compared to the Marines on Peleliu, it was still serious. The Marines had made the initial landings on Peleliu while the Army followed up behind them. In looking back at the supplies and food provided to the men on the line, Arledge was impressed. The cooks would attempt to heat up the food and bring it to them. The equipment and ammunition were no problem. When the men were being readied to make the landing, they were given a waterproof bag to put their extra gear in so it could be brought to them after the landing. They were told not to bring any information that could indicate who they were or who they were with. They were also told not to bring valuables with them. Arledge complied and put his wallet and wedding ring in the bag. He also included all the ceremonial information for when he crossed the equator and transitioned from a pollywog to a shellback. While the bags were in a cargo net to be lowered into a transport to the island for distribution to the troops, the bags were dropped and lost. Arledge lost all his money and his wedding ring and other items. He was one of few men that lost that extent of personal effects.

Mahlen Arledge participated in a ceremony when he crossed the equator. [Annotator's Note: The ceremony of conversion from a pollywog to a shellback at the crossing of the equator for the first time is a traditional seafaring lark.] This involved him running through a line of men with paddles who would swat at him and the others who were known as pollywogs because they had never previously crossed the equator. After passing through the cordon of paddlers, the newcomer had to sit in a chair besides a tank that was filled with goo. After a scruffy haircut, the pollywog was dumped into the tank. The morning had started with a breakfast of beans with only a knife to eat them. That was part of the ordeal. Both enlisted and officers had to face the experience of conversion. The men all had burr cuts, but they had a swipe cut through their hair. It was all in good fun. Some did not like being dumped in the tank, but it was just fun. Arledge did not feel any different as a shellback after the ceremony than he did as a pollywog beforehand.

Mahlen Arledge was married on 24 December 1942. He was 18 and his new wife was 16 years old. She was still in high school. She was valedictorian when she graduated in 1943. She had a scholarship as valedictorian, but was refused it because she was married. She decided to be a wife instead of continuing to attend school. She made a wonderful wife and mother. Before Arledge married, he expected not to be called into service any time soon. He had six good friends who grew up together. They knew they were going but did not expect it so soon. He and another friend had a double wedding together. The friend was younger than His friend went into the service after him. Arledge had never been out of the state so when he got on the bus to go into the service, he did not know what to expect. He only knew he was going to Shreveport [Annotator's Note: Shreveport, Louisiana]. Both he and his wife had a problem being separated by his entry into the service. The young couple had a furnished house that was loaned to them by his wife's parents. Arledge's father-in-law had gotten a job in El Dorado [Annotator's Note: El Dorado, Arkansas] at a chemical plant. His father-in-law let the young couple have their rented home with its furnishings. When Arledge went into service, his in-laws took their furniture to El Dorado. His wife then moved to Bossier City to live with an aunt who had a business there. Arledge's wife later moved to El Dorado to live with her parents and work at Woolworth's. Arledge's wife was working at Woolworth's in April 1944 when he came home on leave. She quit the job and shortly after, became pregnant and then a mother.

Mahlen Arledge left Peleliu after the battle for the island was won. His company [Annotator's Note: Company K, 3rd Battalion, 321st Infantry Regiment, 81st Infantry Division] went to a rest area in New Caledonia. After the rest period, his unit headed to Leyte. The island of Leyte had been liberated, but there remained some minor Japanese resistance. There was an ammunition dump on the island and Arledge's platoon stood guard over the dump. While there, Arledge nicked himself while shaving. The wound became infected. He went to sick bay and was sent to the hospital. He was given medication for the wound. The infection did not improve even though he received penicillin repeatedly throughout each day. He was told that the infection would require surgery if it did not get better. The next day, Arledge was scrubbing his face in the shower, and the infection erupted. It was a bad situation, but the wound began improving after it was cleaned and additional medication was applied. He found out later that if he had stayed 30 days under the care of the hospital; he would have been shipped back to the United States. If he had known that information, he would not have scrubbed his face so hard. He stayed in the hospital for nearly 29 days and then returned to his company. He was told by a few remaining members of the company that the rest of the men had moved their base of operations while he was gone. The rest of the company had gone to another part of the island to pursue holdouts on Leyte. At this point, Arledge was on light duty. When he reached the company, orders were received for them to come back. The men were going to be issued winter clothes for the invasion of Japan. At that time, they heard that something big was going to happen. That was when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. Until that time, the men were being prepared to invade the Japanese homeland.

Mahlen Arledge fought on Peleliu independently of the Marines who were at a stage of moving off the island and turning over to the Army. Arledge landed on a secured portion of Peleliu Island. Since the area had been secured, the landing was unopposed. During combat, Arledge came face to face with Japanese troops. He found them to be skilled and able fighters. The opposing troops on Peleliu were some of the best the Japanese had. They were first class Japanese marines. After Pearl Harbor, Arledge had hard feelings toward the Japanese. The fighting was something that both sides felt they had to do. Arledge considered them the enemy and the men had to kill or be killed. Taking a human life never got easy. After Arledge found out how the Japanese treated the captured Allied people, he resented them. He only found out about the treatment of the prisoners after the war was over. They were brutal, especially after Bataan [Annotator's Note: the Bataan Death March in April 1942]. Being a member of the invasion force planned to go into the homeland of Japan, Arledge felt that he was ready. [Annotator's Note: Arledge was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 321st Infantry Regiment, 81st Infantry Division which was slated to take part in the planned invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.]

Mahlen Arledge and his platoon [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 321st Infantry Regiment, 81st Infantry Division] got to New Caledonia in January 1945. There are no distinct memories of Christmas 1944, but likely there was not much celebration. Arledge was not too good about writing home, but his wife was good about communicating. He received pictures from home from his wife. He learned that his son was born while he was on Peleliu around Christmas 1944. Peleliu was secured at that time and the troops had set up camp there. When he received the birth announcement, he had cigarettes to pass out but no cigars. He later shared his ration of beer with his buddies to celebrate the birth of his son. He was a PFC [Annotator's Note: Private First Class] rifleman at this time. When he reached Japan, he was promoted to staff sergeant which was a jump of several ranks for him. He was in Japan when he received word of his discharge. He was ready to exit the service immediately but his commander told him that he had to at least finish his shift. [Annotator's Note: Arledge reacts to the humor of the moment.] It was an unusual way of getting word of his discharge because he discovered it while he was reading a list of men to be sent home. While Arledge was on New Caledonia there was no training required. It was just a rest area. The men were given the option to either go into town for rest or to go to a plantation on New Caledonia where they could swim and fish. He chose going to the plantation. It was accessed by a single road for both in and out traffic. Vehicles could not go side by side on the road. Arledge never knew what was grown on the plantation before it was used as a rest area. Nouméa could have been the name of the city. [Annotator's Note: Nouméa is the capital of New Caledonia.]

Mahlen Arledge saw replacements come into his division in Leyte. [Annotator's Note: Arledge was a member Company K, 3rd Battalion, 321st Infantry Regiment, 81st Infantry Division.] The fighting on Leyte was limited to mop up of remaining enemy resistance, but Arledge did not participate. While on guard duty at an ammunition dump, Arledge contracted an infection and went into the hospital. [Annotator's Note: Arledge spent nearly 29 days in the hospital for this infection which occurred from a nick while he was shaving]. Meanwhile, his company had gone up to the mountains to seek the residual enemy resistance. Arledge's outfit had only been there for two weeks when it was ordered to return to prepare for the invasion of the Japanese homeland. He had arrived on Leyte about May 1945. He had not heard about either the death of President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: President Franklin D. Roosevelt] or the German surrender. In the Philippines, there was limited contact with the Filipinos. There was only a little village where Arledge's outfit was located. There was a lagoon with some boats on it. Fishing was done there and some people lived on the boats. Though Arledge did not trade with the locals, there was an individual in his squad who did. The soldier swapped his cigarettes and some gear for the local firewater. It was made out of coconut juice, but it tasted like kerosene to Arledge. It almost made Arledge's friend go blind. Some of the local women sewed clothing adjustments to the soldiers. This was particularly true for the winter clothes that had been issued for the upcoming invasion of Japan. Because the winter trousers were too long for Arledge, the seamstresses had to shorten them. Arledge did not pick up any souvenirs until he reached Japan. He picked up a Japanese rifle, bayonet, and sword there. Additionally, he picked up a kimono for his wife. His daughters shortened the kimono for them to dress up in it. Arledge gave the rifle, bayonet and sword to his son. While Arledge was on Leyte, word came that the atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan. Arledge had no idea what that meant. It was not until he went to Japan and viewed the horrific destruction that he understood it was bad. When Arledge heard about the planned invasion of Japan before the war ended, he knew it was going to be bad. He was ready even though there would be many casualties on both sides.

Mahlen Arledge entered Japan on a landing craft after the end of the Pacific war. Though told that the troops did not have to be armed, most men had weapons and ammunition. They passed through a small village and then took over a former Japanese military camp. The Americans did not know how much resistance to expect when they entered Japan and were glad to get into the camp. The camp was different from American camps in terms of the latrines. The Japanese used large trenches called honey dippers. A large barracks was available for the American troops to use. The barracks had a coal stove and heaters. There was a room at the end of the building that Arledge used because he was a staff sergeant. Another sergeant who was acting platoon leader shared the room with him. Arledge was the first man who had to take care of the coal furnace and hot water heater. That was decided because of the alphabetical listing of personnel. Arledge knew nothing about working with coal because he was used to gas appliances. After a brief instruction, he gave it a try. Not knowing how to get the heaters started, Arledge began hearing complaints from his cold barrack mates. Quickly, he was relieved of that responsibility. It was given to the man who had given Arledge the brief introductory instructions on how to use the coal in the heaters. Coal heater shift work ended and the individual knowledgeable in the use of coal was given control of that responsibility. Arledge custom made an oil heater to aid his situation. It took a few days after the Americans landed before they saw any of the Japanese population. It was a while before he saw any civilians. After a time, the sergeants took a jeep and gave themselves MP [Annotator's Note: military police] armbands and toured the local small town. That was the only time that Arledge had much contact with the civilians. The American soldiers were given the duty to remove stored munitions from a Japanese ammunition dump in a mountain. The ordnance was taken to a dock to load on a ship. Afterward, it was dumped offshore. This was their duty for a time. When riding with the truck drivers, it was noticeable that they had no concern for anything that got in their way when they made their way to the docks. Very little else was done by the troops in occupation duty other than some exercises. The area was not one that had been damaged by bombing. It was snowing when Arledge's discharge order came. He went to Yokohama. That was where he saw tremendous destruction from the bombing. Japan has rebuilt itself through the subsequent years as a modern country overcoming all the destruction. Arledge left Japan on Christmas Eve 1945. As a result of the dateline change, he had two Christmas eves. He arrived at San Pedro [Annotator's Note: San Pedro, California]. While he was in Japan, Arledge lost some of the resentment he held toward the Japanese. It took a long time after returning home before he lost most of his bad feelings toward the Japanese. The only touring of Japan that Arledge accomplished was on three separate occasions when he acted as an MP and toured various towns in a jeep. He never really thought about getting any souvenirs at that time. Some fellows came back with good things from Japan. Arledge went into Japan in August or September and left in December 1945. He arrived in San Pedro in January [Annotator's Note: 1946].

Mahlen Arledge arrived at home from his overseas service without fanfare or even a greeting. He was glad to get back to the United States and he felt great. The men had a good feeling to be home. They boarded trucks and rode to a camp. At dinner, the returnees saw so much food. There were steaks and other delicacies, but his stomach was so shrunken that he could not eat much. The first opportunity to get out of the service and return home would mean the sacrifice of a luxurious train ride back home in a Pullman car. Arledge did not hesitate. He did not care to wait for the luxury. He was ready to go home. He rode the train from San Pedro, California to Fort Fannin near Longview, Texas. Arledge was processed and discharged from Camp Fannin. From there, he hitched a ride in a private car which shuttled him with four other soldiers to Shreveport, Louisiana. There, he obtained a bus ticket to Shoreline, Louisiana where his parents lived. He could not get a direct ticket to El Dorado, Arkansas where his wife, child and in-laws were. Reaching his parents' home, he spent the night and then drove to El Dorado the next morning. At El Dorado, there was a super homecoming. Meeting his wife for the first time in so long made him breakdown. Seeing his baby for the first time was emotional. His son did not know him at first and was reluctant to get close to him at first. He warmed up to his father soon. Arledge got very little sleep that reunion night. It was a wonderful feeling to reconnect with his family. All his children have been very good through the years. After discharge, Arledge never took advantage of the G.I. Bill. He went to work within two weeks of his return home. His father-in-law let him know that the local plant was hiring. Arledge filled out an application and he, along with 13 other servicemen, was hired immediately. The company was the Lion Oil Company which made ammonia and ammonium nitrate. During the war, nitrates were used for making bombs. Liquid was shipped out of El Dorado to Shreveport for prilling. Later on, El Dorado had its own plant to prill the nitrates. The chemicals from the prill plant would be used as fertilizer. Arledge went to work in February 1946 and retired from there after 43 years of service. Lion Oil was called Ozark Ordnance during the war when it worked for the government. It produced sulphuric acid, fertilizer and other products. Monsanto acquired the company and sold it to El Dorado Chemical Company. Although he retired from Monsanto, Arledge stayed on for three years until he completely retired. When his son bought property in Amelia Island, Arledge and his wife found themselves shuttling back and forth from El Dorado. In 2000, Arledge and his wife moved to The Villages, Florida. His wife died in December 2010. Afterward, Arledge sold his place and moved to Freedom Pointe at The Villages.

Mahlen Arledge grew up as a result of World War 2. He understood what life meant. When he went into the service, he always knew he would return home. Later in retrospect, he realized how fortunate he was. He had a family and a wonderful life to live. There was no real problem with sleeping or with post traumatic stress after he returned. One friend had to take treatments because of his stress. Arledge had some survivor guilt, but he always knew he would return home. Arledge fought in the war because it had to be done. Knowing the consequences of not fighting, and the potential circumstances if the enemy had won the war, he had to fight. It was something that had to be done. He was proud to do it. The most memorable event of the war was when a buddy struck a match at night and Arledge told him not to do that. Arledge told him that they had to move because the enemy would fire on them. The firing came but the two Americans had moved and evaded being killed by the mistake. The war was different and not what he expected it to be. It is important that future generations understand not only what happened but what might have occurred if we had not won the war. It was a privilege to be a part of what the country did during that time. Future generations should always know what went on in the past. Arledge hopes that future generations can appreciate what was done for them. They must know what the world was like back then and appreciate what they have. The National WWII Museum is doing a wonderful job in capturing the oral histories.