Matthew Cornelia was born in July 1918 and raised in Rochester, New York. His parents were both born in Ireland. At a young age, his father left school, boarded a ship and became a cabin boy before coming to America and making a career as a waiter. His father jumped ship during World War 1 and was required to pay a fine. He grew up the eldest of two siblings, a brother and sister, and attended Catholic schools in the Rochester area. He graduated from the Aquinas Institute [Annotator's Note: in Rochester, New York] in 1936. After graduating, Cornelia worked several jobs to help support the family. After working in a grocery store for a while, Cornelia worked as a runner for a bank. His father was out of work for two years during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. Times were tough on the family, but they never accepted any welfare. Cornelia was aware of rising tensions during the late 1930s, particularly in Germany. Many people did not wish to be involved in another war. President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] ensured the mothers of America that their sons would not fight on foreign shores while he was president. In April 1941, Cornelia was drafted into the Army at the age of 23. He was inducted in Syracuse, New York and then went to Fort Niagara [Annotator's Note: in Porter, New York] where he took various tests and awaited transportation to basic training. He trained at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Upon his arrival, he was chosen for the Signal Corps with the 8th Infantry Division. The military was unprepared for war at the time he was drafted. They had horse-drawn artillery pieces and World War 1-era uniforms. He worked in the message center as a clerk. He took information out to the regimental areas. He was one of the first draftees to be inducted into a Regular Army division. His days in basic training consisted of physical exercise, lunch, and signal corps specific instruction where he learned to climb telephone poles and operate signal equipment. He experienced culture shock in the South when he realized that segregation and oppression were still present. It was as though the Civil War [Annotator's Note: American Civil War, 1861 to 1865] was still going on. He lived in a two story barracks which had to get hot water from a boiler. One time, the boiler almost blew up because they allowed too much steam in it. Many guys who refused to conform to Army discipline were made to dig large holes and fill them in after. In the summer of 1941, Cornelia participated in the Carolina Maneuvers [Annotator's Note: Army exercises in around South and North Carolina, 1941]. He served as a messenger and drove a jeep between various regimental headquarters. Planes dropped sacks of flour on vehicles to signal they had been captured and were out of the maneuvers. They moved around the state and bivouacked [Annotator's Note: a bivouac is a temporary camp] in pup tents. Even with the maneuvers under way, Cornelia did not believe that war was imminent, though there were signs that pointed in that direction, including Navy destroyers sent overseas and the federalization of the National Guard. His unit was constantly reattached to different divisions. At one point, his unit was attached to a mechanized unit. They had half-tracks [Annotator's Note: M3 half-track; a vehicle with front wheels and rear tracks] and other motorized vehicles. He was assigned to the 8th Infantry Division's signal company [Annotator's Note: 8th Signal Company, 8th Infantry Division]. He was paid 21 dollars a month for his service in the Army. He later received a seven dollar raise. It was tough for draftees like himself to make rank at the time as the leadership roles were filled by Regular Army men. In October 1941, near the end of the maneuvers, Cornelia was sent to the hospital at Fort Bragg [Annotator's Note: Fort Bragg, North Carolina] with an ear infection.

While recovering from an ear infection [Annotator's Note: in the hospital at Fort Bragg, North Carolina], Matthew Cornelia learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Cornelia was under the impression that a Japanese invasion of the United States was bound to happen at any moment. Machine gun nests were set up around the perimeter of Fort Jackson [Annotator's Note: in Columbia, South Carolina] and a combat team was always detached to the coast in anticipation of an invasion. He was in complete shock when he heard the news and realized he was now in the Army for the long haul, especially since Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] declared war. He applied for OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school], but his unit commander refused to sign the permission because he thought Cornelia lacked technical training. Not long after, policies changed and Cornelia applied for Signal OCS training, was accepted in September 1942, and reported to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey for training. Three months later, he graduated with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Signal Corps. He was sent to Camp Edison, New Jersey, and instructed draftees in basic infantry training. He gave the draftees 13 week physical training which included a 14 mile march. After training draftees all day, he would take a train to Atlantic City [Annotator's Note: Atlantic City, New Jersey] to roller skate at night. The company he was in was dissolved and he reported to Eatontown, New Jersey where he oversaw a teletyping operation class until that was dissolved after a short time. Cornelia was transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir, Virginia for engineering school. He worked with explosives. He learned to blow up bridges. They took a trip to Washington D.C. and upon the returning to Virginia, all the Black [Annotator's Note: African-American] soldiers had to move to the back of the bus. He had lots of fun at Fort Belvoir setting booby traps in the barracks. Cornelia was then placed in a service regiment at Camp Ellis, Illinois. He oversaw all the training for this platoon. He recalled learning how to use a bazooka [Annotator's Note: man-portable recoilless 2.36 inch anti-tank rocket launcher weapon] at the range and then had to walk 14 miles back to the barracks. He was then placed in the 1761st Engineer Platoon [Annotator's Note: unable to verify unit]. This was an independent platoon in charge of supplying parts for heavy machinery. He reported to Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio for training. Because he entered the service early, he did a lot of training and oversaw training. The 1761st was sent to Fort Mason near San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] to await shipment into the Pacific. Because he was the only single man in his unit, he was sent ahead to make sure all their equipment made it to its destination. He was able to enjoy some city night life while on this mission.

While in San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California], Matthew Cornelia boarded an APA [Annotator's Note: Attack Transport ship] bound for Oro Bay, New Guinea. His ship sailed without an escort. When he arrived, he was assigned to supply heavy parts to various units, and he continued training. He took command of a unit after there was an incident with the previous commander. He later oversaw a military equipment warehouse. Cornelia spent time in Hollandia [Annotator's Note: Hollandia, New Guinea; now Jayapura, West New Guinea] and in the Philippines where he began training for the invasion of Japan. His landing site was to be the city of Aomori [Annotator's Note: Aomori, Japan]. With the atomic bombings [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945], these plans were scrapped, and Cornelia was sent to Otaru, Hokkaido [Annotator's Note: Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan] for occupation duty. The unit was dismantled, and he waited to accrue enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on several factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to return home. His commander wanted to reactivate his unit, but Cornelia just wanted to go home after he had enough points. Cornelia boarded a ship in Yokohama Bay [Annotator's Note: Yokohama Bay, Japan] bound for the United States. There were missionaries who had been captured by the Japanese on board the ship with him. He landed in San Pedro, California. He was treated to a steak dinner and all the milk he wanted. He was then flown to Fort Dix, New Jersey for his discharge in December 1945 with the rank of First Lieutenant. He returned home in January 1946 and was married in February. He worked at a bank. He took advantage of the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] and attended night school at the University of Rochester [Annotator's Note: in Rochester, New York]. It took Cornelia six years to earn his degree in accounting. He found a job with a company that partnered with General Mills [Annotator's Note: General Mills, Inc., American multinational food manufacturer]. They were trying to find ways to extract fish liver oil. Cornelia was very lucky because he never experienced any combat during his overseas campaign. He never had to fire a weapon. He remembers hearing Tokyo Rose [Annotator's Note: nickname given by Allied servicemen to any English-speaking female radio personality broadcasting Japanese propaganda in the Pacific Theater] over the radio while he was in the Pacific. He celebrated VJ-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945] while he was in the Philippines. During his occupation duty in Japan, he got friendly with a Japanese family. Where he was, the people were very primitive. There was lots of snow during the winter. They would receive their food by ferry boat and they fished for salmon.

Matthew Cornelia's most memorable experience of World War 2 was when it ended. He served because he wanted to do something for his country. The war changed his life because he had better opportunities after the war. He would not have gone to college without the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment], which gave him a successful career. He is glad to serve his country. He says he did not do anything heroic, but he did what he was told to do. He is happy to be a veteran. America crushed Japan and Germany and brought freedom to this country. This made America a real-world power. He believes that there should be institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana], and they should continue to teach to future generations. He thinks the museum is a wonderful organization and he is happy he was interviewed.