Michael Linquata was born in July 1925 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The community was very poor during the Depression. Fishing was a tough business during that time. Linquata fished as a young man and had a good time doing it. He worked for his father at an early age. That was typical for the times. He got to know the good people around the wharves. He started as a gofer and then learned to salt the mackerel. He attended school during those times. World events were seldom discussed by the family even though they were very patriotic and pro-American. His family was proud to be Americans. Linquata's class went to the cemetery and sang Civil War songs. Linquata can remembers seeing the last Civil War veteran in a parade in Gloucester. The attack on Pearl Harbor surprised Linquata. It was totally unanticipated. The country believed in the President [Annotator's Note: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt] and understood how severe the damage was in Pearl Harbor. The feelings against the Japanese and Germans worsened as a consequence. America got involved in the World War when Japan and Germany declared war on her. Linquata was in high school and was apprehensive about the world situation. He graduated on an accelerated basis from high school because of the anticipated need for young men in the service. He graduated in January 1944.

Michael Linquata went to Boston after graduation [Annotator's Note: he graduated from high school in January 1944]. He underwent military examinations and physicals along with many other men. Linquata was color blind in certain colors. A friend helped him passed the test. He could not hide the fact that he was nearsighted. A month later, he was drafted and sent to Fort Devens, Massachusetts. He was then shipped to Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois which was a medical training facility. Linquata was comfortable with that training except for the conscientious objectors there. They were unwilling to fight because of their religious beliefs. Linquata turned 19 years of age while in camp. D-Day happened in June just prior to Linquata's birthday in July. A sergeant gave him the option to go to general service in lieu of his limited service status. Linquata, along with 13,000 men and Winston Churchill [Annotator's Note: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill], crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary. They had two meals a day because of galley limitations. The vessel landed at the Firth of Forth near Glasgow, Scotland. Winston Churchill gave his regards to the troops following the voyage. The troops drilled in the rain every day. They managed to get off base on occasion. Linquata gave a pint of blood and obtained a pass to London. A cab driver showed them London. He included areas that were devastated by the aerial and rocket bombings by the Germans. Later, as a prisoner of war in Germany, Linquata had no compassion for that country's destruction pointed out to him by his German guards. [Annotator's Note: Linquata laughs.]

Michael Linquata went to France from Dover, England on an English troopship. He saw the white cliffs of Dover. It was Thanksgiving Day [Annotator's Note: 23 November 1944] but no food was provided for the short trip. Instead, he had a can of sardines for dinner. It was better than nothing. They arrived in Le Havre at Camp Lucky Strike. He had a whole new round of examinations and injections. He was assigned to the 35th Infantry Division. He then traveled to the front in an Army truck in mid-December. He heard artillery fire from both sides of the lines. It was cold. Linquata was assigned to an aid station. He remembers a young man dying on a stretcher in the station. The dead man had his arm outstretched. Linquata was told to remove the body. As he carried the stretcher, he bumped the man's arm in the doorway. Linquata said "excuse me" before he realized the poor man was dead. [Annotator's Note: Linquata laughs.] They were close to Luxembourg. A large barn with slate shingles was across the street. A bomb hit the roof and shingles flew dangerously close to them. They could have killed anyone nearby.

After a brief time at an aid station, Michael Linquata was assigned to the 2nd Platoon, D Company, 134th Infantry Regiment [Annotator's Note: 2nd Platoon, Company D, 1st Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division]. The aid station had doctors in charge. In the platoon, Linquata was in charge of taking care of the wounded until they could be withdrawn for treatment. While ordered to support Company B, Linquata experienced enemy machine gun fire. His sergeant directed his men away from the gunfire but Company B was not to be found. Withdrawing to the American lines, Linquata was the last man in line as the medic. The group stopped when they discovered some Germans. The Americans took care of the German and Linquata took the pistol from the dead man. Reaching the American lines, they were asked the password. Not knowing it, the patrol had to be checked out. Germans in American uniforms were infiltrating the lines. The men cleared the investigation. They got a jeep and put the dead German on the hood. The captain was upset because the dead man still had a knife in his boot. After he was captured, Linquata lost the enemy pistol.

On one mission, Michael Linquata and his squad were to advance into a forest with their sergeants. The enlisted men refused to follow the non-commissioned officers. As the medic and last man in the column, Linquata admonished the green soldiers to move forward. They were young and inexperienced and refused. The sergeants managed to return safely. A few days later, there was another reconnaissance mission. On top of a little hill, the Americans observed two German snipers in their white camouflage. They could not be seen against the snow. The green troops had a machine gun and set it up and shot at the enemy. One was wounded and ran toward the woods. He was bleeding badly. The non-com [Annotator's Note: non-commissioned officer] refused to pursue the snipers into the woods for fear that other Germans were ahead. The last day in battle, Linquata was in deep snow. German mortars caught the first two men in the patrol. One of the two was a very handsome man. He knew it and was forever grooming himself. The enemy shell tore his face off. Reconstruction was not possible. The poor man went from being the most handsome fellow to not being in that category at all. Linquata felt sorry for him. The other man was a small fellow. He lost both legs below the knee. He was likely wheelchair bound the rest of his life. The two men were good people but were not destined to live a full life. As the men advanced into the woods, a major who was in line just ahead of Linquata was reading a map. The Germans ambushed them. The major disappeared. He apparently ran the other way. He ended up as a general in the Army. The squad also included a shipyard worker from Boston who had been drafted. As the unit progressed into the woods, the man from Boston was out front. He was frightened and Linquata helped him withdraw to safety.

Michael Linquata participated in a battle that occurred in bitter cold. The weapons froze and would not fire. While next to a rifleman who could still fire his weapon, Linquata discovered that he was too close to the loud noise. His ear drum was punctured. It seeped puss the whole time Linquata was a prisoner of war. The captain of Company C [Annotator's Note: Company C, 1st Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division] was an effective leader. He decided to withdraw the able bodied men. Linquata and the medic from Company C were left with 20 wounded men. One of the sergeants was badly wounded in the stomach. He was in a shallow dugout. His name was Babcock [Annotator's Note: no given name provided]. Linquata provided insight to the sergeant as to what he should do next. The Germans later came and took the wounded man back and medically tended to him. Linquata decided to surrender the wounded men. He prayed as he passed through the German lines. He observed 50 to 100 enemy soldiers who had been killed that day. The bodies were frozen stiff after being dead only 15 minutes. As he walked out of the woods, he went up a hill that was covered with snow. He could see his own spirit watching him. [Annotator's Note: Linquata becomes emotional.] As he reached the top of the hill, he came on two German tanks, each with their cannon pointed at him. The enemy started to interrogate him, but they could not communicate. Linquata used sign language and got his message across that he was caring for numerous American wounded. The enemy motioned him onward. He reached a German company that was fearful of American artillery. Linquata finally reached the enemy headquarters and a German officer. The officer ordered a squad of Germans to follow Linquata who led them to the American wounded. Linquata told the wounded to keep their hands in sight. When the Germans began to take the valuables from the wounded, Linquata objected. The Americans were allowed to keep those items. It aided them in captivity later as watches and rings were used for barter with German guards.

Michael Linquata was careful to tend to his wounded as they were marched into a barn that was used by the Germans to house the POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war]. There in the barn was the captain who had retreated and left Linquata with the wounded. He also had been captured. Some men who attempted to escape were executed. The Germans were killing prisoners at that time. Prayers helped Linquata. The prisoners were marched to railroad stations and camps. Linquata observed destruction of German villages as he marched. The POWs were fed soup along the way. It was one of the few good meals he received in captivity. There was scant food in the railcar during the trip to the camp. The men were crammed into the boxcars. They suffered from extreme thirst. They briefly stayed at a POW camp in Cologne. After another rail transit, they were taken to Bad Orb [Annotator's Note: Stalag IX-B], which was a hellhole. It was the same conditions as concentration camps. The last camp he stayed in had no sanitary facilities or fresh clothes. Food was limited. Lice were prevalent. Patience was non-existent. A man from Linquata's hometown [Annotator's Note: Gloucester, Massachusetts] died there, likely due to lack of medical attention. Linquata had to serve as a judge once for a man who had stolen something. The guilty man was told that he would be killed if he repeated the offense. He never stole again. The sawdust in the bread was similar to what was being provided to concentration camp inmates. Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] was the devil and a madman. The Germans should have known better.

Michael Linquata saw a group of Allied light tanks open the gates of the POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] camp on 2 April [Annotator's Note: 2 April 1945]. A week or two before Easter there was a mass. The priest was either American or German. The prisoners were too weak to stand. They were asked to sit for the Bible recitation. The POWs knew they were going to be liberated when the German radio kept delivering messages that their Army was victorious but getting closer and closer to Frankfurt. Ultimately, the so-called victories were past Frankfurt. It was obvious that the enemy was being pushed east. Bad Orb was a health resort for the Germans. That was not the case for the POW camp location. It was at the top of a mountain. The prisoners could hear the sound of artillery and bombardment coming closer and closer despite the propaganda heard over German radio. Finally, the American 7th Cavalry [Annotator's Note: 106th Cavalry Regiment] liberated the POWs. The next day, trucks of C-rations were shipped in to the POWs. The hungry men were warned not to overeat. Some of the former prisoners did not take heed. A few days later, trucks came to transport the liberated POWs out of the camp. They were able to shower in hot water. It was very welcome after a month in the front lines and three months in the POW camp. The men had to use gasoline to effectively kill the lice that infested them. Clean clothes were issued to the freed prisoners. Linquata felt very happy. [Annotator's Note: Linquata becomes emotional.] The men knew they had done the best that they could. They were all very patriotic Americans. While he was a POW, there had been no electricity, heat, or toilet facilities, and the food was horrible. Linquata would sometimes pass on eating because the food smelled so foul. His normal weight was 155 pounds. At liberation, he was 85 pounds. He had a distended stomach.

Michael Linquata and his friend Ray Miller were taken to an airport in Germany after their liberation. They were pleased to get a bite to eat before their flight from Frankfurt, Germany. They flew to Camp Lucky Strike near Le Havre. Linquata vomited on the plane. At Camp Lucky Strike, the former POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] could eat six meals a day. After a week or two, they went by ship back to the United States. Arriving in New York, he was soon granted two months off. He stayed home with his mother and ate large meals. The notice of his capture by the Germans had been delayed until after his liberation. His family took care of him and his friends as they caught up. After two or three months, he returned to his normal life. He was given two weeks in Lake Placid in New York by the Army. He was given a physical by the Army. Everything was alright except he was going bald. Turned out it was not all that important because he was still alive. He was 21 years of age. He chose not to stay in the Army because he wanted to go to college and continue with his life. He used the G.I. Bill and graduated from Suffolk University in Boston. He was the class president in his senior year. He started the alumni association with a few of his friends. He later served on the Board of Trustees and various committees for the university. He took on more and more roles with responsibility for the university. During this time, he was working with his father in the fishing business. In 1984, he was awarded a trusteeship and honorary doctorate from the University. His mother was reluctant at first to attend the ceremony because of her Parkinson's disease but changed her mind when she was told she would sit next to the archbishop. [Annotator's Note: Linquata laughs.]

Michael Linquata had a duty at the beginning of his combat service to check personnel for injuries after any artillery barrage. He spotted a young man who had been killed. The dead man's eyes were open and still sparkled. His helmet was blown off. The man's head was open and his brains were sticking out from his body. The Graves Registration personnel had the responsibility to bury the dead. They treated the dead as objects and tossed them on the truck without much regard for them. Linquata did not want that dead young man to suffer that. He put the man's brains back in his head and bandaged him up. He placed the helmet back on him. Linquata practiced brain surgery at 19 years of age. [Annotator's Note: Linquata laughs.]

Michael Linquata remembers his liberation and clean up as the best memory of the war. The time with his friend Ray Miller when they ate six meals a day rivaled that. Linquata had no problem adjusting to civilian life. He thinks about combat and life as a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] all the time. He prays for the men he took care of during those times. Veterans with a debilitating wound have to live a tough life. People who did not live through that have no appreciation for it. Linquata feels he is fortunate to have his physical and mental capabilities. World War 2 changed Linquata by teaching him to struggle for the things he wants in life. He keeps a Christian focus in his efforts. He served in the war to avoid the stigma of being rejected and called a 4-F [Annotator's Note: Selective Service Classification for an individual whjo is unfit for military service]. Linquata feels lonely because of his service since most of his peers are gone or disabled. He is in the minority to be blessed with good health. The National WWII Museum and other similar institutions are important to keep the story of the war alive. The history must be taught to avoid repetition of those events.