Monroe Scherer was born in Brooklyn [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn, New York] in March 1926. He lived in Manhattan [Annotator's Note: Manhattan, New York] when he was in high school. He was an only child of a single parent. His father left the family when Scherer was two. He was not significantly aware of the Great Depression. He had a lot of extended family and was close with his cousins. He spent a short time living with his grandparents who were old school Europeans from Minsk, Russian on his mother's side and Bucharest, Romania on his father's side. They spoke Yiddish. Sunday morning, 7 December [Annotator's Note: 7 December 1941] he went to spend the afternoon with a friend. His friend was listening to the news on the radio and that is when he heard about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. The next morning at school, they listened to FDR's [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] "Day of Infamy" speech [Annotator's Note: President Roosevelt's speech to a Joint Session of the United States Congress on 8 December 1941]. He wondered if he would be involved in the war since he was 15. In one way, the news frightened him. He had learned about the gas attacks of World War 1. His mother was news conscious and aware of the situation with Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] and with China. Scherer felt pretty sophisticated for a 15 year old. His mother spoke English and they were Americanized. His relatives were successful and were well educated. His grandfather had his own shop. His grandmother had died in the Pandemic of 1918 [Annotator's Note: 1918 flu pandemic, or Spanish flu, February 1918 to April 1920]. He did have a relative in Romania who somehow survived the war.

Monroe Scherer was the chess champion of not only basic, but later training. He was at Fort Belvoir, Virginia which was close the service clubs in Washington, D.C. One night he went to one and a man came up and said he would play anybody and would give them a handicap. He would sit and face the wall and not watch the boards. Five soldiers and one sailor took up the challenge. He defeated everybody except Scherer. They ended in a draw. The player was Reuben Fine and he was an International Grandmaster. 17 and 18-year-old boys miss girls. At the service clubs they could meet them. Sometimes they dated, but they were not supposed to. One girl gave him her number, but it turned out to be a false one. When he came back from overseas, she was still there. She did not remember him and rejected him for the second time. After basic training, Scherer was assigned to base maintenance. That assignment lasted a couple of months and he spent a lot of it collecting garbage. He was so bored, he went to his company commander and asked to be sent into action. He was assigned to clerk-typist school instead. The Army pulled him before he was finished and sent him overseas as a replacement. Scherer wound up in Company A, 1341st Combat Engineers [Annotator's Note: 1341st Engineer Combat Battalion].

Monroe Scherer had lost a year of studies due to illness as a child. When he turned 18, he was still in high school. He registered for the draft and the Army allowed him to continue school. He was drafted in 1944. One friend from elementary school went into the Army Air Corps and served the war in Texas. His closest friend from high school, also named Monroe, was drafted into the Infantry and served in the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. That friend was awarded the Bronze Star [Annotator's Note: the fourth-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy] for his action there. Another friend was killed in battle. He remained in touch with them for the rest of their lives. Scherer did not hear of his friend's death until some years after the war was over. It still gave him pangs. Scherer was sent to Fort Belvoir, Virginia for training in the combat engineers. He calls them the manual labor group; they built roads, buildings, bridges. They also were responsible for discovering and defusing mines. It was not to save the infantry, but to see that the vehicles and equipment got through. He was fortunate that he never was called to perform that service. He grew up feeling completely independent. He thought of himself as a pacifist as a kid and tried to avoid fights. He got along with everybody in the service. In basic training, very few guys were from big cities like he was. Most of them were from farms and had not finished high school. They called him Mr. Dictionary.

Monroe Scherer was shipped out to California where he visited some relatives and friends. He then went by troop ship to Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands]. He slept on deck because it was so hot down below. He was alone on deck with one gun. He saw a complete, beautiful, double rainbow and hoped it was a good sign. He was on Saipan for a short time when the campaign was already over. There were hundreds of Japanese soldiers hiding in the caves. They would come out to steal food and arms. They were not a danger for the most part and were left alone. Saipan was a base for the B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] bombing Japan. It was the only time during the war, that he faced Japanese troops. One morning, two Japanese waving a white flag came out. They were literally starving and were terrified of surrendering. The engineers fed them and then three more came out and surrendered. Scherer knew they were not in danger from them and this was a sign that war was going well. A week or two after the surrender, Scherer went see the B-29s. He had never flown before and a crew member asked if he wanted a ride. Scherer had a very exciting time on the flight. The pilot was doing diving maneuvers, Scherer was holding on for dear life, and the crew members were laughing at him. They flew for an hour and a half. He will never forget that flight.

Monroe Scherer was shipped from Saipan to Guam [Annotator's Note: both in the Mariana Islands] for a few days before going to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He was assigned to a supply outfit within the engineers. They would got to the Port of Naha [Annotator's Note: Naha, Okinawa, Japan], load their trucks, and then drive to supply depots and unload. They would also deliver supplies to various places. The campaign for Okinawa was a ferocious one. The Japanese had built underground fortifications. The American initial landing was unopposed. The Marines went north to almost no resistance. As soon as they [Annotator's Note: the Army] moved south, heavy fire then caused the greatest American casualties of the Pacific Theater. Most of the time, Scherer was on trucks or repairing and building roads. Many of the southern Okinawan women and children committed suicide. There were no men in the north where the Marines were. Scherer toured the north when the war was over. The south of the island was devastated. Naha, Shuri, and Yanbaru were completely devastated. Naha harbor has all been rebuilt. Scherer got there in July 1945. There was a sign there that said they were going to start training for the invasion of Japan. That week, the first bomb was dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945].

[Annotator's Note: Monroe Scherer was sent to Okinawa, Japan in July 1945.] There was a sign posted saying that they were going to be training for the invasion of Japan. They all knew this was going to be terrible on the basis of what they had seen during other campaigns. The Japanese were prepared to throw everything into the defense of the home islands. Honshu [Annotator's Note: Honshu, Japan] was to be the first. Troops were probably coming in from the European Theater. Most of the guys were terrified. None of the guys in his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1341st Engineer Combat Battalion] had been in combat. He would come across bodies of Japanese soldiers when he was on patrols. He came across the body of an American soldier and all that remained were two legs in the boots. The stench of death was terrible. He knew that in the invasion of Japan, the engineers would be in danger. One of the sergeants who had trained Scherer at Fort Belvoir [Annotator's Note: Fort Belvoir, Virginia] was now in charge of him. Okinawa is in the typhoon region. Four of them hit when he was there. A few weeks after the signing of the peace treaty, Typhoon Louise hit Okinawa [Annotator's Note: on 9 October 1945]. It was ferocious. Everything went down. The tent he was in collapsed on them. The entire camp was demolished. The storm persisted for 20 hours. He was holding on with all of his strength and was terrified. [Annotator's Note: Scherer reads from his notes describing the ferocity of the storm.] During the storm, 36 American soldiers were killed, 49 missing, and 100 injured. If the war had not ended, this storm would have at least delayed the invasion of Japan, making the war last longer. The sound of the wind was unbearable. The only building left standing was the latrine.

[Annotator's Note: Monroe Scherer survived Typhoon Louise on Okinawa, Japan on 9 October 1945.] Some groups rebuilt the supply depot. As soon as the ships were able to come in, they started to get the supplies out. It took two weeks for them to get things out. Some of the canned goods survived in his camp. They ate better than a lot of the other troops. They were extremely lucky, and they knew it. There were a number of ships sunk during the storm. People were happy to get anything. They had lost everything. The day that Scherer heard the bomb was dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945], was tremendous, but it did not mean the war was ending. The invasion training was postponed for a few days. There was not much difference in the way they felt. It was an enormous bomb that had wiped out a city, but the Japanese did not surrender. The second bomb dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945]. Nothing again. It took eight days for them to surrender. Scherer remembers that day. The entire island went crazy. Being in the supply company, they were well supplied with alcohol. Some bags of sugar were never delivered. On 15 August [Annotator's Note: 15 August 1945; the day Japan surrendered], men were shooting their weapons into the air. There were some casualties. Shortly after, they were told they were going to Japan to be occupiers. They then got assigned to Korea instead. The Japanese scurried away from Korea. [Annotator's Note: Scherer talks about the Korean comfort women.] He boarded and LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] and in Korea was greeted with a sign that said, "Welcome Americans. Angels of Peace."

[Annotator's Note: Monroe Scherer was sent to Korea on occupation duty after Japan surrendered.] The Russians had occupied northern Korea. He was assigned again to deliver supplies and repair roads. Scherer was promoted to Private First Class. They lived in an old converted factory building. It was easy to be comfortable and much more relaxed [Annotator's Note: than when he was on Okinawa, Japan]. He went on pass to Seoul. He noticed how colorful it was. Waste facilities were nonexistent, but the people were cheerful and welcoming. One day he attended a concert. He loves classical music. The Korean Symphony Orchestra gave a concert. There were three players. They had some singers and a dancer who had been trained in Japan. He went to a restaurant for the first time since he left the United States. He had rice and a strip of meat. He does not know what kind of meat. The Koreans were happy to have them after the rule of the Japanese. Some Korean boys worked with them. Shortly after they landed in Korea, young women offered to do their laundry in exchange for goods. They later offered sexual services and were taken quite seriously. It was not random, and it was a pairing that stayed the same throughout. Scherer had a girlfriend before he went into the Army who died of cancer while he was in basic training. They had been dating seriously for two years so Scherer did not take part in sexual arrangements. He was never a smoker and he did not drink beer, so he traded those things.

Some weeks after Monroe Scherer arrived in Korea, some of the older members went back to the United States. Scherer volunteered to be the company clerk [Annotator's Note: of Company A, 1341st Engineer Combat Battalion, 34th Engineer Combat Regiment]. This meant no more ditch-digging, loading and unloading heavy things. Unfortunately, he had never practiced typing. He was often in the clerk's room until late at night due to his poor typing. One of his jobs was deciding what mail could be saved and what could not. It was a tedious job. He got to Korea around the end of October [Annotator's Note: October 1945]. He remembers having Thanksgiving dinner in Korea. Towards Christmas, an event happened that made him popular. He received a package around 15 December. The contents were disgusting, but it was a wax covering. They took it off and it was a Jewish salami. Word got around quickly. Scherer got a couple of pieces; they had a party that night. He got a notice that his mother needed an operation and applied for an emergency furlough for Scherer. The 1341st was going to be dissolved. He got to go home. [Annotator's Note: Scherer gets emotional.]. On 31 December 1945 he went to the airport in Seoul.

After being discharged, Monroe Scherer attended college on the G.I. Bill. Most of the students in his classes were three years younger than him. He would get into heated discussions with them about dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. He was in Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] when it happened, and he told them they were not there, and the war would have lasted another year or more [Annotator's Note: had the bombs not been dropped]. [Annotator's Note: Scherer returns to when he was leaving Seoul, South Korea for the United States in December 1945.] They were heading toward Japan and Tokyo. He was on a DC-3 [Annotator's Note: Douglas DC-3; civilian passenger variant of the C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft] flying low, and they flew over Hiroshima. What he saw he will never forget. He draws an analogy. If you are looking at a picture of a dead soldier, you are looking at a picture. If you are looking at a dead soldier, you are looking at a dead human being. Looking at pictures of bombings from all over, you see rubble. The city may be bombed but there is life in it. When he saw Hiroshima [Annotator's Note: he will refer to it as Okinawa several times], it was a dead city. No trees, no rubble, little or no destruction, the rest of the area clear. Not a human, not a flower. Just a massive expanse of radiation. It hit him like a hammer in the gut. For the rest of the flight to Tokyo, nobody said a word. They had been laughing and joyful before.

On 31 December 1945, Monroe Scherer landed in Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan; after leaving occupation duty in Korea]. At midnight in his hotel room, he heard two American servicemen shouting Happy New Year. He had left the 1341st [Annotator's Note: 1341st Engineer Combat Battalion, 34th Engineer Combat Regiment]. He got along fine with other servicemen. One of the boys in his outfit had been a member of Hitler Youth [Annotator's Note: youth organization of the Nazi Party]. He was of German birth and it had been requested he join them. His parents were no fans of Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] and got out of Germany as soon as they could. Because they were not Jewish, it was easier. Scherer spent 1 January 1946, sightseeing in Tokyo. One street was pretty much intact, and they mingled with the Japanese. He saw no hostility or interaction. He had no money and could not buy souvenirs. On 2 January he got on a flight to Hawaii, where he stayed overnight. He then was flown to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] where he had some relatives. His relatives came to see him at the train platform and people were hollering for him. Everybody cheered when his aunt and cousin rushed up to see him. He spent five days on the train. His mother was recovering after being in the hospital. He had his first furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. He was then sent to Fort Belvoir [Annotator's Note: Fort Belvoir, Virginia] but had no job. They put him in charge of the motor pool. He did not know how to drive. One Sunday he was alone there with one draftee. They were bored and he got into a jeep and somehow got it into gear. They drove around the motor pool and he had to slam on the brakes, throwing them both out of the jeep. On a free day, he went to a dance. He was sent to Fort Dix [Annotator's Note: Fort Dix, New Jersey] for a few days for processing and was discharged.

Monroe Scherer took advantage of the G.I Bill and went to NYU [Annotator's Note: New York University, New York, New York] and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute; now, New York University Tandon School of Engineering; New York, New York] and became a chemist. He worked until he was 80. Surviving the typhoon [Annotator's Note: Typhoon Louise; Okinawa, Japan 9 October 1945] is the most memorable experience of the war for him. The B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] flight was also memorable. Seeing what had been done to Hiroshima [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945] was unforgettable. He opened a package of letters that he had sent his mother [Annotator's Note: just before this interview]. He thought he would write them up and prepare a memoir. He has a series of 18 brief stories about his life in the service that he has shared with relatives, friends, and family. He feels embarrassed about some of the commentaries he has made. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer says it would be great for him to share them with The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana]. If anybody were to ask him if he was unhappy during the war, he would say he was not unhappy. He would rather have been dancing with girls, but it exposed him to meet a lot of people he would never have known. He was uncomfortable many times, but he was never depressed.