Norman Raner was born in November 1917 near Guthrie Center, Iowa. He went to high school and then worked in a CC Camp [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps] in Springbrook [Annotator's Note: Springbrook, Iowa]. Everybody was just as bad off as everyone else. They were burning corn for heat. They raised their own meat and had a big garden. That is how they survived [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. He had one brother and three sisters. Raner left high school in his junior year. He and a friend heard about California. He had an uncle who had a restaurant there. Raner and his friend hitchhiked out there. That was a hairy two week time. They had to hustle to eat. He stayed a year. He worked with his dad in the coal mine but did not like it. Raner played softball in the CC Camp for the summer. After the CC Camp, he returned to California again. When he came back, the draft had started. He decided to go in the service [Annotator's Note: 8 May 1941].

Norman Raner enlisted on 18 May 1941. He went to Port Des Moines [Annotator's Note: Port of Des Moines, Iowa] and then to Fort Leavenworth [Annotator's Note: Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kansas] for three days. He and four others wound up in the 34th Division [Annotator's Note: 34th Infantry Division]. It was a National Guard unit [Annotator's Note: Iowa National Guard]. He went on the Louisiana Maneuvers [Annotator's Note: a series of major Army exercises held in 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana]. He and Ted Rinsick [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] were called the "R&R Boys" [Annotator's Note: due to their last names]. They followed each other all the way through the maneuvers. They became the number one and number two Scouts. Rinsick joined the Rangers [Annotator's Note: Army Rangers]. Raner joined but was disqualified at the pool. He passed everything but the swimming. He went to Fort Dix [Annotator's Note: in Trenton, New Jersey]. They lived in six man tents and it was cold. They were allowed a gallon of coal a day. They chopped their flooring out for kindling. They got KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police] for that, but at least they were warm. He had been down at Camp Claiborne [Annotator's Note: in Rapides Parish, Louisiana] when Pearl Harbor happened [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. They broke camp the next day and went to Gulfport [Annotator's Note: Gulfport, Mississippi] to protect the sulfur mines. He was with I Company, 133, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Platoon [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division]. He was in first squad and was number one scout. On maneuvers, he and another person would be out ahead of the squad. Their ship [Annotator's Note: the troopship HMTS Strathaird] was loaded when they got there in the dark. They did not get to see the Statue of Liberty when they went out. They were below decks. They went to Ireland and landed at Belfast [Annotator's Note: Belfast, Ireland].

Norman Raner and his outfit [Annotator's Note: Raner served as a scout in 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] went to Belfast, Ireland. They had a few problems with the British and the Irish troops as opponents in training. Mostly they had long marches. The 133 [Annotator's Note: 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division], 168 [Annotator's Note: 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division], and 135 [Annotator's Note: 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] were doing the same things in different areas. Some were in Scotland. They knew they were going to be in battle but did not know they would be on the continent. They found out they were going to Africa once they were on ship. They heard their sister regiment, the 168, had landed there a month before they did. They got to Ireland in February [Annotator's Note: February 1942] and left out about a year later [Annotator's Note: 3 January 1943]. They had gone to Ireland on the Strathaird [Annotator's Note: HMTS Strathaird]. They called the ship to Africa the "Duchess of Apple". It was a Limey [Annotator's Note: slang for British people] ship [Annotator's Note: the Strathaird] they called a "Goat Ship" because they only had lamb stew to eat. When they loaded up for Africa, they had heard the 168 was already there. They had never gotten instructions on how to disembark from a troopship. As they went through Gibraltar [Annotator's Note: Gibraltar, British Overseas Territory] all they could see was the skyline. It was quiet. It was a big convoy. Another ship hit their ship and caused a big hole. The men below were waiting for the torpedo to come in because they thought they had been shot. There was no resistance coming in. There was a fort on the hill in Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria]. The French swung their guns around when they came in but the destroyers trained their guns on the French and the French lowered their guns.

Norman Raner got off the ship in Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria]. He went to an old school and billeted [Annotator's Note: a place, usually civilian or nonmilitary, where soldiers are lodged temporarily]. They had bunk beds. They were there about a week, and then took off along the coast. They knew they were getting into action but not how soon. On the trucks, you would walk ten miles and ride ten miles. They were all indoctrinated enough to know what combat was going to be like. They had trained under live fire. Raner was made a corporal in Ireland with the rifle squad. In Africa, he became a BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle] sergeant [Annotator's Note: with 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division]. His first big action was after Kassarine [Annotator's Note: Battle of Kasserine Pass, Kasserine, Tunisia, 19 to 24 February 1943]. They were getting damage from the tankers [Annotator's Note: tanks] from Kassarine. His BAR was assigned to another three squads of riflemen. They dug upright firing positions. He tried to have two men with the BAR. They let the half-track [Annotator's Note: German half-track; a vehicle with front wheels and rear tracks] and recon car [Annotator's Note: reconnaissance car] come down the road. They had four 37s [Annotator's Note: M3 37mm anti-tank gun] buried in there. They let them come. There was a motorcycle guy with them, and he went through where Raner was. They could not shoot him without shooting their own guys. The 37s hit the car and halftrack. They captured two officers and some enlisted men. They had mines for the tanks and mined the road that night. They got an order to get rid of anything too heavy to carry to be able to head out. Raner was assigned with his BAR to be the rear guard. In an hour, word came down for Raner to go forward with a runner. It took him about 45 minutes to get to the front. He was given a compass and told to get them out of there. Raner checked in with him that night. They only had the water they had been issued the last morning. They marched all night. Around noon the next day, the captain told him to keep away from the river because the water was not fit to drink. He could not stop the men from drinking it. They came in on the right spot. A tank came over the hill and shot one of the men. That was the only casualty on the whole trip.

The area Norman Raner was in was where the eight-inch howitzers [Annotator's Note: M1 eight inch, 203mm howitzer; heavy field gun] were. They [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] were down in a wadi [Annotator's Note: valley or ravine that is dry except when it is raining] where a tank could not see them, but they could not sight on the tank. The tank left. The terrain was similar to the American West. He was on patrol and sometimes the only way to know their way was to follow the sheep or goat trails. They were only there four or five days. They moved to Sbeitla [Annotator's Note: Sbeitla, Tunisia]. They were five or six miles from the airport. They were told they were going to attack Fondouk [Annotator's Note: Fondouk Pass, or Funduq al ʻUqbí, Tunisia]. The trucks took them, and they arrived in the dark. Guns were flashing. They disembarked and could see the mountain. An artillery barrage came and daylight broke. They were about a mile from where they were supposed to depart. By the time they got there, it was broad daylight. There had been another battle already. Raner was in reserve at the tail end. His was the only squad left opposite the enemy. They received machine gun fire. His platoon sergeant called his squad up. As they got up to move, 60mm mortars [Annotator's Note: German mortars; likely the 50mm leichter Granatwerfer 36, or Light Grenade Thrower 36] starting coming in. The sergeant took a direct hit. Another man was hit. Raner picked up the BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle] and they took cover. One gunner took his helmet off and the Germans shot at it. He put it back on and they shot him. The bullet had circled inside his helmet. Raner found out later it had cracked his skull. He did not hear from him after the war. An American tank came up and they wanted it to go get some of their guys out, but they would not go. The British came in on the left flank. Rommel [Annotator's Note: German Army Generalfeldmarschall, or Field Marshal, Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel] was coming by them. The Germans were dive-bombing, and the English would stop for tea. They were mad at the Germans for getting sand in their tea. The second night they organized and moved off to flank a hill. Another unit was in place already. It kept Rommel from coming back in.

To Norman Raner, the enemy [Annotator's Note: the German Army forces he faced in the deserts of North Africa] was hardcore. He talked to a captured guy who told him that the group ahead of him that got captured were all shot. Raner lost ten men [Annotator's Note: from Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] on a road one day. When they were making a forced march, they had passed word around that if they heard a plane to lay on the ground and cover their faces. They heard aircraft but none were low flying. Raner watched an aerial dogfight of P-38s [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] after Stukas [Annotator's Note: Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber] at high altitude. They knocked down one of the Stukas. They never had a chance to take prisoners before taking Hill 609 [Annotator's Note: Battle of Hill 609, Djebel Tahent, Tunisia; 27 April to 1 May 1943]. They did after that. After they captured the peak, there were loners out shooting at them. Raner took some men out. One could speak German and he told them to stop firing at them and to give up. Some did give up. They had no artillery support in their fighting. He only saw one tank at Fondouk [Annotator's Note: Fondouk Pass, or Funduq al ʻUqbí, Tunisia]. The artillery was not like it was later on. They did not have good communications then either. Raner was on a patrol only a half a mile from headquarters and they could not get them on the radios. They could get Axis Sally [Annotator's Note: Rita Luisa Zucca]. They were trucked out of there. They stayed that night in a wash and the colonel drew a diagram of where they were going. A lieutenant who had just joined them had a Tommy gun [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun]. He accidentally started shooting. Raner had to knock his hand off the trigger. The colonel thanked him. Raner took that same lieutenant out on patrol as his new platoon leader. He took him on 609. The lieutenant wanted to go the wrong way and insisted. Raner let him go and told him to be back in a half an hour. He did not come back. Raner did not want to risk his men and returned to camp. The lieutenant came in around daylight. Raner sent him to Company Headquarters. He never came back. Raner told them he did want him to kill his boys.

Norman Raner and his outfit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] attacked the mountain at night [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of Hill 609, Djebel Tahent, Tunis, Tunisia; 27 April to 1 May 1943]. There was scrub oak and the hillsides were at 45 degree angles. They got lost the first 30 minutes going up. They had to backtrack and go up the other side. They were at a rift in the rock that was kind of a platform. Above them on the next ledge, was a plateau. It was like that all the way up the mountain. They started sweeping on patrols. Father Hoffman [Annotator's Note: US Army Captain Albert John Hoffman, US Army Catholic Chaplain] came up one morning when Raner got back from a patrol and asked Raner if there were bodies out there. Hoffman wanted to go out there and get them. Raner said they should not but they went. The Germans started lobbing shells at them. They had to get out of there. One plane came over one morning and dive-bombed their kitchen area. They had been instructed not to fire at low flying planes. They did not want to show where the line was. The pilot had his cockpit open. He was only about 75 feet off the ground. He turned and somebody shot him down. The Germans were running out of petrol [Annotator's Note: gasoline]. When the war ended there [Annotator's Note: 1 May 1943], they started moving into Tunis [Annotator's Note: Tunis, Tunisia]. 30,000 Germans had given up and were lining up along the shore. None of the captured vehicles had petrol in them. Raner and the guys threw cigarettes and things to them as they drove by. 609 only took three days. They then moved to Tunis. He was there for the big parade [Annotator's Note: victory parade on 20 May 1943]. His guys did not want to march.

Norman Raner and his unit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] were in Tunis [Annotator's Note: Tunis, Tunisia] for about ten days when they were told they were going back to Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria]. Raner was designated to help set the camp up. He got as far as Algiers [Annotator's Note: Algiers, Algeria] and was held up for two days. They were on a railroad and then had to wait for trucks. They got replacements at that camp. They left there for Salerno [Annotator's Note: Salerno, Italy] after about a month. Raner lost his company commander at Fondouk [Annotator's Note: Fondouk Pass, or Funduq al ʻUqbí, Tunisia]. He was not killed but they thought he did a bad job. He did not do a bad job. Raner did not blame him a bit. His commander told Raner he was glad his son joined the Air Force. Unfortunately, his son, Captain Davis [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify], was shot down and killed over Burma [Annotator's Note: now Myanmar]. They did not have a lot of interaction with the British in Africa. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer says other veterans have said the North Africa battles were a butt-kicking for American forces and asks if Raner agrees.] Right. The 37-caliber [Annotator's Note: M3 37mm anti-tank gun] does not make too big of a hole in anything. The 105s [Annotator's Note: M2A1 105mm howitzer; standard light field howitzer] were not effective. They never had a chance or observers. In Italy, they landed on the beachhead and direct fire on the tanks. The 151st Field Artillery [Annotator's Note: 151st Field Artillery Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] had the anti-tankers. The deal at Fondouk [Annotator's Note: Fondouk Pass, or Funduq al ʻUqbí, Tunisia] was his worst North African experience. They had no support. Even the mortars could not fire. His weapons platoon never got into action there. He feels that if they were not going to have artillery there, they should have had some Shermans [Annotator's Note: M4 Sherman medium tank]. They went to Oran and got new men from Stateside. They tried to get them with somebody who had already been there. They had 30 days there before going over to Italy.

When Norman Raner got in the landing craft, he was told that the driver had landed on the beach three times, so Raner would hardly get his feet wet. When the gate dropped and Raner stepped off, he went in over his head [Annotator's Note: during Operation Avalanche, 9 to 16 September 1943, Salerno, Italy]. His feet did touch bottom, but he was shoulder deep in water. Everybody got wet. They had no opposition. They went in on D-plus-seven [Annotator's Note: seven days after the initial landing date, called d-day]. They were watching the planes come in, half on fire. They broke out and went around the backside of Naples [Annotator's Note: Naples, Italy] on a switchback road. They were getting shot at and had to halt. Raner was told to form a combat patrol to go up the mountain and disable what was shooting at them. They got Tommy guns [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun] with 100 rounds of ammunition. It was the first time he had ever held a Tommy gun. They started in the morning and got to the top of the hill that night. There were tank tracks at the top. They had not had contact with their company since noon. A patrol was coming down the road. They were the Nisei [Annotator's Note: first generation Japanese-American] that had joined the outfit [Annotator's Note: the 34th Infantry Division] as an extra battalion. Raner hollered the password. It was the 100th Battalion [Annotator's Note: 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), 442nd Infantry Regiment]. They moved up there that night. The area was just about the same as North Africa. There were some olive groves, but it was rough terrain. The next day he went to town with a patrol [Annotator's Note: Raner takes out a picture to show the interviewer.] They went to the mayor's place and he gave him a picture that he put in his pocket. On 13 February [Annotator's Note: 13 February 1944], Raner was wounded at Cassino [Annotator's Note: Battle of Monte Cassino, also called Battle for Rome, 19 January to 18 May 1944, Cassino, Italy] and the shrapnel put a hole in the picture. The shrapnel had come from the back side of Cassino. Every time Raner had called in strikes [Annotator's Note: artillery strikes] to that area he was told it was off limits and there was nothing back there. There were 24 buses back there.

Norman Raner rememebrs Cassino [Annotator's Note: Cassino, Italy] being flat where the town was but Cassino itself was on a hill [Annotator's Note: Monte Cassino]. There was an area near the abbey where the troops [Annotator's Note: the Germans] were. They had the screaming mimis [Annotator's Note: nebelwerfer; German multiple rocket launcher] there. Raner went on one attack there with the 1st Battalion [Annotator's Note: 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] by the Italian barracks in front of the abbey by two or three miles. The 1st got their butts romped the day before. The commander asked Raner to be the artillery officer that day. They were going to take the barracks in daylight. Raner called his outfit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] and told them to fire smoke for them. They started moving and the commander told Raner that they were where they got some sniper fire before. He then raised up and got shot right in the head. Raner stayed there and got the guys back out of there. They went as far as they could. They went in at night the next time. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer reads something about some battles and asks Raner to talk about them.] At Santa Maria Oliveto [Annotator's Note: Santa Maria Oliveto, Italy] , they were coming over the hill from Alife [Annotator's Note: Alife, Italy]. There were Germans packing up along the river [Annotator's Note: the Volturno River]. They lobbed some shells down and took them out. That night they were going to attack across the flats. Raner went down and found a place in the river to get up the banks. They crossed at a different place and went into their own artillery fire. Raner had to come in to be the assault leader. They crossed the flat and scaled the mountainside. It was mined. They used their rifles as ladders to go up the terraces. He got them all up there and encircled the town. They captured four Germans. The rest were cornered in there. Raner was put in for a battlefield commission for that.

On Christmas Day 1943 [Annotator's Note: 25 December 1943], Norman Raner was told he was receiving a battlefield commission. He went out that morning with other guys getting promotions. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Raner to talk about Monte Pantano, Italy.] At Santa Maria Oliveto [Annotator's Note: Santa Maria Oliveto, Italy], the 168th [Annotator's Note: 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] went by them and went north towards Pantano. Raner and his unit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] were pulled out to be a listening post. Men would go out to use the bathroom at the stream. Raner and his unit would never show themselves in the daylight. There were there for three days. They went out on Thanksgiving Day night [Annotator's Note: 25 November 1943]. They got turkey sandwiches and were told to get some rest. They were rousted to make an attack on Sawtooth Mountain [Annotator's Note: nickname for Monte Marrone, Italy]. When they got to the mountains, they were to go as high as they could. Raner could see the artillery that was firing on the 168th was pretty savage and he could see where it was coming from. Raner found a radio and called to get a fire mission. By that afternoon, he had silenced a lot of guns. That night he heard a commotion in the crossroads. He called Corps [Annotator's Note: VI Corps] and started fires [Annotator's Note: artillery fire]. The Germans pulled out of there then. He was using 155s [Annotator's Note: M1 155mm howitzer; nicknamed "Long Tom"; heavy field gun], 175s [Annotator's Note: unable to identify], and 185s [Annotator's Note: unable to identify] from Corps artillery.

At Alife [Annotator's Note: Alife, Italy], Norman Raner heard a chap hollering because he was hurt. A tank that Raner did not know was there started firing at him. In order to get the man out, Raner said to get a white flag. A guy went out with the flag. They all went out and got the man. They waved and thanked the Germans. The next day, they went into the town and Raner's platoon [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] was the rear guard. Raner was moving around and he ran across Colonel Rockwell [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify]. Rockwell asked him what he could do to help the men who were pinned down. Raner told him and Rockwell said to do it. Raner got to his BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle] man who said they were waiting for the Germans to come get one of their wounded men so they could shoot them. Raner reminded him of what had happened the day before. They let the Germans get their man. The Germans waved back. It helped his men get around the hill and he felt lucky for that. They moved at dusk and heard the Germans go out. At Santa Maria Oliveto [Annotator's Note: Santa Maria Oliveto, Italy] the next morning, the group got up there. Raner scattered his platoon around the town. The last guy coming up signaled Raner that there was a German there. Raner went across and the German was 12 feet away from him. Raner told him to drop his gun, but he came ahead. That was a mistake. Raner went back there in 1988 with his wife and told her what happened. After Raner shot the German, he was told to clear the way for the 168 [Annotator's Note: 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division]. The Germans were firing down on them. Raner was sent up to see if they could halt the fire. Raner got on the high side and came down four abreast. They took out the machine gun above. The Germans ran from the lower machine gun. They came across a lieutenant who had been killed. Raner ended up with his P38 [Annotator's Note: Walther P38, 9mm semi-automatic pistol].

In Cassino [Annotator's Note: Battle of Monte Cassino, also called Battle for Rome, 19 January to 18 May 1944, Cassino, Italy], Norman Raner crossed the Rapido [Annotator's Note: Rapido River; with 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] to get into the town. M Company [Annotator's Note: Company M, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] was heavy weapons with mortars. Raner went over to be a forward observer for the Cannon Company [Annotator's Note: Cannon Company, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division]. Raner knew an officer and asked what was going on. They were making a rifle attack to get up to where they could see up to the abbey [Annotator's Note: Abbey of Monte Cassino]. Raner knew that you were better off being up front than being behind where you could get hit with mortar fire. There was a German there who had been shot in the head and part of his brain was hanging out. Raner sent some men back with him and a prisoner of war. Raner found a goat shed to stay in for the night. That night it rained. They wanted to make coffee. He put a helmet full of water on a burner on the table. He looked down into town. He heard noise and a crash and turned around. The table was still standing, but there was a mortar round spinning around in the helmet. He went outside and he looked behind him and a guy was looking down in the town. Raner asked what he was doing. He said he was looking to see where the round he just fired had gone, but he thought it must have been a dud. Raner showed him the helmet. The mortar had gotten wet, and the round had just gone up and come straight down.

On Christmas Day 1943 [Annotator's Note: 25 December 1943], Norman Raner was transferred to a little airfield. Mark Clark [Annotator's Note: US Army General Mark Wayne Clark] flew in for it and pinned his bars on him. Raner came home and in the early 1950s, he was at a convention of the 34th Association [Annotator's Note: 34th Infantry Division Association] in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois]. Raner saw him [Annotator's Note: Clark] in the lobby, walked over and stood there. Clark spied him, came over and said, "Sergeant Raner, Christmas Day of '43." The only thing Raner could think to say was, "I'll be damned." He had remembered him. He was still in Cassino [Annotator's Note: Cassino, Italy] at that time frame. He was wounded soon after. Shrapnel penetrated his chest wall between his heart and his lungs. The area for the convalescents was moved around. He told a guy he had enough of it and was not going to put up with it. A nurse came around and Raner told her he was not going to be there that night. He was going to join his outfit [Annotator's Note: 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] at Anzio Beachhead [Annotator's Note: Anzio, Italy]. He left at sundown. He caught a ride in a jeep. He got on a ship, rode up to Anzio and joined his outfit the next day. They were on a stationary line. On the ship up, Raner was made Officer of the Guard and told not to let the men into the trucks onboard. Raner asked a guy if he had heard that. The guy said yes and Raner told him to wait until they were out of the harbor before taking a look. They were filled with Limey [Annotator's Note: slang for British people] beer. When they got off the boat the next morning, Raner and everybody else had all the beer they could carry.

In Anzio [Annotator's Note: Battle of Anzio, 22 January 1944 to 5 June 1944, Anzio, Italy] at night, they [Annotator's Note: the Allied troops] had to be in a foxhole or in a house. If in a foxhole, it had to be covered. There was so much antiaircraft [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft fire] going up. Half of it was coming back down. A lot of guys got hurt that way. His captain would not let Norman Raner go to the front when he first got there. They compromised and Raner waited until he healed over and could wear a patch to protect it. He went up in about five or six days. He wound up in a three story, brick-and-stone house with a red slate roof. Cisterna [Annotator's Note: Cisterna, Italy] was two or three miles from where Raner was. A couple tanks came in and fired his way. Every time he turned his radio on, he would get fire within ten minutes. The tanks came in every night and fired three or four rounds back. Raner set his watch and had them zeroed in. He got himself a tank one day. [Annotator's Note: The tape breaks.] A guy from Company E [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] who wrote a book, told Raner that they were on a counterattack. The enemy was in battle formation out there. He asked for air bursts [Annotator's Note: artillery rounds that are fuzed to detonate while still in the air]. Raner did so and the guy radioed back that they were throwing their guns down. The Germans came in. That had never happened before. Raner got a Bronze Star [Annotator's Note: the Bronze Star Medal is 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] after he sent some stories in. He was given the award by an African-American who was a head guy in the Army at that time. He forgets his name. It was in 1991.

As Anzio [Annotator's Note: Battle of Anzio, 22 January 1944 to 5 June 1944, Anzio, Italy] was tailing out [Annotator's Note: winding down], Norman Raner had heard they were going to make the breakout one morning. Raner became good friends with a Lieutenant Cox [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify]. They came into headquarters at night. When they got back, they came to gate at the same time and decided to pull something over on the captain. They coordinated coming in and sitting down together. A runner came in to see the captain. The captain explained the rules of how to enter and exit a room properly. They flipped a coin to decide who had to leave. Cox had to leave. About an hour later, the radio man came in to say the forward observer was hit. Raner went up there and found out that Cox was in three separate pieces. He put him in the body bag. [Annotator's Note: Raner flips the coin he used and says it is his favorite. It is an old Italian coin.] They broke out the next morning at daylight. They got a little way up and the company said they were moving their guns. They were moving too fast, and he told them to wait. He came across E Company [Annotator's Note: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] and a guy was hunkered down who asked Raner where he was going. Raner said to see where a machine gun was firing. His phone rang then, and he was told to get to someplace safe and wait there. The Colonel came up and asked what he was doing. [Annotator's Note: Raner was told he was going home.] He stayed with the unit [Annotator's Note: Cannon Company, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division] for two months before he got transportation home. They were going into Southern France. He just hung back and made some wine runs for the outfit. He had no more combat duty.

Norman Raner went home for 30 days and then was transferred down to Hot Springs, Arkansas for R&R [Annotator's Note: rest and recuperation]. He was to be reassigned for duty. When he got in front of the officers, a Private was there that Raner knew. His old company commander was the assignment officer but was not there. Raner decided to play a joke on the captain. He put his back to the door and his feet up on his desk. The captain came in and told him to get his feet off the desk. Raner turned around and said, "yessir." That got a laugh. The captain told him he wanted him to go to the 10th Mountain Division. Raner said it was too cold. The captain asked about Fort Bliss [Annotator's Note: Fort Bliss, Texas]. Raner said no way. The next day the captain asked him if he would consider Florida, and Raner said yes. He was assigned to a company and a West Pointer [Annotator's Note: slang for graduate of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York] picked him up for a village fight instructor. He would show the men how to get in and out of buildings and things like that. He was in Camp Blanding [Annotator's Note: Camp Blanding, Clay County, Florida] on V-E Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945]. They shut the gate and would not let anybody out. They would not bring any booze into the camp. The colonel in his outfit said he had heard Raner was a Scout. He then asked him if he thought he could get into town, get some booze, and get it back in there without being found out. He gave him money. Raner said to send him at dark with a good driver. They got out and back in about an hour and a half. When the Japanese surrendered [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945], they did the same for the big Officers' Club. [Annotator's Note: Raner laughs.] They had a formation the morning FDR [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] died [Annotator's Note: 12 April 1945]. Camp Blanding called a full formation as soon as the news was announced.

Norman Raner fought mostly Germans when he was in North Africa [Annotator's Note: with 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division]. The Italians quit right after they got there. At Saint Marie Oliveto [Annotator's Note: Saint Marie Oliveto, Italy], he found a colonel [Annotator's Note: an Italian colonel] in his house with his family who was afraid he was going to take him prisoner. Raner let him get his uniform and took him down to regiment. Raner feels the Army was in disarray in North Africa. Some of the groups were good and some were not. As it moved along, it got better. Communications were lacking in the beginning. At Benevento [Annotator's Note: Benevento, Italy in September 1943], they were coming into a town and came under intense 88 [Annotator's Note: German 88mm multi-purpose artillery] fire. His company was caught in the open and several were killed. His commander told him to go protect a bridge. The bridge had already been blown up. They stayed there to keep others from going over it. He was sent to another bridge. The next night a truck was coming in. His men were on both sides and they captured all of the men in the truck. They had explosives to blow that bridge. Sergeant Downs [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] and Sergeant Garthwaite [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] got Silver Stars [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] for that. Staff Sergeant Raner did not. He was on the wrong side of the truck. [Annotator's Note: Raner laughs.]

Norman Raner thinks it is important to continue to study World War 2. His Association [Annotator's Note: 34th Infantry Division Association] tries to keep things alive with their museums. He was president of the Association in 1956 and 1957. They have reunions every year. They had a Russian there who had been in a German prisoner of war camp in Italy. He was liberated and nearly on his death bed. He was at the reunion to thank the Americans. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Raner how he thinks the war changed him.] He had a flashback last night [Annotator's Note: the night before this interview.] He has had three or four in this month. It was about being up on Sawtooth Mountain [Annotator's Note: nickname for Monte Marrone, Italy] trying to get warm. He will be wide awake hoping the dream does not come back. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad. Now when he talks about it, it does not affect him, but it is still there. These young guys coming back now, they... [Annotator's Note: Raner stops talking and wrings his hands.] Other than at reunions, he did not get into opening up until he moved to Arizona ten years ago. Someone told him he should get down what he knew. He had a tape player and got five and a half hours of things. During the night, some things would come back that he would remember. Raner hopes that what will be remembered most is when he got his promotion [Annotator's Note: a battlefield commission for his actions at Santa Maria Oliveto, Italy]. [Annotator's Note: Raner closes his eyes and stops talking.] They cannot take that away from him. He did a lot of things for his men that the Army shook their head at. In Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria], they had been there 18 months when he asked for a day off to go into town and back. They said no. He went to town anyway and stayed a day. Raner was broken [Annotator's Note: reduced in rank and pay; also referred to as being busted] from Staff Sergeant to Sergeant. He kept his platoon, but they did not give him an officer. He had not had one since Fondouk [Annotator's Note: Fondouk Pass, or Funduq al ʻUqbí, Tunisia]. He got Lieutenant Higgins [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to identify] who wrote him up for his promotion. He never had an officer until he was made one. At 609 [Annotator's Note: Battle of Hill 609, Djebel Tahent, Tunisia; 27 April to 1 May 1943], there was a herd of water buffalo. Somebody said that was a lot of fresh meat. One of his men, told him he they had a couple of hindquarters of beef. He had them put it in his tent. An hour or two later, a captain, a major, and a Frenchman came looking for the beef. He watched the officers give the Frenchman some money as they left. They had fresh roast beef for supper that night. Those officers had some but did not ask where it came from. [Annotator's Note: There is a tape break at 2:44:10.000 and Raner is mid-sentence when it starts back.] Raner was shooting at a poor guy in the rocks who did not have a gun. His grandchildren ask him if he killed that man, but he tells them no. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks what it is like to shoot someone at close range.] Raner says that you just have to say to yourself "it could have been me." At Anzio [Annotator's Note: Battle of Anzio, 22 January 1944 to 5 June 1944; Anzio, Italy] once, a tank had come up behind a house. He thought nobody had seen him. When he started to run, he shot at him. He held him until somebody came. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks him to tell him where he got a German insignia that he holds up to the camera.] He got it off a prisoner of war at Camp Blanding [Annotator's Note: Camp Blanding, Clay County, Florida]. [Annotator's Note: Raner holds up a shadow box of his medals and memorabilia and explains what they are.] He has German uniform stripes he got at Saint Marie Oliveto [Annotator's Note: Saint Marie Oliveto, Italy].