Odell Wallace Vaughn was born in December 1921 in Greenville, South Carolina and grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He served in the military during World War 2. After returning to the United States, he worked for the Veterans Administration. His hometown has grown considerably since he grew up there. He was in the military during the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had joined the National Guard in January 1941. He was on leave at home during the attack. He waited to be called to active duty despite his mother urging him to return to his unit. When his unit was called up, they were issued winter uniforms during the summer. The outfit was familiar with the weapons that were shipped with them. Vaughn had a .30 caliber machine gun mounted on his jeep. Two weeks after Vaughn was wounded, his jeep and its driver were blown up. It was sad because the driver and Vaughn had been together for years. Vaughn joined the National Guard in early 1941 because he was invited by the commanding officer to attend an upcoming maneuver. After seeing the military operations, the young man decided to join the Guard. He did not have to attend boot camp because of his National Guard training. The unit was called to active duty shortly after he joined. They were shipped to Fort Bragg and stayed there for about a year before being deployed.

Odell Vaughn fought through North Africa and Italy with the 178th Field Artillery Battalion. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in the Headquarters Battalion. His outfit was involved in the mapping performed for guns fired by another unit. Vaughn's battalion provided the 155mm guns targeting information after getting them located in firing position. Training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina was on the 155mm guns. Targets up to 15 miles away were fired upon. Next was Camp Blanding, Florida for about five months. They were sent there because of its sandy terrain and similarity to their overseas destination. The battalion was reequipped and issued new clothing for their overseas deployment. Prior to that, much of the equipment they trained with was World War 1 vintage. Vaughn's battalion was sent via a modified cruise ship to England. His outfit was assigned accommodations low in the ship. Vaughn convinced those in charge that it would be best for him and his machine gun to be high in the ship in case of enemy attack. He and his machine gun were located on the open deck. Vaughn managed to sleep near the gun in a lifeboat. Until transiting the Straits of Gibraltar, he never had to use his shipboard weapon. Over the next four months, they trained in England for the invasion of Africa. They departed from Southampton and entered combat in Northern Africa.

Odell Vaughn and the 178th Field Artillery Battalion boarded an LST, Landing Ship Tank, vessel in England. The battalion landed in North Africa in December 1942 with their vehicles. The battalion disembarked after the bow of the ship opened up on the beach. The jeeps, trucks, guns and other vehicles rolled out of the ship. Towns in North Africa were similar to those in the United States. The children welcomed the Americans. Some of the young boys offered their sisters to the servicemen. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn laughs.] The battalion moved inland and saw its first combat on the northern border of French North Africa. They fought the Germans for the first time. For the green troops, it was quite an adventure to set up their anti-tank guns and begin firing on the advancing German tanks. The first men killed in the battalion were hit by a mine. The first battle was Kasserine Pass. The enemy used air and armor against the Americans. Some men were lost when they fell prey to German booby traps set up in disabled tanks. Kasserine Pass was the worst battle that Vaughn participated in. German tanks came within sight and firing distance. The 155mm guns had to directly fire on the advancing enemy. It was not easy for the gunners to operate without fire director instructions. Instead, gunners had to sight the tanks directly and fire. The five men in the fire direction center often used churches as sighting guides. They avoided destruction of the churches but used them only as aids in their targeting efforts. There were no churches in the case of Kasserine Pass. Vaughn was "top kick" or First Sergeant in the fire direction group. He instructed the enlisted men under him in sighting the guns. The difficulty in the job comes from determining the relationship between the established friendly guns and the enemy targets to be fired upon. There were forward observers who played a key role in locating the initial rounds before the order to fire for effect. The forward observers had a dangerous job.

Odell Vaughn and the 178th Field Artillery Battalion had its toughest battle at Kasserine Pass. They moved on through North Africa then Sicily and on to Italy. The landing boats used from Sicily to Italy carried several vehicles with their men. Sicily and Italy are similar to each other. The people of Sicily are friendly. One of the places that the 178th was stopped during the combat was at Venafro. Three months were spent trading close fire with the Germans. During Christmas [Annotator's Note: Christmas 1943], Vaughn and others were housed by some accommodating locals. Vaughn would fire at enemy planes from his jeep in the front yard [Annotator's Note: his vehicle mounted a .30 caliber machine gun]. The Germans had bombed a church across the street. After the war, Vaughn returned to the location with his wife. The family who had sheltered him was eager to show the reconstructed church. Prior to Venafro, the 178th Field Artillery Battalion had advanced on Monte Cassino and were stopped at the base of the mountain. Vaughn knows from personal experience that there were enemy troops inside Monte Cassino prior to its destruction. At night, he could see the flash of enemy guns as they fired at the Americans. For five days, gunfire was exchanged. The artillery attempted not to destroy the monastery. Other Allied units confirmed that Germans were embedded in the abbey. After five days, the artillerymen took pleasure in holding their fire and watching American bombers destroy the enemy position atop the mountain. Following that operation, the battalion moved on Venafro and the three month stalemate. Vaughn had to position the artillery during a rainy night. He fell into a trench that had been previously used by the Germans. It was filled with rain and other things. He was glad it was raining because he was washed off. As First Sergeant, Vaughn gave directions to the enlisted men. He would sleep on the line established to guard the outfit so he could be contacted immediately. Vaughn went through Rome on the route to Venafro. The Americans were welcomed by the local population who crowded the sidewalks as the liberators passed through. The battalion was not allowed to stop. As they exited Rome, the last truck in the convoy had four girls on it. They had to get rid of the females prior to heading to Venafro. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn chuckles.]

Odell Vaughn was wounded near Pisa, Italy. He went to assist a wounded man in a minefield. Four men near him volunteered to help him. Vaughn picked one of them to follow him in his steps. The Germans had buried their mines under sods of grass. Vaughn reached an area not covered with grass. That was where he stepped on a mine. It clicked as he stepped on it. He could not stand there forever. When his pressure was released, the mine exploded. He lost both legs. Vaughn put a tourniquet on each of his legs to slow the bleeding. It took four hours for his comrade to get a mine detector and return for Vaughn. Meanwhile, Vaughn spent the time sitting up and adjusting the tourniquets. He dare not lay down. He was concerned that he might trigger another mine. With nearly 550 days in combat, he was not bothered by the idea of entering a minefield to rescue the wounded man even though he did not know the individual. He heard the man screaming and knew he had to get him out. Vaughn felt that the Germans would prefer wounding an American because it meant two additional men would be required to remove the injured soldier. It was just as good as killing one man. When Vaughn stepped on the mine, he knew he had to warn the man behind him. He tried to rapidly move off the mine, but it did not work. He was unconscious when he was taken to a mobile hospital. When he woke the next day, the nurse over him was a friend from his hometown. He got her to write home and downplay what had happened. He stayed awhile in the hospital before being moved because he had lost so much blood. He ultimately had 22 pints of blood pumped into him. After regaining some strength, he was placed on a train for a move to a major hospital. He was in the hospital for nine months. By contrast, while in a Manila hospital during the Vietnam War, Vaughn observed wounded troops being transported in while they were dirty and still in the ragged clothes they were hurt in. They were brought in by helicopters. That means of transport was not available in World War 2. The man that Vaughn was attempting to rescue was only 20 feet or so away from him when he stepped on the mine. The explosion lifted Vaughn into the area and landed him in a sitting position. He lost his right leg below the knee while the left leg was barely dangling. After the mine detectors helped clear the area, both men were placed in the same ambulance. Vaughn never learned the other man's name. The man who had initially accompanied Vaughn into the minefield was a twin with his brother in the same unit. That was unusual because the military avoided placing relatives in the same outfit.

Odell Vaughn stepped on a shoebox mine and lost both his legs. Vaughn had collected mines in his barracks bag prior to his injury. After being wounded, he only received his Musette bag with his personal effects to take home. He lost his collection of mines, but through some help from his captain and hospital nurses, he managed to bring a German pistol home with him. The nurses in the hospital were great and treated him well. His negative experience with a body cast provided him with some funny memories. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn laughs.] Vaughn does not remember pain from the mine explosion. He only remembers landing on a pebble and not moving off of it for fear of exploding another mine. That rock caused him discomfort until he was rescued from his sitting position. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn laughs.] Vaughn alternated prayers to die and then live. He wanted to get home when he remembered his wife and baby. He initially did not want anyone to see him without legs. He got over that later in life. His artificial legs caused people to stare at his pants when he left the limbs in the pants legs when he went swimming. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn laughs.]

Odell Vaughn was wounded while trying to remove a comrade from a minefield. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions. He prefers that the citation speak for him on what he did to receive the decoration. Taken to a MASH [Annotator's Note: Mobile Army Surgical Hospital] tent, he was treated for his leg wounds. Given morphine, he stayed for nine days before being stable enough to move to another hospital further to the rear. No amputations were performed on him at the MASH unit. He was sent by train to Naples. He arrived at an Army General Hospital with full facilities in the heart of Naples. Vaughn has seen the hospital since the war while visiting local friends he had met prior to his wounding at Venafro. The General Hospital removed his left leg that was just dangling and impossible to save. A cast was applied to that leg initially in an attempt to save it but when Vaughn began to bleed, the cast was cut away by a large machine. The right leg had been blown off by the mine when he was initially wounded. Vaughn had extremely opposing feelings at times when he realized he had no legs. He would shift all the way from praying to die to praying to live so he could return home to his family. He had never seen his child at that juncture. After returning home to a major hospital, he never thought about dying until a man who was severely injured in a traffic accident died because of his brutal leg injuries. Vaughn thought that could have been him. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn laughs.] Vaughn remained in various hospitals for nine months. Stateside, he was initially brought to Walter Reed in Washington and then, on his request, to Atlanta. During his last three months of care, he was able to leave the hospital and spend nights with his wife. While being flown back from Europe to the United States, Vaughn was able to hide a souvenir enemy pistol under his arm. Prior to his departure from Naples, he was frightened by a German bombing attack on the hospital. The explosion shook the whole building and the lights went out. It was the only time he was frightened during the war. That was mainly because he was restricted to his bed and could not get up to move.

Like many other veterans in a similar condition, Odell Vaughn felt sensations in his legs even though both were lost during the war. Those feelings are referred to as phantom pains. He felt he needed to scratch his legs or that his toes were moving even though they were not there. He experienced that for several years after leaving hospital. The Army is paying him compensation for his loss of his feet even though he had accidentally shot two toes off during a prewar hunting accident. His children kid him about that. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn laughs.] Vaughn also suffered from sleeping inside. He had to sleep next to an open window for a month or two so he could breathe the outside air. He had lived outside on a bedroll for over two years. Vaughn never experienced severe depression during his hospital stay. Everyone in the ward had funny nicknames. Vaughn preferred not to reveal his because of its bawdy nature. There was even liquor brought to the men in the ward. Anyone caught drinking would be removed and brought to the lock up ward. There were 31 patients in the ward. The men had fun with each other. Except initially after his wounding, Vaughn never worried that the loss of his legs would impact his marriage. Vaughn had never seen his first child until he returned home after his initial treatment. His son would go on to serve in the Navy. Vaughn told him that he would at least have a bed to sleep in each night while he was in the Navy. His son went through service all right. Ultimately, Vaughn's son died in a helicopter accident while working for CBS News and Walter Cronkite. Vaughn has two daughters. After arriving in the United States following his loss of both legs, Vaughn was taken to Walter Reed in Washington and then to Atlanta for hospital treatment. It was at the latter that he was fitted for prosthetic legs. He was in the hospital for nine months. He learned to walk during that time after a lengthy process. He walked with a cane. He flew a good bit while working with his job.

Odell Vaughn's reunion with his wife and new child was great. His boy was 21 months old when Vaughn first saw him. Vaughn had a nurse friend write to his wife and parents before he flew home. The government telegram informing family back home of a loved one being wounded did not explain the conditions sufficiently. That provoked Vaughn to send a letter to his wife and parents as quickly as he could to provide enough details as to not worry his family about his physical status. Vaughn still has the telegram that the military sent home. It was only one line. It could've easily frightened loved ones back home since it had no detail in the message. Vaughn never suffered from nightmares upon his return home. He immediately sought work although the 52-20 veteran benefit was available. The benefit paid 20 dollars per week for 52 weeks or until he got a job. Vaughn had a family and knew he had to earn more than that. He wanted to go to work. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn laughs.] Initially, Vaughn went to work for a law office. He had previously taken law courses. After a few months, Vaughn signed up to work with the Veterans Administration. He took the examinations and got the job. He was ready to go to work. He started as an interviewer of discharged veterans. He helped fill out their claims. He enjoyed the work. His job was to help people like himself. Vaughn ultimately was placed in charge of the office and then the new medical team that came aboard.

Through the years of advancement, Odell Vaughn reached the office of Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration. That is the second highest position in the VA. It was a presidential appointment position following a recommendation from Senator Thurmond [Annotator's Note: Senator Strom Thurmond of Georgia] who was a friend of Vaughn. President Nixon [Annotator's Note: President Richard Nixon] first appointed Vaughn to his Deputy Administrator position. Vaughn and his wife met and escorted Nixon and his wife for three days while they were in the Philippines. Nixon left from there to fly to Vietnam. Vaughn had a difficult job in establishing the National Records Center [Annotator's Note: National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records (NPRC-MPR)] in Saint Louis. The building was an ordnance factory and was huge. After the war, it was left as it was. Given money and manpower, Vaughn had to develop it into a functioning facility for record maintenance. President Ford [Annotator's Note: President Gerald Ford] was a good person to work with. President Carter [Annotator's Note: President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr.] kept Vaughn in his position even though Vaughn was a Republican and the President was a Democrat. The day before Nixon left office, he told Vaughn that he who was without sin should cast the first stone. [Annotator's Note: Vaughn laughs.] Vaughn and his wife had visited the White House numerous times. He disagreed with President Ford about giving amnesty to the draft dodgers in Canada. The two men met to discuss the issue. The President decided to drop the idea after that meeting with Vaughn. Vaughn has no thoughts on the current issues with the Veterans Administration.