Oliver Donald Anthony Babbits was born in Neenah, Wisconsin in December 1923. He grew up with three brothers. Babbits' father served in World War 1 as an infantryman and then in World War 2 served as a Seabee [Annotator's Note: members of US naval construction battalions]. Later, he assisted in constructing Navy reserve buildings. Two of his brothers also served in World War 2. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s], Babbits' father was a carpenter and worked on windows and doors and always had employment. Babbits recalled walking or running to school everyday because his family did not have a car though it was not hard to get by with out a car where he lived. Babbits turned 17 the day before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was in school when he heard about the attack and, soon after, he went down to enlist but found out he had to wait until he was 18 years old. One year later, Babbits was drafted into the Army. He had taken a test, hoping he could join the paratroopers. To his dismay, the Army made he join the engineers. He was sent to Camp Swift [Annotator's Note: near Austin, Texas], Texas for his basic training. Babbits played a variety of sports, so he the physical aspect and the instructor's discipline did not bother him. Babbits was a very fast runner and could do one mile in under five minutes. After he completed basic training, he was sent to Heavy Pontoon training. Between the second and third month, he was sent to Western Maryland University [Annotator's Note: now known as McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland] to train for engineering with 300 other students. He did a year's training in three months. The students dropped to 150 students. In the next three next months, the program lost another 75 students. The training was both physically and mentally difficult. During military training, Babbits was selected to be the cadet leader one time. He made the students run up and down the hills surrounding a football field. Then the instructor started yelling at Babbits and so, Babbits yelled "fall out." When Babbits reached the football field, he yelled "fall in." The instructor was not very happy.

Oliver Donald Anthony Babbits was in engineering school when the Army decided to cancel the program. He was sent to Fort Belvoir [Annotator's Note: Fort Belvoir, Virginia] to take basic training over again because according to his records, he did not complete some of the training. Since he did not have tank drill training, he was sent to another basic training. After completing all this training, he then began water distillation and purification school at For Belvoir. This training would help provide drinkable water to the men fighting on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan]. He was able to go home for a week's furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] before heading overseas. He reported to Seattle, Washington and boarded a boat to head to Hawaii. This was his first trip out of the United States. Babbits was not happy how the bunks were stacked up on each other with little space between them, so he slept on the deck under the lifeboat. As morning came, he was woken up by water spilling over him because they were washing the decks. It was a rough ride. Food was served on the third deck, and every time he descended a deck, he would cover his face and hands in case someone threw up over the railing. While he was in Hawaii, Babbits' group trained two Hawaiian units and one Filipino unit to lead their groups. After they left Hawaii, they went to Eniwetok [Annotator's Note: Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands] for a short stay and then to invade Iwo Jima.

Oliver Donald Anthony Babbits was still on the ship when the Marines on Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi. He was able to witness the flag raising from his ship. All the men were hooting and hollering. The photographer broke his camera and the men had to raise the flag again so the photographer could recapture the moment. The next day, Babbits and his unit came ashore on the island. The terrain was not sand, but a burnt volcanic sand. He could not dig a foxhole because the sand was so fine. As they went inland, he noticed that every inch of the island was covered with firepower. The Japanese had built up walls with small holes for firing weapons. He felt he was under fire all the time. He never had a one-on-one encounter with the Japanese. They hid in pill boxes and tunnels that would transport them around the island. Babbits had no idea how they survived in the tunnels because they were so hot. Babbits was always concerned with friendly fire. His allies would often shell areas right in front of him and he hoped that they never came up short. His job on the island was preparing potable water for the men to drink. The large drums that were given to him were filthy, so he had to put a lot of Chlorine in them so the water could be drinkable. It tasted horrible, but at least men could drink it. Babbits stayed on Iwo Jima for 11 months. His unit was supposed to go to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] 36 days after landing on Iwo Jima, but the Army had issues trying to find clean water. After the fourth week on the island, there was a storm, and they were able to use the storm water to purify and distribute. They lured Japanese soldiers out of their caves with water. One night, they used a crate and half of grenades because the Japanese came out of their caves to attack his camp. Babbits almost experienced a friendly fire incident when they were trying to get Japanese out of the caves. A Navy man came walking by and Babbits almost shot him but saw that he was wearing a white hat. Babbits left Iwo Jima in January 1946 after World War 2 ended. He arrived in San Pedro [Annotator's Note: San Pedro, California] and was discharged in February. He did not use the G.I. Bill and began working for the American Can Company for 35 years. He retired early because the company was downsizing. The company gave him 14,000 dollars to retire.

Oliver Donald Anthony Babbits thinks World War 2 did not change him. He continued to enjoy playing football with his friends. He is adamant that young people need to participate more in the current worldly concerns. He believes that this country has been bankrupted because people are too worried about preserving other countries. He would like to see out military patrolling our borders and concentrate on protecting America. He believes World War 2 does not mean anything to most Americans today. He thinks the "skirmishes" today cause many problems for this country. If we go to war, as a country, we need to declare it. This country has more firepower than ever and can end wars quickly. He believes that we allow these terrorists to continue to be powerful. He believes we should educate future generations about World War 2, but he has his doubts because as legislators come and go, they continue to have unchanging polices. When Babbits was discharged from the Army, he went into the active Reserves. In the 25 years he was in the Reserves, he was in six different engineer companies. He is now in the Retired Reserves. He is a CW3 [Annotator's Note: Chief Warrant Officer 3; W-3]. Babbits message to anyone who views this is that "you only have one life to live, so live it to the fullest."