Otis Barnes was born in Texas. He grew up when times were tight. His father was able to raise vegetables. Times were tough during the Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s]. His father was able to work. Barnes was drafted into the Army. He stayed in school until he was drafted. He did basic training in Tyler, Texas, then he was transferred to the 99th Division [Annotator’s Note: 99th Infantry Division]. Shortly after, they were sent to Europe. It took them 10 or 11 days to cross the ocean to Europe on a victory ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship]. They were in a large convoy. They arrived in England and then went to Le Havre, France. Once in France, they went across to Belgium. They did not see any action at this point. Barnes had a grenade launcher. They had to capture some Germans. The snow was deep.

Otis Barnes remembers they were getting artillery shells and they knew something was coming up. They had no warning that the battle [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945] was going to come about. It was cold. When it started, there was artillery going from both sides. They were fortunate because they were well dug in. Barnes did not see any tanks, only artillery and infantry. During the Bulge, he did not see any Germans up close. The battle went on around the clock. They knew the Germans were there and they had a lot of firepower. The German shells did not get too close to him in his foxhole. The battle lasted for four or five days in their area. Their orders were to stay and hold the place. They did not suffer many casualties in their area.

Otis Barnes moved down with the 3rd Army and Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.]. They moved 20 miles a day with tanks. They were well supplied. They did not run out of ammunition. It was cold, but they had warm clothes. They had nice overshoes. They lost several men to frostbite. When the war was over they were on occupation duty. They started sending men home based on the points system [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. Barnes was hoping to go to the Nuremberg Trials [Annotator’s Note: The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals held following World War II by the Allied forces under international law and the laws of war prosecuting German Nazis for committing war crimes], but ended up going to Switzerland instead. He was discharged in April 1946. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts, and unemployment]. He got married and then went to work. He worked for a towing and transportation company. The war made him grow up. The United States was fully behind the war and everyone made an effort to support the war. If it was not for the veterans everyone would be speaking German.