Paul Gibfried grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, near Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois]. His family arrived in Chicago in 1852. Hillary Clinton [Annotator's Note: Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, American politician, diplomat, and lawyer, 67th United States Secretary of State, 2009 to 2013] was born near his childhood home. He graduated from high school when he was 17 years old but hated school. His grandparents lived on an Indian [Annotator's Note: Native American] reservation. Gibfried loved visiting his grandparents' home. Gibfried loved working on the farm and being a cowboy. The war started when he graduated and knew he would not be able to go to college. One day, Gibfried received a call from the Treasury Department [Annotator's Note: United States Department of the Treasury] about starting up a processing center for war bonds [Annotator's Note: debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war]. Gibfried started working in the center. He enjoyed the job and learning how to use the equipment. After a year, Gibfried joined the Navy and was put into an IBM [Annotator's Note: International Business Machine] unit and was made a 3rd Class Petty Officer. He helped create systems that assisted in the operations of the fleet. Gibfried's older brother served in the 1st Division [Annotator's Note: 1st Infantry Division] in the Army. His brother was hurt badly during the D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] landings and his younger brother became the captain of the Enterprise [Annotator's Note: USS Enterprise CV-65]. When Gibfried arrived in the office, he saw a WAVE [Annotator's Note: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service; United States Naval Women's Reserve] and later married her. She is buried in Arlington Cemetery [Annotator's Note: Arlington National Cemetery, United States military cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia]. He was happy to be with the technicians because they were considered the best in the world. Gibfried was 18 years old by then and was considered a kid. He was given jobs that the lieutenant could not do and became the technical manager and systems manager of the data center [Annotator's Note: in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy]. Captain Ogden Ludlow [Annotator's Note: Ludlow Ogden Smith], his commanding officer, was the first husband of Katharine Hepburn [Annotator's Note: Katharine Houghton Hepburn, American actor]. Gibfried thought he was a wonderful officer and he served as the aide to Knox [Annotator's Note: William Franklin Knox, Secretary of the US Navy] and later Forrestal [Annotator's Note: James Vincent Forrestal; Secretary of the US Navy; first United States Secretary of Defense].

In May 1944, Paul Gibfried was asked to put together a report [Annotator's Note: while working in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy] and bring it to the Pentagon [Annotator's Note: headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, Arlington County, Virginia]. It was a top-secret report. He was brought to a room and presented to several high-ranking officers. Two days after he made his report, D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] occurred. Gibfried's brother participated in D-Day. After that, he was depressed because his brother was wounded on the beach. He could speak German and managed to make it behind a German pillbox [Annotator's Note: type of blockhouse, or concrete, reinforced, dug-in guard post, normally equipped with slits for firing guns]. Gibfried's wife would handle the flow of data and he would then process and present the information to the fleet. By that time, Knox [Annotator's Note: William Franklin Knox, Secretary of the US Navy] had died and Forrestal [Annotator's Note: James Vincent Forrestal; Secretary of the US Navy; first United States Secretary of Defense] had taken over. He was a good man and did a good job. Gibfried saw Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] a few times and it was a morale booster. Roosevelt was always cheerful and had a smile. After the landings at D-Day, the military started arguing with Roosevelt. The argument was about letting the Russians take over northern Germany and Berlin [Annotator's Note: Berlin, Germany]. Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] had broken through to the Czech [Annotator's Note: Czechoslovakian] border. Patton was quoted in a paper as insulting the Russians. Gibfried believes Patton saved southern Germany and Austria. While working, Forrestal announced that the war in Europe had ended and asked that the men keep fighting the war in the Pacific. After two years of working together, Gibfried was allowed to marry his wife. Two weeks later, a lieutenant brought him orders to report to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Northern Mariana Islands], where he would setup a data center for the assault on Japan. MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] had just been informed that the bomb [Annotator's Note: atomic bomb] was going to be dropped. While he was standing there with his papers, Captain Ludlow [Annotator's Note: Ludlow Ogden Smith] told him that he would not be transferred to Guam. Gibfried later found out his captain knew about the bombs because of his position. He was given orders to remain in the Navy for an extended time to convert the center into a peacetime center. He was discharged the following April [Annotator's Note: April 1946]. By that time, he was unemployed and had a baby. Gibfried loved the Navy and it educated him. His younger brother loved the navy, but his older brother died later in life when shrapnel from a wound entered his heart. His wife later died of cancer.

Paul Gibfried was born in Park Ridge, Illinois in September 1924. When he joined the Navy, he was investigated by the FBI [Annotator's Note: United States Federal Bureau of Investigation]. The local priest wrote a letter on his behalf. He shared an apartment with some Russian people who were also investigated by the FBI. He grew up with two brothers and has many granddaughters. Gibfried's son was born in a Navy hospital. He was in his room listening to the radio when he heard about the attack at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He told his parents to listen to the radio so they could hear the report too. His father worked with Canadians, who had been at war for several years. His father worked with many Chinese people and was able to meet Madame Chiang Kai-Shek [Annotator's Note: Soong Mei-Ling, the wife of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, the leader of the Republic of China between 1928 and 1975]. Gibfried wanted to go to China, but after the Communists took over, he did not want to return there. He started working for the Treasury Department [Annotator's Note: United States Department of the Treasury]. There were so many war bonds [Annotator's Note: debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war] being sold, that a large center needed to be built to sort them. IBM [Annotator's Note: International Business Machines Corporation] broke their private contacts and gave their equipment to the Treasury Department. Gibfried interviewed for the position. He was taught how to operate the equipment. He was trained on a horizontal starter. Every war bond came with a card that would be used to sort the bond. All of the bonds had a number, but Gibfried also knew them by alphabetical order. The Navy wanted reports on river tides and Gibfried had to figure out how to make the reports using the equipment. Gibfried was asked to take over all data processing for the Naval air forces. He reported to the son of Admiral McIntire [Annotator's Note: Admiral Ross T. McIntire], the physician for Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States]. He worked with Navy doctors to help with combat fatigue [Annotator's Note: military term for an acute reaction to the stress of combat] with the troops. He had a hard time when information from various islands started coming in out of order. Naval officers would have to report to Gibfried to get the information straight.

After the war, Paul Gibfried joined the American Legion [Annotator's Note: nonprofit organization of U.S. war veterans], but they refused to allow his wife to join, even though she was a WAVE [Annotator's Note: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service; United States Naval Women's Reserve]. She started the first women's American Legion in the country. Gibfried worked in computers and then as a scientist at IBM [Annotator's Note: International Business Machines Corporation]. He worked with many German scientists. He and one of those Germans developed the first business computer for IBM. Gibfried worked in the data center and worked with various companies. He helped develop a virtual airport for United Airlines [Annotator's Note: United Airlines, Incorporated]. Gibfried was drafted into the Navy at 18 years old. His older brother was the president of a foundry making equipment for the Navy. His brother was drafted the same day. They saw each other at the induction center in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois]. Gibfried wanted to be in the Navy. His brother was sent to the infantry. His younger brother would hold his hand and called him pa [Annotator's Note: nickname for father]. That brother ended up in the Navy as well. He eventually became head of the supply for the Pacific. One day, Gibfried was invited to meet the admiral overseeing his brother's graduation. The admiral was someone he had worked with during World War 2. Gibfried was invited to board the Independence [Annotator's Note: USS Independence CV-62] and given a personal tour through the ship.

Paul Gibfried worked at the Executive Office of the Secretary of the Navy. It was a data center that informed him of the condition of the fleet and the Navy contracts. The center grew exponentially during the war. Forrestal [Annotator's Note: 48th Secretary of the Navy, James Vincent Forrestal] worked very hard, but he committed suicide. When the war in Europe ended, they had to get all of the supplies to the Pacific. The Russians were given several ships during the war. When they were returned, the ships were dirty. Gibfried lived next to some Russians, but never talked about what he did in the war. They worked as purchasing agents for Russia. Pillboxes [Annotator's Note: type of blockhouse, or concrete, reinforced, dug-in guard post, normally equipped with slits for firing guns] in Normandy [Annotator's Note: Normandy, France] were manned by Russian soldiers. The pillbox that shot his brother had a tank gun attached to it. The Germans had developed a bomb that was to be shot at ships in port. The bomb was filled with coal dust that would then be set on fire with another bomb. The Russians took equipment and scientists from Poland and Germany. Gibfried got to know a scientist's wife. When she turned 65 years old, she was able to leave Potsdam [Annotator's Note: Potsdam, Germany], but had to leave everyone and everything she had there. That is how the Russians made their rockets and atomic bombs. Gibfried saw Admiral King [Annotator's Note: US Navy Admiral Ernest Joseph King; Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations] several times, but they did not talk. One time, he decided to get out of town for a weekend. When he was getting back in the morning, Admiral King and Admiral Leahy [Annotator's Note: US Navy Admiral William D. Leahy] were walking and Gibfried accidentally ran into them. He usually dealt with the admirals' aides. Sometimes at night, Gibfried would walk his wife to her dormitory near the White House [Annotator's Note: the official residence of the President of the United States, Washington, D.C.]. On one of those walks, Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] walked past them. There was a nearby shoe store and Eleonore Roosevelt Annotator's Note: wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] would frequent it. There was no secret service men around her or Truman. Gibfried met top Navy officers. One of his childhood friends came to visit him in Washington [Annotator's Note: Washington, D.C.] and Gibfried took him to the Navy building. The friend was surprised when Gibfried did not salute a captain. An Ensign walked in and Gibfried used his first name, which also surprised his friend. He never had the opportunity to meet General Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force; 34th President of the United States], but he did meet Douglas Fairbanks Jr. [Annotator's Note: Douglas Elton Fairbanks Junior, American actor], and Robert Taylor [Annotator's Note: Robert Taylor, American actor]. He also met Henry Wallace [Annotator's Note: Henry A. Wallace, 33rd Vice President of the United States], who was a Socialist. Gibfried was surprised Truman kept men like that around him. When the Americans got behind the pillboxes at Normandy, there were Russian officers on the ships to take care of Russians that were captured. One of his relatives was made prisoner by the Russians and he was never seen again.

Paul Gibfried went home to arrange for a job when Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] died. When he reported for duty, he was told he did not have a job anymore. He had a wife, a baby, and no place to live. He was told about a place looking for people to work. The treasurer of a company hired Gibfried, and he started automating some of their systems. After a year and a half, he decided to find a new job. When he reported to Montgomery Ward [Annotator's Note: Montgomery Ward and Company], they treated him like a kid. Gibfried left the service on 12 March 1946, and he was discharged in Bethesda, Maryland. When Gibfried left the service, he attended school at Montgomery Ward business school. He was able to get a good job in New York as a supervisor. Returning to civilian life was not fun. There was no place to rent, so he slept in a garage. Using the GI 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 was able to get an apartment. He had to live with his parents and his in-laws. The American Legion [Annotator's Note: nonprofit organization of U.S. war veterans] helped him get a VA [Annotator's Note: Veterans Affairs] loan. Gibfried believes the recent technology boom is still operating on the same premise that it did in the 1940s. While working in Hamburg [Annotator's Note: Hamburg, Germany], the Germans had a large mail order business. Gibfried ran a school on logistics of retailing. In 1968, he ran the first IBM [Annotator's Note: International Business Machines Corporation] seminar on logistics. A man from Arkansas name Sam Walton [Annotator's Note: Samuel Moore Walton] attended the seminar. Gibfried helped him develop a logistical system for his stores. He worked with various large retailers in the United States and Europe. When he retired, Gibfried became a cowboy.

Paul Gibfried does not think he would have served if he had not been drafted. He did love being in the Navy. His first night at Great Lakes [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois], a company marched by singing "Anchors Away" [Annotator's Note: fight song of the United States Naval Academy and unofficial march song of the United States Navy, composed in 1906]. When his wife was buried at Arlington [Annotator's Note: Arlington National Cemetery, United States military cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia], they played "Taps"[Annotator's Note: final call of the evening in the US military, also used at military funerals] for her. Gibfried would have never gotten into computers or would have attended college if not for the war. College was for wealthy people back then. He would have never met his wife. Gibfried had two good sons, one is a doctor and the other is an artist. He tells his sons about the most important things he learned in life. At one point in his life, he met a speaker at a retail conference. They spoke about their financial plans and their living plans. That man had done well at his job due to hard work, but when his wife died, he realized he had nothing. Gibfried is proud to have served. He gets upset when people do not stand for the National Anthem. He feels sorry for the kids. Gibfried was the first to hire minorities in the town he lived in. He was attacked by a group of men one time. He thinks Sam Walton [Annotator's Note: Samuel Moore Walton] was a good guy. Gibfried does not like biases. At one of his jobs, he was told to make a man successful that did not deserve a job. The person that did deserve the job quit afterwards. He thinks people that get hired for a job should be able to make a contribution to the company. He believes the country had certain principals that still hold true today. He thinks we need allies and that the country should act like a model. While working in South Africa, Ted Kennedy [Annotator's Note: Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy, American politician] and some other politicians went to speak to people in that country. Suddenly several companies started pulling out of the country because of apartheid [Annotator's Note: a form of racial segregation used in South Africa from 1948 the early 1990s].

Paul Gibfried had a wonderful experience during World War 2. He liked his commander, Ogden Ludlow [Annotator's Note: Ludlow Ogden Smith], the first husband of Katherine Hepburn [Annotator's Note: Katharine Houghton Hepburn, American actress]. He did not understand Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] or what the Russians were doing in Washington D.C. Gibfried believes war is a terrible thing and he thinks Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] was tremendous. The media gave him a hard time, in Gibfried's opinion. He saw Wainwright [Annotator's Note: US Army General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, IV] when he returned home from the Philippines. When Roosevelt died, Gibfried was in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] looking for a job, but it did not work out. Had he stayed in Washington, he would have been in the funeral procession. Roosevelt was a charmer and could inspire people. Roosevelt could make people feel hopeful. He thinks MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] was a good orator. People ask Gibfried what ship he served on and its always interesting for him to explain what he did. He never had a chance to go to sea until a hurricane came up the east coast in 1944. The sailors had to get the ships into a safe harbor from Norfolk [Annotator's Note: Norfolk, Virginia]. When he got there, Gibfried did not know what to do, so he was given some sailors to help him. They had a difficult time moving the boats because none of the sailors knew what to do and they ran into nets. In the Chesapeake [Annotator's Note: Chesapeake Bay], there were more issues with fog. A large ship almost ran into Gibfried's vessel. That was the only time he commanded a ship. He hopes kids will be inspired to join the Navy. He does not think he did anything heroic. When his brother was shot, Gibfried asked for a combat assignment, but was not given one.