Harold Paul wanted to join the Air Corps [Annotator's Note: the US Army Air Corps, later the Air Forces] as an aerial gunner, but since he had had three molars removed, he was told he did not have enough teeth during the physical. The recruiter suggested he try for the paratroopers. He passed that physical, along with a friend and went to Benning [Annotator's Note: Fort Benning, Georgia], assigned to the 541st [Annotator's Note: 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment]. On the first jump, his buddy broke his leg, so Paul was by himself. He met a fellow from Mass [Annotator's Note: Massachusetts] and they became friends, making it through jump school together. They then went to Camp Mackall [Annotator's Note: Camp Mackall in Hoke, Richmond, and Scotland Counties, North Carolina]. He and this friend, Paige, from Lowell [Annotator's Note: Lowell, Massachusetts] were shipped out to Cookstown, Belfast [Annotator's Note: Belfast, Northern Ireland] and joined the 505 [Annotator's Note: 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] and were then sent to England. Paige went into I Company [Annotator's Note: Company I, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] and Paul to A Company [Annotator's Note: Company A, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division]. Paul's new company commander happened to be from Quincy [Annotator's Note: Quincy, Massachusetts], the same town that Paul was from, and they became buddies. His name was John Dolan [Annotator's Note: US Army Captain John J. "Red Dog" Dolan]. When Paul was in basic training at Camp Edwards [Annotator's Note: in Cape Cod, Massachusetts], Dolan was a second lieutenant, and they both happened to be there at the same time. Paul was a BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle; also known as the BAR] man until he was in Holland, when he became assistant gunner to Leo Starling [Annotator's Note: US Army Private 1st Class Leo F. Starling] who was later killed. Paul then became just a rifleman and was wounded in Holland [Annotator's Note: during Operation Market Garden, Netherlands, 17 to 25 September 1944]. Once he was out of the hospital, the camp moved from England to Camp Suippes [Annotator's Note: also called Camp New York or Camp de Tahure in Suippes, France], near Reims [Annotator's Note: Reims, France].

Harold Paul [Annotator's Note: a paratrooper in Company A, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] jumped into Normandy [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. Before they went, they were all in a big hangar with barbed wire around it. They had a beautiful supper the night before, the men jokingly called it "The Last Supper". It was the best meal he ever had in the service, but today he could not tell you what he ate. They took off, jumped, and landed right where they were supposed to, on top of a hill. At the bottom was La Fière Bridge [Annotator's Note: a small stone bridge over the Merderet River in Sainte-Mère-Église, France]. Paul and three other men were sent towards the bridge, into the marsh. He heard one of the men get hit. He had been shot in the chest. They left him for the medics. More shots were fired, and the other two men were hit as well. Paul dove into a ditch on the side of the road and laid there until daylight. Up ahead of him, there was a battle going on. There was a German soldier laughing at them because they were trapped. One of the men with Paul took a Gammon grenade [Annotator's Note: No. 82 Gammon Bomb hand grenade] and threw it at the Kraut [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Germans] who caught it. It exploded and killed him. This allowed them to go up to the bridge. There were a few German light tanks crossing the bridge, but a 57 [Annotator's Note: 57-millimeter M1; American name for the British Ordnance Quick-Firing 6-pounder 7 cwt] was able to knock them out. Paul and the two remaining men pulled back, stretched out and fell asleep in a nearby house. Lieutenant Presnell [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant George W. "Wayne" Presnell] told them to follow him up to the bridge, but to stay at the bottom while he got up to look around. He turned to tell Paul to come. A Kraut fired at him, and it went right through his canteen. That was as close as Paul ever got to the bridge. The field was flooded. He could hear men screaming, mostly 507 [Annotator's Note: 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division] boys, blocked by the Germans. They stayed there for three days. At this time, Paul was a BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle; also known as the BAR] assistant. The German tanks never made it across the bridge.

Harold Paul [Annotator's Note: a paratrooper in Company A, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] saw a disabled tank [Annotator's Note: a German light tank] blocking two other tanks on the bridge [Annotator's Note: La Fière Bridge, a small stone bridge over the Merderet River in Sainte-Mère-Église, France]. His unit stayed in the area for three days [Annotator's Note: 6 to 9 June 1944] until relieved by the 325th [Annotator's Note: 325th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division]. There was no artillery coming in at first. It came later in the day and was pretty heavy. They pulled back towards Montebourg Station [Annotator's Note: Montebourg, France]. There was quite a fight going on util they arrived. While he was there, the Germans were firing at them. The US Navy began firing at the Germans. Their bombing had created a large shell hole big enough to stand up in. Paul and other men stayed inside of it until dawn. They ate their K rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] and needed something to drink. They saw a man with a bottle of wine. Paul decided to go look for one for them. As soon as he got out of the hole, he was fired at but not hit. He dove back in the hole, telling the other men that if they wanted something to drink, they could go get it themselves. They stayed in Montebourg for a few days until they moved towards Saint-Sauveur [Annotator's Note: Saint-Sauveur, France] where they were shelled, no matter how many times they moved their positions. They found a Kraut [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Germans] in a tree with a radio who was informing the Germans of their positions. The night before, Paul's unit had collected all the German dead in the area. When the man in the tree was captured and saw all of the German bodies, he thought they were going to kill him, but they did not.

Harold Paul [Annotator's Note: a paratrooper in Company A, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] and his unit were pulled back after Saint-Sauveur [Annotator's Note: Saint-Sauveur, France]. They then charged and took Hill 131 [Annotator's Note: on the Cotentin, also called the Cherbourg, Peninsula in Normandy, France]. They remained there until pulled out. There was a Kraut [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Germans] there who was always firing at them, but they could not find him. A bullet flew by Paul's ear and hit a building behind him. Finally the German came out of the woods, calling them comrades. The Americans were very upset with him and one of them fired at him with a Tommy gun [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun]. That evening, they went on a patrol and one of the fellows threw a grenade over the hedgerow [Annotator's Note: man-made earthen walls that surround a field that are often overgrown with impenetrable vegetation]. Paul was on the other side. It was dark and he could not see. There was a ditch on the other side of the hedgerow and Germans came out of it. They were taken prisoner. Paul did not even know they had been there. The prisoners were given K rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] to eat. Paul went to take one of their watches, but the prisoner was crying, so he did not. Paul told them they were lucky; they were getting out of the war and being sent to the States. Dolan [Annotator's Note: US Army Captain John J. "Red Dog" Dolan] became head of the whole battalion because two of their majors had been killed on D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. Paul got a pass [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to Belfast [Annotator's Note: Belfast, Northern Ireland]. While waiting for the train at the station, he ran into Paige [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling]. They went to Belfast together, ate pork pies, and then Paul went to reserve beds for them at the Red Cross for the night. When he got back, Paige and his friend were drunk. They met a nurse who wanted to go out with Paul, and she gave him apples and rosaries to protect him in combat. He still has the rosaries to this day.

Harold Paul [Annotator's Note: a paratrooper in Company A, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] and his unit went to Holland [Annotator's Note: as part of Operation Market Garden, Netherlands, 17 to 25 September 1944]. Two or three weeks before that, they were drilling and, in a rush, and Paul landed badly and twisted his ankle. On the way to Holland, he was still hobbling around. He asked if he could go in in a glider, but he was told he had to jump. He prayed he would land in a tree, which he did, but got stuck. He got down by pulling his reserve and sliding down the tree. He got his gun and ran like hell through the woods to avoid the many Germans in the area. His company was guarding division headquarters on the first day. The second day, Paul and a buddy on the BAR [Annotator's Note: M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle; also known as the BAR] were sent to rejoin the company, which had taken a German camp where they spent the night. B Company [Annotator's Note: Company B, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] was in a battle in a small town called Mook [Annotator's Note: Mook en Middelaar, Netherlands], and A Company was sent to join them. British troops were fighting alongside them. They called for a tank, but it was knocked out immediately upon arrival. They remained there a few days. They were searching houses for food to eat, when a German fighter plane dove on them and strafed. They hid behind the house. One morning, their officers took a jeep up to Mook and hit a mine [Annotator's Note: stationary explosive device triggered by physical contact]. They all were killed. The troops were three-quarters surrounded and were told to move back. Leo Starling [Annotator's Note: US Army Private 1st Class Leo F. Starling] was nervous, and started crossing the only available little path, Paul followed and saw Starling on the ground. Paul told him they had to go, but when he approached Starling, he saw that he had been shot through the veins in his neck. Blood was coming out of his eyes, mouth, and ears. Paul ultimately rejoined the company at an outpost. After Starling died, Paul was taken off the BAR and became a rifleman, working on telephone lines for the company. He was later put on guard of the Nijmegen Bridge [Annotator's Note: the Battle of Nijmegen, 17 to 20 September 1944, Nijmegen, Netherlands], thinking it would be a piece of cake until they started getting bombed. They all went flying. It was like being hit in the chest by a two by four.

Harold Paul [Annotator's Note: a paratrooper in Company A, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] stayed in Nijmegen [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of Nijmegen, 17 to 20 September 1944, Nijmegen, Netherlands] for two or three days. The Germans had a large railroad gun [Annotator's Note: Schwerer Gustav, German 31.5 in railway gun] which they fired into Nijmegen. The British had antiaircraft guns around the bridge, and when a mess truck showed up to bring them breakfast, it was immediately hit by the Germans. Paul's company was pulled off the bridge. He was glad they were finally going to get some peace. When they changed positions with another company, they were mistaken as attackers and hit with artillery. Paul was hit in the back and his M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] was blown out of his hand. The stock was blown off and the barrel was bent into a "C" shape. All he got was a wound in the shoulder. The straps and harnesses he was wearing protected him, as otherwise he may have taken the hit in the heart. He was sent to the hospital, rejoining his outfit in Reims [Annotator's Note: Reims, France] after being released. They went from Reims to the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. They had to hike up and down hills until they reached a little village called Grand-Halleux [Annotator's Note: Grand-Halleux, Belgium]. There was a river that separated the US troops from the Germans. The day before Christmas [Annotator's Note: 24 December 1944], they saw the Germans were chasing chickens which gave them the idea to do the same. They caught one and put it in the oven when suddenly they were told to pull out and move back. Paul's buddy took the chicken out of the oven and put it in his gas mask to bring with them. They pulled back, under Montgomery's [Annotator's Note: British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery] orders, on Christmas Eve. Suddenly they had to stop because they ran into a German patrol, which was also pulling back. A major from the 30th Division [Annotator's Note: US Army 30th Infantry Division] had been captured by the Germans, and the US troops recaptured him that same day. After marching all night, they stayed in the woods from the night before Christmas until around New Year's Day [Annotator's Note: 1 January 1945]. They remembered they had the chicken and built a fire to cook it, but once again received orders to move out. One man suggested they eat a little so that maybe they would get diarrhea and be sent to the hospital [Annotator's Note: Paul laughs]. On Christmas Day, a jeep came up with the water wagon. They were so excited to get water, but it was frozen. A mess truck arrived to deliver Christmas dinner and dropped off a canvas bag. When they opened them, it was nothing but G.I. [Annotator's Note: government issue] bread and cooked chicken in pieces [Annotator's Note: Paul laughs].

Harold Paul [Annotator's Note: a paratrooper in Company A, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] was being chased [Annotator's Note: by Germans, during the Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945] and mortar shells were landing all around him. He dove in a hole, and a shell landed there. Paul got hit in the buttocks, another man got hit in the foot. They went to the aid station and ended up back in England. Paul rejoined his outfit the last week of the war [Annotator's Note: the war in Europe]. All the guys were gone except one, and it was all new faces. A cavalry from a Hungarian division that had surrendered, arrived on horses and wagons. They crossed the Elbe [Annotator's Note: Elbe River near Bleckede, Germany]. Paul got back home around 25 September [Annotator's Note: 25 September 1945]. The high pointers [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] got sent to Nice, France. He finally arrived at Fort Devens [Annotator's Note: in Ayer and Shirley, Massachusetts], which was near his home and was discharged. In May [Annotator's Note: 1945], he had been told he would be going home in a week or two but was not shipped home until September [Annotator's Note: September 1945].