[Annotator’s Note: At the beginning of the segment, the interviewer explains to interviewee how the interview will run.] Ralph Osterhoudt Sr. is one of 12 siblings and was raised on a farm outside of Hyde Park, New York. His family took care of each other and had a great family unit. When he was 18 years old, he had to register for the draft. He went to Albany, New York to receive a physical and he passed. A week later, he was on a train heading to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for basic training in the Army. He trained with the 82nd Airborne Division and was selected to be in communication because he knew how to type and write in shorthand. He trained on 105 mm wowitzers [Annotator's Note: M2A1 105mm howitzer; standard light field howitzer] and the 155 mm howitzer [Annotator's Note: M1 155mm howitzer; nicknamed "Long Tom"; heavy field gun], and the 240 mm howitzer. After five months of training, he received a weekend leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] to visit his family. On Christmas, he was awakened and told to pack his duffle. He boarded a train to Boston, Massachusetts and boarded the RMS Aquitania on 24 December 1944. The ship was stripped down from its cruise-like features to fit thousands of troops. While on the ship, he was given porridge and hot dogs. Everywhere he went on the ship, he had to stand in line. Many of the men were seasick and homesick. The ship docked at Glasgow, Scotland, then they traveled by train to Southampton, England. He then crossed the English Channel and arrived at Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: one of the transit and rehabilitation camps in France named after popular cigarette brands; Lucky Strike was near Le Havre, France] on 2 January 1945. The Army had confiscated his duffle bag to give clothing to other veterans, so Osterhoudt had very little clothing to keep himself warm. The next morning, he was awakened at two in the morning and boarded a 40 and 8 cattle car [Annotator's Note: 40 and eight refers European railroad boxcars which could accommodate 40 standing men or eight standing horses] and was sent to a replacement depot outside of Paris [Annotator’s Note: Paris, France].

Ralph Osterhoudt Sr. arrived in Paris, France and was assigned as a loader on a 240 mm howitzer in Battery A, then Battery B, 575th Field Artillery Battalion, because he had experience on all the guns and the enigma machine. He also knew how to write in shorthand and knew Morse code. He was sent to the Colmar Pocket [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Colmar Pocket, area in Alsace, France, 20 January to 9 February 1945] to join his unit. His unit’s first order was to blow out a railroad bridge to stop the Germans from moving supplies into France. His unit used a German road map to locate a bridge they were ordered to destroy. Osterhoudt had to use a slide rule to figure out the trajectory of the distance of the shell. His unit traveled to Bastogne [Annotator’s Note: Bastogne, Belgium] when the war came to an end. Osterhoudt spoke about Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] and the controversy of his death. Osterhoudt spoke to the General a few days before he died, and believes that one of Patton’s assistants pulled the plug and intentionally killed him.

Following the German surrender [Annotator’s Note: 8 May 1945], Ralph Osterhoudt Sr. served occupation duty as a message center clerk in Heidelberg, Germany and ran a prisoner of war exchange. Osterhoudt returned to the United States in May 1946. He enrolled in school and went into a billboard painting program and electricity program. Osterhoudt never saw a G.I. [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] steal anything when they occupied a townsperson’s house. One night, he was sitting at a switchboard and heard a baby cry. He informed the officer of the day, who brought MPs [Annotator’s Note: Military Police] to search the building. They found nine people in the basement including two infants. The people feared the Americans. Osterhoudt called for the medics to help the people and to get them out of the basement. Osterhoudt recalled that the Ardennes Forest was so thick with trees and snow that it was difficult for the medics to get to soldiers. Many of them froze to death. Osterhoudt and others helped pick up the bodies and put them near the road to be buried. The Germans deliberately hit the trees with their guns because it caused more damage to the soldiers. He said that he is here for the interview to honor the men that did not return home. Osterhoudt thinks that the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] has done a great job honoring World War 2 veterans.

Ralph Osterhoudt, Sr. was born in Hyde Park, New York in March 1926 and was one of 12 children. He lived during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] as a child. At night, he would often go to an observation station that was on a hill and was manned by high school kids. The observation station was used to observe activity over the nearby river. Osterhoudt learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] the following afternoon. The whole world changed after the event, and everyone contributed to the war effort in every way they could. His mother sat at the nearby fire station collecting goods from people to give to the military. They could only receive goods when they had stamps available. Osterhoudt began driving at the age of 15 and had a car because he worked on a farm. He worked in the morning before school, and then again in the evenings. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:59:28.000.] He had a brother that served on the USS Missouri (BB-63) for three years, and another brother that served in the Army but did not see combat. Osterhoudt was drafted into the Army in May 1944. He was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for basic training with the 82nd Airborne Division.

After basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Ralph Osterhoudt Sr. was sent by train to Baltimore, Maryland and then to Boston, Massachusetts from where he shipped out aboard the RMS Aquitania on 24 December 1944. He and many other soldiers were seasick and homesick. As soon as he landed in Glasgow [Annotator’s Note: Glasgow, Scotland], he was immediately sent to Le Havre [Annotator’s Note: Le Havre, France] on 2 January 1945. He was sent to a replacement depot outside of Paris [Annotator’s Note: Paris, France] from where he was assigned as a loader on a 240mm howitzer in Battery A, then Battery B, 575th Field Artillery Battalion. Osterhoudt was in a jeep behind the driver. The jeep hit a wire which caused the jeep to fly in the air and killed everyone but him and the driver. He questioned why he lived and the others did not. It took 21 men to load a 240 mm howitzer. The shell weighed over 300 pounds. When the war ended, Osterhoudt was in Bastogne [Annotator’s Note: Bastogne, Belgium]. He knew the war was over when the German planes stopped flying and tanks stopped coming because they had no gasoline. His unit was ordered to head south to Heidelberg, Germany.

After World War 2 ended, Ralph Osterhoudt Sr. and his unit [Annotator’s Note: 575th Field Artillery Battalion] was ordered to head south to Heidelberg, Germany. His unit was chosen to operate Patton’s [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] headquarters. He worked in the headquarters’ office. He oversaw prisoners of war. His unit collected the POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war], cleaned them up, and prepared to send them back to their home country. While he was in Europe, he attended school in France for 10 months learning about electricity. Osterhoudt returned to the United States in May 1946 and was discharged from the Army that same month at Fort Dix, New Jersey with the rank of PFC [Annotator’s Note: private first class]. So many young men died at the front lines. His most memorable experience of the war was while his unit was at Bastogne [Annotator’s Note: Bastogne, Belgium]. The trip to Europe was scary because of his unknown future. After he was discharged, he went into the Army Reserves for one year. He decided to sign up for the Reserves because the line was shorter. Soon after he returned home, he was able to secure a job immediately as a mail driver. He worked in the post office for 10 years before he started his own electrical business. The VA [Annotator’s Note: Veteran’s Affairs] will give you anything as long as you ask for it.

Ralph Osterhoudt Sr. suffered from nightmares and post-traumatic stress [Annotator's Note: post traumatic stress disorder; a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event either experienced or witnessed]. He would wake up in the middle of night screaming, and his wife had to take him by the hand to calm him down. Shortly after the war, he visited Auschwitz [Annotator's Note: Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp complex in German occupied Oswiecim, Poland] to see if there were any more prisoners left at the camp. The sight was horrible. He saw hundreds of burnt skeletons in ditches. Osterhoudt served because he was drafted, but he was ready to go and fight like the rest of the boys his age. He did not have a chance to graduate from high school with his peers, but in 2001 he was able to walk across the stage to receive his high school diploma. The war changed his life because it made him a good citizen. He became very active in his community by joining the school board and the American Legion. He does not want people to forget those young men who did not come home. He speaks about a soldier that died in his arms after he was hit by shrapnel. Osterhoudt believes World War 2 was a relevant war in American history.