Robert W. "Doby" Gibson was born in Utica, Mississippi in August 1924. He was nicknamed, "Doby", after a professional baseball player. Both he and his namesake were center fielders. His family were sharecroppers on a farm in the Utica area, and were self-sufficient. Anything they did not produce themselves, they could buy at the local mercantile. His father passed away in 1937, and it was otherwise a bad year for the farm. His older brothers helped them get by, but when his mother couldn't pay the annual rent, the landlord took everything they had. He and his mother, two sisters and one brother went to live in a vacant house on the property of one of Gibson's schoolmates. His brother helped the man who owned the property with chores to pay the rent. Gibson helped his school janitor clean the gym and was allowed entrance to the basketball games on Tuesday and Friday nights. He served as the scorekeeper during those games. In 1936, Gibson watched a game that featured the Harlem Globetrotters [Annotator's Note: American exhibition basketball team]. When Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], Gibson was in school, and knew his brothers would be serving in the war. It wasn't until September 1943 that Gibson was drafted. He went to Camp Shelby, Mississippi for outfitting, then went to Camp Joseph T. Robinson in Little Rock, Arkansas [Annotator's Note: in North Little Rock, Arkansas] for basic infantry training. His training continued at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and at Camp Bowie in Brownwood, Texas. While he was at Camp Bowie, he had to box up tools and lumber, so he knew they were going somewhere. They boarded trains, and as they traveled the countryside, they would stop occasionally to do calisthenics. They eventually arrived at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts [Annotator's Note: in Taunton, Massachusetts]. Gibson was trained to build bridges, clear mine fields, and build roads. Prior to entering the service, he had built bridges with a crew in his home county during his summers, so the Army situated him with the engineers. From day one, Gibson was assigned to Company B, 279th Engineer Combat Battalion, 3rd Platoon, 2nd Squad [Annotator's Note: 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company B, 279th Engineer Combat Battalion, 333rd Engineer Special Service Regiment]. His engineering training took place at Camp Joseph T. Robinson [Annotator's Note: Camp Joseph T. Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas], Fort Polk [Annotator's Note: Fort Polk in Vernon Parish, Louisiana], and at Camp Bowie [Annotator's Note: Camp Bowie in Brownwood, Texas]. As for combat training, he practiced with his M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] at a shooting range and crawled under barbed wire with a machine gun firing over his head. It was so cold he could not keep score.

Robert W. "Doby" Gibson left Camp Myles Standish in Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston, Massachusetts] on the troop ship USS Mariposa [Annotator's Note: SS Mariposa] in the early part of 1944. The conditions aboard ship were good, and the ship arrived safely in England. His unit had its first casualty while the troops were unloading from two and a half ton trucks [Annotator's Note: two and a half ton, six by six truck, also known as deuce and a half]. One of the soldiers jumped out, carrying his loaded M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand], and the butt of the gun hit the ground. It fired and hit the man in the neck. The battalion [Annotator's Note: Gibson was a member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company B, 279th Engineer Combat Battalion, 333rd Engineer Special Service Regiment] landed at Omaha Beach [Annotator's Note: Normandy, France]. There were so many disabled sea craft in the water, they had to get out of the LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] in chest-deep water. When they got ashore, they were facing grave sites. It was about 40 days after the initial invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. He doesn't know how their equipment got ashore. They had no supplies when they first landed. At night, they would set up barbed wire perimeters, with tin cans on top. If the tin cans rattled, they would fire. If tanks tried to come through, the barbed wire would get tangled up around their axles, and they couldn't move. The battalion did some clearing of mine fields. Gibson saw a lot of soldiers whose feet had been blown off. The mine detector would locate them, the operator would mark the place and the demolition crew would remove the mines. While Gibson was in France, the civilians were very nice. On special occasions, he got to go into many of their homes. On holidays, invitations to visit families were posted on a board. The Army provided transportation to the locations. The same thing happened in Germany and Holland. The battalion was in Holland pretty early in their tour of duty. During this time, they always had plenty of supplies. If they needed a little refreshment during the day, they had the USO [Annotator's Note: United Services Organization] that came by with cold drinks, coffee and doughnuts. Gibson kept up with things back home through a hometown newspaper that would catch up with him about every three weeks. He also got mail from his family regularly. Gibson reunited with one of his brothers while he was in Germany, and also got to go to London, England to visit another brother's new bride and her family. Gibson had never been out of Mississippi prior to that. There were seven boys and two girls in Gibson's family. Six of the boys were in service during the war. His mother had six stars on her front door, representing the six soldiers. All six came home safely.

After spending time in Holland, Robert W. "Doby" Gibson crossed the border into Germany. There was always the danger of snipers. The soldiers looked after each other. When he bedded down at night, his M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] was with him. The first bridge he repaired was across the Ruhr River [Annotator's Note: in Germany], and that is where he was injured. The Germans had pillboxes [Annotator's Note: type of blockhouse, or concrete, reinforced, dug-in guard post, normally equipped with slits for firing guns] all over the countryside. At night, the Americans would go into the pillboxes and line them with dynamite. The engineers would then blow them up. The civilians had gone way back into the interior of the country. While building the pontoon bridges across the Ruhr River, the Germans tried to distract and demoralize the American troops by playing Tommy Dorsey [Annotator's Note: Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr.; American jazz musician] music. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Gibson where he was when the Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945, began.] His unit [Annotator's Note: Company B, 279th Engineer Combat Battalion, 333rd Engineer Special Service Regiment] was near there, in a series of American fake pillboxes, and their job was to keep people from going in or coming out. He said they had to spend the nights in a turnip patch, and the ground was frozen. They had to dig foxholes about six feet long and about three feet wide, so that the tanks could pass over them. The soldiers took turns on watch. One night, it was Gibson's turn to sleep, and when he awoke, the soldier that was supposed to be on guard was in the foxhole with him. That ended their relationship as buddy-buddy. To make a hole in frozen ground, the soldiers had to alternate using the pick and the shovel ends of their trenching tool. He was there during December [Annotator's Note: December 1944] and January [Annotator's Note: January 1945], and it was cold. Christmas 1944, Gibson was in the Geilenkirchen [Annotator's Note: Geilenkirchen, Germany] area. The Germans would put people anywhere to spy on the Americans, even up in the church steeples. Gibson did a lot of patrolling, in groups of four, on a rotation basis. On Christmas Day, the soldiers got a Christmas dinner. They always had plenty to eat. He did the best he could in a foxhole on Christmas, thinking about what the family back home would be doing. Gibson grew up on a farm in Mississippi and he always had work to do. After the Battle of the Bulge, Gibson went back to Marienberg [Annotator's Note: Marienberg, Germany]. To cross the Ruhr River at Linnich [Annotator's Note: Linnich, Germany], they had to gather their materials, and go through the yards of people's houses to get to the river. When it came time to cross, the first batch got across with no detection, but when the next crew went across, hell broke loose. Gibson had not yet crossed and tried to take cover in the cellar of a big house, but it was flooded. When he tried to find another place of refuge, the shell from an 88 [Annotator's Note: German 88mm multi-purpose artillery] exploded and burst his eardrum. He was evacuated to the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, where he stayed for 19 days. Gibson returned to his original unit, and they moved on to the Rhine [Annotator's Note: Rhine River in Germany].

As the Germans were pushed farther into Germany, they put up less of a fight, according to Robert W. "Doby" Gibson. His battalion [Annotator's Note: Gibson was a member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company B, 279th Engineer Combat Battalion, 333rd Engineer Special Service Regiment] began rebuilding the cobblestone streets in little towns. They transported all their supplies and equipment by two and a half ton truck [Annotator's Note: two and a half ton, six by six truck, also known as deuce and a half] and three-quarter ton trucks. Another job Gibson had, since he was a non-drinker, was to pick up the company's supply of schnapps [Annotator's Note: type of alcoholic beverage] in France and bring it back to camp. He often accompanied soldiers on their three day passes and overnight leaves [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] so that there was someone along to bring the heavy drinkers home safely. Gibson acquired a camera early on, from a German photographer in Heidelberg [Annotator's Note: Heidelberg, Germany], who would develop his photographs in exchange for Army issued soap and cigarettes. He brought the photos home in a big plastic bag, and after the war he spent nights identifying the men in the pictures and putting the photos in albums. He displays his albums at reunions. Gibson was one of the builders of the bridge over the Ruhr River. It took several attempts, because the river washed some of their work away, and the Germans bombed it. Eventually, another crew came in to replace Gibson's, and they finished the job. When the war ended in Europe on 8 May 1945, Gibson was transferred to the 333rd Army of Occupation [Annotator's Note: 333rd Engineer Special Service Regiment]. He began to build roads and bridges that had been torn out. Every Monday morning he would go to the POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] camp and check out 15 POWs, then get a big truck, and pick up concrete blocks. The prisoners would load them onto a barge, and Gibson would take it all out onto the Rhine River and throw the blocks around the abutments of the bridges to keep them from washing out. When Gibson was getting ready to return home, one of his prisoners made a design, which he signed, and presented to Gibson. He still has it. He communicated with the Germans through sign language, and said he had no animosity toward them. The Germans he encountered were nice people. Everything in their country was torn up, and many of the civilians had to leave. Gibson went back on a tour in 2001, to visit all the places he had been in the war. Everything had changed, and all was beautiful. Gibson was in Germany until 10 June 1946, and was discharged soon afterward in Hattiesburg, Mississippi as a staff sergeant. He had been in charge of the construction of the pedestrian section of the railroad bridge in Mainz, Germany. He was in Germany for over a year after the war ended, and went several times to Munich, Germany to see the American servicemen's units play football, where he saw President Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Dwight David Ike Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force; 34th President of the United States] during halftime of one of those games.

When Robert W. "Doby" Gibson got out of the service in 1946, he reenlisted for three more years. He was not sent to the Pacific. He started over at the rank of PFC [Annotator's Note: private first class] and worked his way back to staff sergeant. At his discharge, he got in line to file a claim for being wounded in Germany, but he could not get a Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: the Purple Heart Medal is an award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy] because his records were destroyed in a fire in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1973 [Annotator's Note: National Personnel Records Center fire, 12 July 1973]. He appealed to his Congressmen in Mississippi to write for him, but to no avail. But they do give him a pension and supply his hearing aids. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Gibson how World War 2 changed his life.] It really made him a better person and trained him to take responsibility. He married a nice lady and raised four boys. His war experience helped him to associate more with people, and to be active in the youth of our country. After getting out of the Army he returned to his hometown, where he did a few little odd jobs, and then he went to Jackson [Annotator's Note: Jackson, Mississippi]. He went to work for the Post Office. Gibson had quit high school after the tenth grade but worked with the Post Office until he retired after 30 years of service, in 1984. He and his wife also ran a real estate business, and the proceeds enabled them to send their four boys through college. During his years with the Post Office he also umpired baseball for 13 years. That qualified him for Social Security benefits. For his church, he coached the basketball youth team which won the city championship. He has appeared before elementary schools to speak about his experiences in the war. He feels our country needs to address the youth about what they need to do. Wherever he goes, he wears his cap, and said that people often come up and thank him for his service.

Among his experiences in the war, the thing that most stands out in Robert W. "Doby" Gibson's mind is being on the battlefield and watching the lines and lines of infantrymen use the roadways he had built up to the front. There were planes up above, supporting them, going over. What was bad was watching the big trucks come back with American bodies stacked on them like cordwood, going to the rear. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Gibson to elaborate on the day he was wounded.] There were shells coming in at all angles. He was trying to get into as safe a place as he could. But, when an 88 [Annotator's Note: German 88mm, multi-purpose artillery] shell comes in, it bursts. When you hear it, it is too late. Gibson's left ear was bleeding, and he was evacuated to the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany. He was there for 19 days before rejoining his outfit [Annotator's Note: Gibson was a member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company B, 279th Engineer Combat Battalion,333rd Engineer Special Service Regiment]. Today, the VA [Annotator's Note: United States Department of Veterans Affairs] cannot do anything for his ear, but they set up a special telephone in his home and increased his pension because of his hearing loss. During the war, when he wasn't on the line working, he was manning machine guns and watching the defenses they had set up. The unit also patrolled the countryside looking for things that needed to be fixed, like broken water lines. On breaks, he played on his unit's basketball team. He attended USO [Annotator's Note: United Services Organization] shows that featured stars like Bob Hope [Annotator's Note: Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope KBE; British-American entertainer who was famous for entertaining American troops serving overseas during World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War], and some country singers. Gibson is thankful that his family was able to serve their country as they were needed and helped America to stand strong and protect our people. He feels America has to be thankful to all the people who served. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Gibson if he thinks it important that there is The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, and if it is important for it to continue to teach the history of the war.] He wishes every veteran could have the opportunity to experience it. At his reunions, he distributes materials about the museum, and encourages everyone to visit. Gibson thanks The National WWII Museum for inviting him to interview and hopes other veterans will make themselves available. At 87 years old, he is not done yet.