Robert Masters was born in Akron, Ohio in August 1925. When he was five years old, the family moved to Santa Monica [Annotator's Note: Santa Monica, California] where his father worked at the Douglas Aircraft [Annotator's Note: Douglas Aircraft Company] facility as a member of the United States Navy. Masters was the youngest of three siblings. After graduating high school in 1943, he volunteered for service in the Navy. His father was disappointed that his brother had been drafted into the Army. Belonging to a military family, Masters was naturally swept up in the war process following the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Everything he knew about the course of the war in the early days was through his father. When Masters' brother and his best friend were drafted into the Navy, Masters knew just how real the war was. He recalls gasoline rationing stamps, but there was always plenty of gasoline to be had if you knew the right people. Of the six Japanese students in his high school class, all were sent away to internment camps after the outbreak of war. This was tough to see, as some of them were friends of his. Every waking moment of his life became war related. Masters assumed he would be sent to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] for basic training and was surprised when he was sent to Farragut, Idaho. Unable to return home on weekend passes [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] because of the great distances, Masters joined the rowing and shooting teams to help pass the time. Boot camp was not easy, but he did it. After boot camp, Masters attended radio school at the University of Wisconsin [Annotator's Note: in Madison, Wisconsin] and gunnery school at Great Lakes Naval Training Center [Annotator's Note: in Chicago, Illinois]. He watched as LST-601 [Annotator's Note: USS LST-601] was launched [Annotator's Note: on 4 March 1944] before boarding the ship and beginning his journey. They sailed down the Mississippi River to New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. Thoughts of combat never crossed his mind. The ship stopped to pick up ammunition and the order went out that no smoking was allowed on ship for two days. They sailed to Newport News, Virginia where they joined a convoy of over 100 ships. They traveled on the outside of the convoy at a speed of only five to six knots. The submarine threat was always present. The escort ships were mostly British cruisers. On one occasion, one laid a smoke screen down and came sailing out of it at full steam, just missing a collision with LST-601. This was a big scare. Upon entering the Mediterranean [Annotator's Note: Mediterranean Sea], they were told the threat of torpedo attack had abated because the ship only drew six feet of water. Upon arriving in Tunis [Annotator's Note: Tunis, Tunisia], however, they were greeted by the sight of an LST sitting in dry dock with a large hole blown in its side. From Tunis, the ship began making supply runs wherever it was needed in the Mediterranean. They delivered trucks, ammunition and weapons, supplies, prisoners of war, and wounded Americans to various ports.

Robert Masters's ship [Annotator's Note: USS LST-601] came under air raids on several occasions while in port in Tunis [Annotator's Note: Tunis, Tunisia] and Palermo [Annotator's Note: Palermo, Sicily], but he, like any 18 year old, had the attitude that if any ships were going to be hit, it surely would not be his own. He was scared on several occasions, but he was too young to truly understand the magnitude of his situation. He says he and a group of sailors would often sneak off the ships at night and go into town for a few drinks and some mischief before sneaking back aboard before dawn undetected. Masters watched thousands of planes fly overhead ahead of the invasion of Southern France as part of Operation Dragoon [Annotator's Note: code name for the Allied invasion of Southern France, 15 August 1944]. After the initial bombardment of the area, his ship went in and delivered its load of supplies. On a supply run between Marseilles [Annotator's Note: Marseilles, France] and Palermo following the invasion, a bow door of the LST was lost in a strong storm. The ship made it safely to Marseilles where it sat for several weeks while awaiting a replacement door. While in Marseilles, Masters and a group of 20 sailors found a German weapons warehouse. Most of the weapons were boobytrapped with devices that would send a burst of pellets across the legs of anyone trying to get them. After the boobytraps were disarmed, each man was issued two German pistols and two German rifles as souvenirs. His were stolen from his mother's garage after the war. In May 1945, Masters was in port in Tunis when an order sent all the ships in port out to sea. Once out at sea, Masters received a message over the radio that the Germans had surrendered. The ships were sent to sea to prevent the sailors from going into Tunis and wreaking havoc. The scene aboard ship was one of celebration at the news of the victory over Nazi Germany. Shortly after, Masters returned to the United States and was given a 30 day furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] while the ship was placed in dry dock for repairs and fitted with new guns for use in the Pacific. A new crew was assigned to the ship, and it left for the West Coast. Following his furlough, Masters returned to Newport News, Virginia where he waited three months for his discharge as a Radioman 2nd Class. He returned home to California and used the G.I. Bill to enroll in Los Angeles City College [Annotator's Note: in Los Angeles, California] where he studied architecture. This was playtime and he did not accomplish much. He gave up his education after a year in school. He got a job as a driver with the United Parcel Service [Annotator's Note: generally referred to as UPS] and moved to San Antonio, Texas after five years to begin his own delivery service.

Robert Masters' most memorable experience of World War 2 was the time Winston Churchill [Annotator's Note: Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill; Prime Minister, United Kingdom, 1940 to 1945] passed his ship and flashed the "V" for victory sign to the sailors on board. Masters fought in World War 2 because he had no choice. The war was a pivotal time in his life as a young man. While he was on a 30 day furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], his father secured him a plane ride from New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] to Los Angeles [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California]. He is proud of his service and feels sorry for those who were unable to serve as they still suffer the effects of that decision today. The military helped him immensely throughout his life. The war had to be done and should have been done sooner. It is very important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and to continue to teach about the war to future generations. He appreciates that society is more aware of the effects of war to today's veterans.