Samuel Hadjinian was born in Racine, Wisconsin. He graduated from high school in 1942 and worked for a year as a stock clerk. In March 1943, he was drafted into the Army. 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], he was limited in what he ate, and his parents grew a lot of food. His family was on government assistance like most of the people in his community. Since his family did not have a car, he walked a lot. He grew up with a brother and a sister. Sometimes he sold magazines to make money. After he was drafted into the service, he was sent to Camp Ellis, Illinois for basic training. After he completed training, he boarded a train to California and then boarded a troop ship to be sent overseas. For 14 days he sailed across the Pacific in a zigzag [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] pattern and landed in Finschhafen, New Guinea on Thanksgiving Day 1944. He stayed there for two months, and then boarded an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] and landed in the Philippines. Hadjinian then boarded a truck and was transferred to Manila [Annotator’s Note: Manila, the Philippines]. His unit [Annotator’s Note: 1896th Engineer Aviation Battalion] stayed in a hotel. He was first assigned as a truck driver and then later worked in the motor pool as a mechanic. Before he left Wisconsin, the WACs [Annotator's Note: Women's Army Corps; women's branch of the United States Army, 1942 to 1978] arrived at camp and, at first, some of the guys were upset that they were there, but eventually accepted them. Before he left Wisconsin, there was a German prison camp, and Hadkinian would often visit the prisoners and bring them supplies. His basic training did not include any engineering training, but he worked as a truck driver. He was eventually placed in the 1542nd Engineer Survey Company while at Camp Ellis. After they arrived in Finschhafen, he slept in a tent for about two months before heading to Manila. When Hadjinian landed on the beaches of Philippines, he was met by lots of Filipinos trying to sell him things. When he reached Manila, he learned quickly that the Japanese were still around because he saw a G.I. [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] get killed by a sniper shot the first day he arrived.

Samuel Hadjinian was sent to Manila, the Philippines to join the 1896th Engineer Aviation Battalion after being drafted into the Army in 1944. He was tasked with building airfields and roads. He also helped build the harbor area of Manila. He always carried a gun in the beginning because Japanese snipers were still around. His unit was given lots of equipment to restore the harbor and would often find dead Japanese has they dug around. He was very busy during his time in Manila. It took a couple of days to make an airfield and lay out metal padding. He also built Quonset huts [Annotator's Note: prefabricated metal building] using corrugated metal. He met Ferdinand Marcos [Annotator’s Note: Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr., a Filipino politician and dictator who served as the 10th president of the Philippines] while he was serving in Manila. Hadjinian was given orders to move out of the Philippines and board a ship heading for Tokyo, Japan. However, he never had to invade Japan because on the way there, Japan had surrendered. While on the ship, they experienced a typhoon. He was down in the hole watching all the motor pool equipment. Surprisingly, he did not get seasick. When he arrived in Japan, his unit was ordered to begin building, but for the first seven days it rained. He met an American that gave up his citizenship to fight for Japan, and Hadjinian got in some trouble with him because he wanted a Japanese phone. The man traded it for food and soap, but later demanded the phone back, and threatened Hadjinian that he would tell his commander if he did not give it back. He thought overall that the Japanese people were very friendly. He often gave food to them because they were starving.

Samuel Hadjinian was sent Japan with the 1896th Engineer Aviation Battalion during occupation to build airfields and repair roads. He also built civilian and military buildings for military officials including General MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area]. His unit was featured in Life Magazine. When Hadjinian earned enough points to go home [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home], he was asked to stay for another three years, but he decided to go home. He tells a story about a man named Marvin Miller who had to drive for 24 hours delivering water to different outfits and then was put on guard duty. He fell asleep and was caught, so he was put in jail and was court martialed. Hadjinian went to court to defend him. While he was stationed in the Philippines and Japan, Hadjinian he was able to see USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] shows. The Red Cross [Annotator's Note: Red Cross, an international non-profit humanitarian organization] charged them 10 cents for lemonade and a cookie.

Samuel Hadjinian learned how to drink and smoke through his experience of World War 2. The war helped with his career by becoming a mechanic and later became a carpet installer through his wife’s family business. He thinks today this country “is so screwed up” and he does not know how the war changed the United States. When he went to war, he knew who the enemy was, but today, we do not. He believes that other countries hate America even though we helped many of them. Hadjinian believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.