Samuel Malta was born in March 1925 at Revere, Massachusetts near Boston. He learned to swim early since it was a summer resort. It was a pleasant youth but gangsters worked the beach. Shootings even happened. The youngsters were wild but had a good time. They had trouble with the police on occasion. Malta and his buddy worked at a dog track. Malta recounts some of his childhood antics with his friend and on his own. He was 16 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He went to work in the Navy Yard building destroyer escorts. He gave all his pay to his mother and she returned a small allowance to him. When he reached draft age, he volunteered for service.

Samuel Malta went into the service in June 1943. He took his basic training at Camp Wheeler near Macon, Georgia. He was surprised and irked by the prejudice practiced in the South. His family had never been biased or practiced discrimination. Malta came in contact with a corporal still fighting the Civil War. Malta had a physical encounter with him. The corporal was soon shipped out. Malta next went to Fort Ord before he was deployed to New Zealand on the ship the New Amsterdam [Annotator's Note: SS Nieuw Amsterdam]. There, he joined the 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He joined an anti-tank company. He had never seen an anti-tank gun before, but he had been briefly trained on the bazooka. He became a bazooka man. He trained others on the weapon and they, in turn, became trainers for others.

Samuel Malta voyaged from New Zealand to New Caledonia. He imbibed a potent whiskey while at Nouméa. Missing his ride back to his company [Annotator's Note: Anti-Tank Company, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division], he and some other men stole an MP [Annotator's Note: military police] truck. They headed next for the Philippines but stopped at Guadalcanal. They found a beer supply on the ship then discovered the officers' whiskey ration under the beer. Some of the men became very intoxicated. It caused risky situations. From Guadalcanal, they shipped out on the Oconto [Annotator's Note: USS Oconto (APA-187)] to Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines. They landed at San Fabian two days after the invasion. The ship's crew was green and placed one of the company's trucks in the water instead of on the landing barge. The regiment disembarked on 11 January [Annotator's Note: 11 January 1945]. The first encounter with a Japanese reconnaissance plane forced the men to hurriedly dig foxholes. The first dead person that Malta encountered was a dead baby laying in a gutter. His stomach turned over. He was surprised that God allowed that to happen.

Samuel Malta and his company [Annotator's Note: Anti-Tank Company, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division] in the 35th Infantry Regiment were initially sent south after landing in the Philippines, but were rerouted north to the Carrabolla Mountains. They reached the small town of Lupao. Malta's anti-tank unit encountered 33 Japanese tanks and successfully knocked them all out. Malta experienced a near missed when a Japanese tank fired at him. He was hit by a white phosphorus round from an American 4.2mm mortar [Annotator's Note: 4.2 inch chemical mortar]. The medic took a penknife and extracted the burning shrapnel from Malta's wrist. Malta's platoon leader was quite a man. He performed his own reconnaissance missions. The officer spotted an enemy tank and deployed his platoon and their weapons to stop the vehicle. Malta fired three bazooka rounds and jammed the turret. The tank took refuge behind a raised schoolhouse. Malta fired under the raised building and hit the treads. The crewmen escaped from the disabled tank but were killed. Afterward, a major wanted Malta to move into a risky position. The platoon leader refused to put Malta in harm's way. He likely saved Malta's life. After the tanks were knocked out, the company headed up into the Carabolla Mountains.

Samuel Malta and his company [Annotator's Note: Anti-Tank Company, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division] entered the Carabolla Mountains to discover that the Japanese were extremely well entrenched. They had a perfect field of fire on the Americans. Some of the men in Malta's outfit were lost to enemy fire. Malta effectively used his bazooka against a Japanese machine gun nest. There were other cases of Malta's effectiveness as a bazooka man, but he felt he was no hero. He was only doing his job. While a medic was extracting a wounded trooper over his shoulder, the soldier continued to fire his M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] at the enemy. It was a funny sight. Malta got sick from tropical diseases. While in the rear, he saw Lew Ayres who was a conscientious objector. He was a great guy. Malta witnessed cases of friendly fire that resulted in American casualties. When the word came that the division [Annotator's Note: 25th Infantry Division] would be shipped out for Japan, Malta stated that he wanted to go with them. He did not want to be left behind to serve with strangers. He went with them and was placed on light duty.

Samuel Malta and his outfit [Annotator's Note: Anti-Tank Company, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division] landed on Kyushu and moved inland for occupation duty at a former Japanese airfield. The place was infested with rats. By January [Annotator's Note: January 1946], he was processed to return home. He landed in Seattle, Washington. He and some other men jumped ship to see an American woman. He met one in a café. He ordered a dozen eggs. On the train ride home, he and a buddy enjoyed beer. He decided not to join the reserves though he was asked to do so. Malta recalls having to shave during the Carabolla Mountain campaign. He was able to find some beer while searching for soap in the rear. The company commander was very understanding. A similar situation occurred in New Caledonia. The commander was a hell of a guy who took care of his men. The platoon leader was a great fellow as well. MacArthur [Annotator's Note: US Army General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, South West Pacific Area] was not well liked. After returning home, Malta had a difficult time adjusting to civilian life. He returned to the service in 1947 as a corporal.

Samuel Malta was based in Brooklyn New York as a military escort for the war dead. It was rough duty. He had to sign for the body and escort it to the family's town. No one could take control of the body except for the family. Malta stood his ground even against a superior officer who wanted to parade a body through town. Malta was supported by the commanding general and the other officer was told to stand down. The duty was so tough that some men got drunk and were court martialed. Six men in the group had nervous breakdowns from dealing with grief stricken families. Malta escorted about six bodies. He cried right along with the grieving family members. The caskets were sealed. The family was discouraged from opening it because the remains were so decomposed.

Samuel Malta and the men in combat were just kids who were 18 or 19 years old. The combat troops felt they were indestructible. Malta weeps for the men who did not make it home. [Annotator's Note: Malta chokes up.] He is given pills to help with his mood swings. He was in combat for 165 consecutive days. By the war's end, the combat soldiers were animals. Grisly things happened in the war that the Americans had no compunction about doing. After reenlisting in 1947, he left the service in 1948 because of family concerns. His promotion to sergeant was short-lived. He was discharged as a corporal. He liked the Army despite not liking some of the officers and non-coms [Annotator's Note: noncommissioned officers]. At times he showed disrespect for some of them. He was concerned at times about court-martial. He had a time adjusting to civilian life. He could not take orders. He quit jobs and bucked supervisors because of his independent nature. Malta had started working at the age of eight doing heavy labor. He was very fit and strong as a bull. He could take on anybody. He had an exciting life and matured young. He traveled with his father in the Ringling Brothers Circus. His father was a strict disciplinarian. Malta learned to fly and received a private pilot's license. He enjoyed doing stunts with his nephew onboard. Malta gave up flying because of its expense. Malta's return from the service was very rewarding.

Samuel Malta had difficulties after his discharge from the service. He did not like taking orders from civilians. He used crude language like that used in the military. He did not like loud noises. It took awhile for him to settle down. When Malta first was assigned as an escort for military dead, he thought it would be good. After the first delivery, he learned different. Rest periods were not restful. Six of the members of the detail had nervous breakdowns. The interactions with grieving families were very traumatic. Malta would wake from nightmares screaming at night. Mood pills were prescribed for him. His unprovoked crying spells were not understood by his wife. His daughter finally brought him to the VA hospital which did wonders for him. He shares his post traumatic stress issues with fellow veterans. It helps him in accepting his bouts with unprovoked crying. He saw death in the war and it did not bother him because the enemy was nothing but a cockroach. Seeing a dead American made him cry. [Annotator's Note: Malta shows emotion.] Even though he feels safe, he still experiences post traumatic stress. He loves the United States and would fight for it again. He never hated the Japanese soldiers, only the way they were trained. He loved the Japanese people for their industrious nature and cleanliness. He has seen worse Americans than Japanese. Malta is satisfied with his life. He worked as a welder for 50 years building ships and in heavy construction. He was good at his work and recognized for it. He took pride in his work.

Samuel Malta remembers funny occasions during the war but he also remembers being frightened by the combat. When faced with an oncoming Japanese tank, he shook with fear. He calmed down when he had to fire at it. Combat yields fear. During the fighting the training kicks in and calms a soldier down. Malta never worried about getting hit. He joined the service because all his friends were in the military. He and his friends were a rambunctious bunch. Although he tries to remember only the positive things about combat, there was a time when he was almost killed by a near miss from a Japanese tank. He has nightmares about a different near miss experience in the Carabolla Mountains of the Philippines. Other close call instances would follow in the mountains. Malta has nightmares from his time at war. He wakes either crying or screaming. He was just a young man during his time in the service. He felt indestructible. He learned to duck when the incoming rounds were on the way. Digging a hole was a method of finding safety. He learned to live below the surface of Mother Earth. Restful sleep continues to be elusive. America had to fight World War 2 to prevent Japan or Germany from taking over the country. The National WWII Museum is important because people should know what Malta's generation went through. The veterans do not consider themselves to be heroes. The heroes are all buried in foreign lands. Malta only did the job he was trained to do. When a person gets into combat, the experience is different from the training. Fighting the enemy, the soldier is terrorized but reacts to the situation. Much of the time overseas was sheer boredom but combat brings terror. Malta considers himself a coward because he was forced to get into the fight. Nevertheless, he would do it again instead of his children doing it. He is not sorry for his time in the war. Malta sees military cemeteries and gets depressed. The dead were just young people when they died. They thought they were indestructible. Today's military has better training and equipment than Malta and his fellow veterans did.