Sherwin Callander was born in June 1920, the first of three boys, in Vancouver, Canada, but grew up in Oakland, California. His parents were on relief, because his father suffered from an ulcerated stomach. His mother worked in a grocery store. He had to walk to school, but the weather in Oakland was usually fair. His neighborhood was predominately Catholic, although his family did not practice that religion. The impending war was not discussed in school, but during the depression, his family did not have enough money to put food on the table, so he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps building fire trails and fighting fires to earn money. He was paid 25 dollars a month, 20 of which was sent home to his family. Military recruiting officers came to the camp and told Callander that if he joined the Navy he would have girl in every port. Calendar signed up.

Sherwin Callander's parents gave their permission for their 19 year old son to enlist. He took a bus to San Diego, California for boot camp, where he learned to march and kill. The training was rough, but not as rough as the amphibious training which came later. His unit took an old four-stack World War 1 destroyer out of Red Lead Row and sailed to Balbao, California where the Navy finished making it seaworthy. Then they took the ship through the Panama Canal to Belfast, Maine, the first man-o-war to pull into that port in 20 years. Belfast was a good liberty town. Callander's ship sailed while he was being treated in the hospital for carbuncles. He had a difficult experience with transportation in New York, but eventually reached the Brooklyn Navy yard and his next assignment, a two-piper destroyer, on which his duty was fireman, the sailor who operates the boiler room. After another passage through the Canal, Callander arrived at Pearl Harbor.

At Pearl Harbor, Sherwin Callander was reassigned to the sea plane tender USS Wright (AV-1). The vessel carried men and equipment to and from the islands where air strips were being built. Callander went to Midway and Wake Islands, and on 6 December 1941, he remembers passing a carrier of undetermined nationality. The next morning, the crew heard the news about the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the USS Wright got back to Pearl Harbor, Callander couldn't believe the extent of the damage. He noted that when the attack happened, it was a Sunday, and many of the officers, who held the keys to a counterattack, were ashore. So for two hours, there was no return fire. What he initially beheld was a mass of sunken ships, some sitting on bottom with the upper carriage above the water line. [Annotator's Note: Callander goes quiet, breathes hard.] It was an awful mess, there were still men in the water, and he helped pull guys out and get them into body bags. When he grabbed one man by his hair, he found it so slippery from oil that he couldn't get a grip, so he grabbed the man's forearm, and the meat came off. The rescue efforts made him sick, but he knew he had to keep going. It is hard for Callander to think about something so destructive; he has tried to put it out of his mind completely. Soon afterward, for no explained reason, the USS Wright made a trip to Australia. The British had conscripted most of the young Australian men, and it was a good liberty port for the American sailors.

Sherwin Callander's voyage to Australia consisted of stops in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. It was winter and the ship encountered a cyclone that gave Callander his first brush with death. He was washed off the ship, but kept hold of the rail, and two men were able to pull him back. When he returned to Pearl Harbor, he wanted to get away from the "sneaky" Japanese, so he signed up for amphibious training, and was sent to Little Creek Virginia for the most demanding physical training he could have imagined. Then he was dressed in Army clothes and put on a ship to French Morocco, North Africa where he first saw combat. Callander admits that he was very afraid, and all he could think about was killing the enemy before he was killed. He said no one is brave when hunkered down with bombs dropping all around, and people are shooting at you, and there is nowhere you can go. After the initial invasion, Callander's unit was dug in for ten days holding the beachhead. His second brush with death came when he and a buddy decided to go into town for a shave. He and the other guy took turns holding their rifles on the barber. Afterward, a photographer asked if he could take their picture, and tried to lure them away from the beachhead. Later they learned that it was a prevalent ruse, used to get soldiers secluded, slit their throats, take their uniforms and infiltrate the Allied troops. Callander and his buddy luckily avoided the danger. Their ship began making six-month round trips carrying supplies between New York and Iran, which they did two or three times. During one of those relays, they took on fuel from a French freighter, and in the process, the crew swapped cigarettes for wine. Callander's sea birthday that year included a private celebration with cheese, warm bread and good French wine.

In the Atlantic, Sherwin Callander was on the USS Lyon (AP-71), a transport ship that brought troops and supplies to the front. Callander's first drop was at French Morocco, North Africa, covered earlier in his interview. Then he participated in the invasion at Salerno, Italy, where the ship was sandwiched between two cruisers that were sending fire across the Lyon's deck, a very impressive sight, and a frightening experience. Callander remembers the ship being escorted by destroyers that kept the u-boats [Annotator's Note: German submarines] at bay. When the United States invaded Normandy, Callander was operating a Higgin's boat [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP]. The morning of the invasion, the heavy enemy bombs were rippling the air like water in a pond. The disembarkation process from the personnel carriers to the small craft was treacherous, and the enemy fire was so extensive that Callander knew there would be many casualties. He remembers feeling pity for the troops he was dropping off. He commented that on Utah Beach, there was nowhere for the soldiers to get cover. On the second wave, the water was blood red. He couldn't count the number of trips he made to the beaches and couldn't help running over bodies in the water, all the while hoping they weren't alive. When the mission ended, he knew many men had been lost but the war had been shortened. He knew that we would win the war once and for all.

Sherwin Callander's duties transporting men and ships continued through the end of the war. After six years, he was anxious to get out of the Navy. He had many dreams about his dreadful experiences, and went for treatment at the Veteran's Administration for what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was given tranquilizers, but didn't take them for long. He believes he has outlived his dreams. He never spoke about his experiences to his wife or children; they only found out about his service when he went back to Normandy at the age of 94. Callander wanted to put it out of his mind. When he returned to civilian life, he learned the plumbing trade, and was eventually able to start his own business. Looking back, Callander says he was always a daredevil, and didn't think he would live to be 50; but he went through the war without harm, and is now almost double that age.