Solis “Sol” Kaslow was born in 1925 [Annotator’s Note: he grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. His father worked on homes for other people. It was the time of the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] and the family was very poor. Kaslow’s father married a wonderful woman. Kaslow had an older sister. The family was very close. Just weeks after he graduated from high school in February 1943, he was drafted into the military. Military activities were mainly on the western side [Annotator’s Note: the Pacific Theater] at the time.

Solis “Sol” Kaslow went through boot camp [Annotator’s Note: in Sampson, New York] and then was trained as a navigator. It was an intensive course that took several months. Due to a freak accident, Kaslow was assigned to a PT boat [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] squadron and sent down to Florida where he was assigned to the 508 [Annotator’s Note: PT-508 in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 34] where he stayed for the rest of his service. The boat’s crew was close to one another and got along well. After training for another two weeks on the boats in Florida, Kaslow and his squadron shipped out for England. Kaslow’s boat and a few others uneventfully crossed the Atlantic on a floating dry dock. After arriving in England, the squadron assembled and prepared for their first operation, which was escorting mine sweepers that were to clear approach lanes for the Normandy invasion beaches [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944].

On 5 June 1944, the squadron was about to take off to rendezvous with the mine sweepers when Solis “Sol” Kaslow, who was also the radio operator on his boat [Annotator’s Note: PT-508 in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 34 (MTBRon 34)], received a message indicating that the operation was being postponed for 24 hours due to bad weather over the English Channel [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944 was originally scheduled for the previous day but delayed due to harsh weather conditions]. The boat crews stood down. The following day, they left to carry out their mission. With the big guns blasting, the crew began their work [Annotator’s Note: Kaslow becomes emotional remembering the event.] Kaslow’s PT boat was not allowed in the main assault areas. They were ordered to protect the flank [Annotator’s Note: MTBRon 34 protected the flank as well as minesweepers clearing shipways for the invasion assault ships]. Another group protected the other side. The scale of the invasion was fascinating and well organized. While the mine sweepers were at work on the afternoon and evening of 6 June 1944, one of the vessels struck a mine. Within moments, the damaged vessel drifted into two more mines. The entire aft end of the ship was separated from the forward part. It was a horrible sight. Kaslow’s boat, PT-508, pulled up to the detached aft section and pulled off all of the survivors they could. Other boats from the squadron also did their part to rescue survivors from the ship. In the weeks following the Normandy invasion, the boats in Kaslow’s squadron performed various duties including night patrols for German shipping, delivering mail, and transporting high ranking officers from place to place. The squadron base was eventually moved to Cherbourg [Annotator’s Note: Cherbourg, France in August 1944].

It was while operating out of Cherbourg in August [Annotator’s Note: Cherbourg, France in August 1944] that Solis “Sol” Kaslow would experience the worst moment of his time in Europe. One night, several of the boats from Kaslow’s squadron [Annotator’s Note: Kaslow was aboard PT-508 in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 34 (MTBRon 34)] were patrolling the Channel Islands [Annotator’s Note: a group of islands in the English Channel belonging to the United Kingdom that were occupied by German forces during World War 2] when they were vectored toward six German ships. Kaslows’s PT-508 and sister boat PT-509 approached the targets and made nearly simultaneous torpedo attacks on the enemy ships. After launching their torpedoes, Kaslow’s boat peeled off one way and PT-509 peeled off the other. It was the last time anyone would see PT-509. As they sped off in different directions, Kaslow was in radio contact with the radio operator on PT-509. Suddenly, the radio went silent. They tried to raise PT-509, but their attempts were unsuccessful. A day or two later, they learned that the 509 had been destroyed with only one survivor who was captured and tortured. This worst battle of Kaslow’s combat tour was also his last. Although they continued to patrol, they never again encountered the enemy. Then [Annotator’s Note: in the fall of 1944], the men of Kaslow’s squadron were notified that they were to get their boats in ship shape condition because they were being turned over to the Russians. Kaslow found the Russians very particular about the boats being transferred to them. The invasion operations [Annotator's Note: Kaslow’s torpedo boat squadron protected one of the sea-lane flanks on D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944] had been very fascinating to observe.

Solis “Sol” Kaslow grew up in Philadelphia [Annotator’s Note: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]. He was drafted into the Navy. He became a navigator on a PT-boat [Annotator’s Note: Kaslow was aboard PT-508 in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 34 (MTBRon 34)]. He was happy with his service. The crew handled the boat without any damage in the turbulent English Channel. The date of the invasion was changed because of the rough seas [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944 was originally scheduled for the previous day but delayed due to harsh weather conditions]. Kaslow could not understand turning his PT-boat over to the Russians. The boats were like the crews’ babies. The boats were top-notch and the Russians had nothing like that. The Russians were very careful in their inspection of the boats they were to receive. Their enlisted men had no interaction with the Russians. Kaslow had a liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] in Scotland when he was 19 years of age. There were young women and it was a lively area. There was nothing to do but have fun. He was very happy at that stage. Kaslow was back in the United States when the atomic bombs were dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. He had been discharged as a quartermaster first class by then. He started school in April or May [Annotator’s Note: 1946], using the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment]. Kaslow had no desire to serve further after his discharge because he went into school right away.

Solis “Sol” Kaslow felt the PT boat was wonderful and outstanding for the job assigned [Annotator’s Note: Kaslow served aboard PT-508, a patrol torpedo boat, in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 34 (MTBRon 34) during the time the squadron protected the flank of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. The PT was a beautiful boat and Kaslow was proud to serve on it. Kaslow has taken a tour of the boat at The Museum [Annotator’s Note: Higgins Industries-built PT 305 was restored by volunteers at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana and is available for viewing]. Kaslow served on a PT boat built by Elco [Annotator’s Note: Electric Launch Company, or Elco, of Bayonne, New Jersey]. The last piece of action was too much for Kaslow. He was not able to go back and revisit the grounds until 55 years later. It was tough even then. The deaths and the smells were too much. The smell of the gunpowder from the ships firing on targets on the beach was too much for him. The PT boats did their job well during the invasion [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. They saved lives fulfilling their missions. The crews did what they were tasked to do. Kaslow only viewed some of the invasion fleet on the day of the assault. He did see an unbelievable amount and variety of aircraft overhead [Annotator’s Note: he is animated when acknowledging the massive airpower on D-Day]. The extent of aircraft convinced him that the invasion would be a success. The landing areas had German bunkers that had to be overcome by the assault troops. People were killed all over the place. It took time before the American troops moved inland. Kaslow witnessed the naval bombardment of the enemy positions ashore. The ships fired simultaneously at their targets when the invasion started. It was very impressive.

Solis “Sol” Kaslow remembers the loss of PT-509 as his most memorable experience during his time at war [Annotator’s Note: PT-509 was a sister ship to Kaslow’s PT-508 in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 34 (MTBRon 34) during an assault on German ships near the German-occupied Channel Islands in the English Channel. Running parallel on a torpedo run, PT-509 was hit with a total loss of life while Kaslow’s boat escaped injury.]. The loss of the 509 destroyed Kaslow because it could have been him if he would have gone the other direction [Annotator’s Note: Kaslow was the navigator on his PT-boat]. It was fate. It was a loss of men he had constant contact with every day. It took a while to get over that. Nevertheless, Kaslow had no trouble adjusting to civilian life after returning home. He went right to school and worked without thinking about what had happened in the war. It was 55 years later when he could finally take a trip back to where the incident occurred. [Annotator’s Note: Kaslow’s voice displays emotion at the memory.] The G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] enabled him to attend college. Without it, he would have had to borrow money. He was, however, scheduled for college. Kaslow has observed a much keener interest in World War 2 since the 70th [Annotator’s Note: 70th-year commemoration of the conflict]. Until then, he was busy getting educated and working while building and growing with the economy. There was a terrible problem with the boats [Annotator’s Note: Kaslow does not elaborate on the nature of the problem as he reads from his notes]. Kaslow was very pleased with his service. He had a job to do and he did it. He was scheduled with another program, but ended up on a PT boat. It was all by accident, but he could handle it. [Annotator’s Note: He was trained as a navigator by the Navy but, through a freak incident, ended up on PT-508.]