[Annotator's Note: A person is seen walking back and forth in the background from time to time throughout this clip]. Sydney Levit was born in July 1924, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with one younger sister. His father was in sales and his mother stayed home to take care of the family during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. Levit's family shared dinners, clothes, and various other items with other families to make it through. He walked to school every day. The world around him did not affect him as a child. Everyone was going through a hard time and relied on each other. He ran for the cross country and track team in high school, which later helped him through military training. He remembers hearing about the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] over the radio while sitting on his front porch. [Annotator's Note: There is lawnmower sound in the background at 0:08:53.000.] When war broke out, everyone wanted to go and fight. Levit's mother did not want him to enlist after he graduated from high school, but it was not long until he was drafted. He was inducted in April 1943 at New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. He traveled three days on a train and reached North Carolina. For a moment he thought he was put in the Air Force, but when he reached Camp Mackall [Annotator's Note: Camp Mackall, North Carolina], he soon realized he was in the Airborne. He and the other trainees had to install windows and doors on the barracks. Levit had a really hard time digesting the Army food. But overall, he loved basic training. He met men from different areas of the country and became lifelong friends. One day, he and the rest of the trainees were ordered to go into the woods and chopped down the trees to create a parade ground. They accidentally started a forest fire and had to evacuate the area. After training in North Carolina, he was sent to Tennessee [Annotator's Note: on 6 February 1944] for maneuvers [Annotator's Note: Second Army No. 5 Maneuvers, series of seven large scale training exercises in Tennessee Maneuver Area, Middle Tennessee, 1942 to 1944], which was difficult because of the rainy weather. On the way back from maneuvers one day, Levit was in the back of a truck. Because the weather was bad, the truck missed a bridge and fell into a stream. Everyone but one trainee was injured. Levit wad glider trained at Fort Bragg [Annotator's Note: Fort Bragg, North Carolina], and parachute training in Tennessee.

Sydney Levit and his unit [Annotator's Note: 194th Glider Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division] were sent to Camp Myles Standish [Annotator's Note: in Taunton, Massachusetts], and shipped overseas to England. They trained some more, and then shipped into combat during the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. Levit's unit was met by German resistance on Dead Man's Hill [Annotator's Note: Dead Man's Ridge, Flamierge (Flamièrge), Belgium on 4 January 1945] and was forced to retreat. They went into attack. The Germans were well supplied with ammunition. Levit fired mortar rounds at the Germans. Levit's captain was wounded and captured. He would not see him again until years later at a reunion. His unit was shipped to Normandy [Annotator's Note: Normandy, France] and waited for orders. They were attached to various Army Divisions, from Patton's [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] to Bradley's [Annotator's Note: US Army General Omar Nelson Bradley], and the British Army. His unit suffered badly when they went into action due to lack of supplies. They were never issued winter clothing. Anytime they caught a German, they would take his boots and other pieces of clothing. When Levit was training in the United States, he was chosen to take a test at The Citadel [Annotator's Note: The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina] to go into engineering. Levit knew he would not pass the math portion of this test. When the results came back and he was not on the list of accepted candidates, the officers told him he would return to his outfit, but first would teach the new candidates military procedures for three days. After the Battle of the Bulge, Levit and his unit advanced into Germany by way of a special glider operation [Annotator's Note: Operation Varsity, 24 March 1945, Wesel, Germany]. The operation was very successful with very few causalities. They were on alert constantly because they were told that some Germans were disguised as Americans. Levit remembered when he was told that Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] had died [Annotator's Note: on 12 April 1945], he became discouraged. No one knew who was going to replace him. No one had heard of Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] before. As they advanced into Germany, they crossed a river and passed through farmland. Along with his unit, Levit was able to capture a top Nazi official, Franz von Papen [Annotator's Note: Franz von Papen, former Chancellor of Germany], at his estate. When the war in Europe was finally over, Levit heard that he was going to be sent home for 30 days and then shipped out to fight in the Pacific.

Sydney Levit remembered when the war in Europe was finally over. He heard that he was going to be sent home for 30 days and then shipped out to fight in the Pacific. On his voyage back to the United States, it was announced that the Japanese had surrendered. Everyone on the ship screamed with happiness. A sergeant tried to persuade Levit stay in the military, but he wanted to be discharged. When he got home, there was a sign outside his apartment door that his neighbors put up that said "Welcome Home, Syd!". Levit found a job at a furniture whole sale store. Then he got a in a children clothing manufacturing company. Years later, Levit spoke at his grandson's class. After he spoke, he asked who wanted to join the military. Two girls and one boy raised their hands. He thought that was interesting. Levit received a special citation from a European town. Levit tried to work and go to school, but it became too much, so he dropped out of college and continued with his career. Levit remarked that he had a great life.

After Sydney Levit completed basic training, he was inducted into the glider infantry [Annotator’s Note: 194th Glider Infantry, 17th Airborne Division] at Fort Bragg [Annotator’s Note: Fort Bragg, North Carolina]. He described that the glider was made from canvas, pipe, and a plywood floor. It was big enough for 13 men or a pilot and co-pilot and a large transport equipment like a jeep. Levit, along with the rest of the trainees, realized that the glider had no motor. They are dropped from a plane behind enemy lines. The training was to load and unload as quickly as possible. To complete the training, he had to make five successful lands. Levit also took parachute training, which he thought was more rigorous than the glider training. On one of his practice jumps, the pilot of the plane missed his target to release the parachuters. When Levit and his friend landed, they were separated from the rest of the group. They decided to stay out there until the next day to meet up with their group because they did not want to do mess duty at the base. When Levit went into battle, he carried with him carbine with a folding stock that he secured on his hip when he jumped. He also carried belted ammunition and C rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food]. He did not have hot food very often, and one time his unit got sick off of hot pudding. Levit remarked that the French people were very happy to see Americans. They often gave the solders French bread and other food, and in return, the soldiers would give the children candy and gum. He and his unit moved very quickly through France to get to the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. The saddest seen he saw was when soldiers were loading frozen dead soldiers on a truck.

Sydney Levit's most memorable experience during World War 2 was the first day after the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. He could not find most of his friends and did not know if they were dead or captured. When replacements came in, they were told to do whatever the person in front of them was doing. Levit had wet feet all the time and was scared every second of the day. Levit tries to focus on the positive days of his World War 2 experience, and generally enjoyed being part of the Army. [Annotator's Note: Levit is interrupted when someone walks in off camera at 0:53:50.000.] He is proud to have served and feels lucky he returned home. The only thing he was unhappy with was the food. Levit believes that World War 2 is history, and most Americans sees it like that. There has been more turmoil and war since then. [Annotator's Note: Video Break at 0:56.06.000.] One time a captain got drunk at a brewery after seeing a picture on the front cover of a magazine of his fiancé getting married to another man. Levit believes we should have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and to continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. He thinks the production that this country did to win the war was momentous.