Theodore E. Skinner, Sr. was born in May 1921 in the Bronx, New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York]. After graduating high school, he went in the Army's CMTC [Annotator's Note: Citizens' Military Training Camps]. He wanted to go into the police force, but was too young so in 1939, he joined the Army at Governors Island, New York and trained with Company F, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. After completing basic training, he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for some time. Then he was stationed at the World's Fair in Flushing, New York in 1940. He recalled military forces would put on demonstrations and the have a military parade. When the fair closed in November 1940, they were sent to Puerto Rico for amphibious maneuver training, then sent to various camps around the United States for more training. He was on leave when he found out about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He received a call to return to the base immediately. After World War 2 broke out, he was sent overseas on the Queen Mary and landed in Scotland. Skinner took a train to Tidworth Barracks in England to train, but then was sent back to Scotland and put on a ship to North Africa. Skinner was wounded in Tunisia and sent back to the United States. He stayed in the military and traveled all over the world. He retired in 1960.

Theodore E. Skinner, Sr. was sent overseas to Scotland and then took a train to Tidworth Barracks in Southern England. They did some training at the barracks and then was sent back to Scotland to do some amphibious training before being shipped out to Oran, North Africa. They were sent up to Tunisia to meet the enemy. Skinner was wounded in a town called El Guettar [Annotator's Note: El Guettar, Tunisia]. He was sent back to the United States and served in different units stateside. Skinner can recall that when his regiment [Annotator's Note: Skinner was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] invaded the beaches of Africa, there was only a small amount of resistance. He remarked that they went down cargo nets with their full field packs. They got into landing crafts and headed towards the beach, He remembered it was dark at the time and he could not see much going on. His unit was stationed in Oran for a little while before they were taken in trucks to a valley and then sent to Tunisia. He had heard that the Germans were planning on making an attack on the Americans and French. Skinner was wounded by an air burst during combat. He was hit in both legs while waiting in a foxhole. He does not recall much about the incident. He was passed out for much of it.

Theodore E. Skinner, Sr. and his unit [Annotator's Note: Company F, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] were sent to Kasserine Pass to help resist the opposition before they were sent to Tunisia [Annotator's Note: Tunisia, Africa]. Skinner does not recall seeing a lot of resistance in Kasserine. Skinner remembered seeing some of the German tanks from afar and could hear them at night. He felt that he was well equipped with fire power and received modern weapons. He thought the 03 rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber Model 1903, or M1903, Springfield bolt action rifle] was a wonderful and accurate weapon, but he had an M1 rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] when he served in Africa. While serving overseas he only saw one aircraft and it went by so fast they did not have enough time to shoot him down. Skinner never could tell if he was fighting the Germans or the Italians, he just knew he was fighting the enemy. After Skinner was injured, the blast blew his shoe off and disfigured his foot. When he returned to the United States, he was in a cast for three months and began rehabilitation. Skinner still has shrapnel in his leg and foot.

After Theodore E. Skinner, Sr. was released from the hospital in the United States, he was assigned to the 78th Division [Annotator's Note: 78th Infantry Division] at Camp Butner, North Carolina. He was an instructor to the recruits during training. He was then discharged, but reenlisted and was sent to Fort Belvoir, Virginia and was part of the Military Police Unit in Washington, D.C. He met his wife and got married. Post World War Two, he was sent to Walter Reed [Annotator's Note: Walter Reed Hospital], Washington, D.C. and then onto Korea. Then he was sent to Japan and then returned to the United States. He then was stationed in Germany and upon his return to the United States he retired from the Army. During his service in World War 2, he went to a few German POW [Annotator's Note: Prisoner of War] camps. He remembers some of the German prisoners would put on shows and grow gardens and orchards. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer stops the interview to change tapes 0:53:41.000.] One of the POW camps had the prisoners work in a peach canning factory and there was an incident where the cans blew up on a freight car. Now Skinner cannot eat peaches anymore. Skinner can recall he was visiting his parents in New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] when he found out that the Germans surrendered. He went to celebrate in Times Square. Skinner can recall it being very hot during the day and cold at night while he was in Tunisia [Annotator's Note: Tunisia, Africa]. While in Africa, he wore boots, leggings, pants, shirt, and helmet. He did not like carrying his overcoat.

Theodore E. Skinner, Sr. received the Bronze Star [Annotator's Note: the fourth-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy] and Purple Heart [Annotator's Note: award bestowed upon a United States service member who has been wounded as a result of combat actions against an armed enemy] for his service in World War 2. His division [Annotator's Note: Skinner served in combat with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division] was awarded the French Fourragere for action in North Africa. Skinner also received the CIB award [Annotator's Note: Combat Infantryman Badge]. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer stops interview to change tape.] During the Korean War, Skinner worked in a headquarters and did not have to fight on the front lines. Skinner remembered that it took some time before he was ready to talk about his war experiences. He believes it's important to teach World War 2 in schools today and thinks its important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana]. Skinner feels that he would not be the man he is without meeting his wife. [Annotator's Notes: At 1:13:32.000, the interviewer stops the interview and records the medals that were awarded to Skinner. The interviewee points to the different medals and explain what they are. They also look at a few framed photographs.]