Thomas Ballew served with the 231st Searchlight Battalion which was attached to the 9th Air Force. Ballew was born in Inman, South Carolina in July 1924. His family had 20 acres of land, part of which was a peach orchard. In addition to farming the peach orchard, Ballew's father also worked in a textile mill about a quarter of a mile from their house. He was a very religious person who only had a seventh grade education. His children taught him how to read and write. There were eight children in Ballew's family, four girls and four boys. One of the girls died at 23 months old when her dress caught fire and she burned to death. They stayed busy on the farm. They worked hard and played hard. At the end of each summer after the peaches had all been harvested they headed for Myrtle Beach. The day Pearl Harbor was attacked, Ballew was visiting a friend from high school who he was attending a business college with. Learning business saved Ballew during the war. Knowing how to type and file was a great benefit to him and is the reason he remained in headquarters. Ballew was a history nut and kept up with current events. That is one of the reasons he stayed in the military for so long. His only regret is that he did not stay in Germany very long after the war. Ballew and his younger brother who also served were sent home and discharged about the same time. After the war Ballew went to school at the University of South Carolina. After the attack on Pearl Harbor all of the men in Ballew's area were signing up for military service. Ballew had graduated high school in June 1941. He was in college on 7 December 1941.

Thomas Ballew briefly considered joining the Marine Corps but decided that he would wait to be called up. He was drafted in June 1943. He was processed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina then sent to Fort Eustis, Virginia for training on antiaircraft guns. Being drafted was no surprise to Ballew. While he was at Fort Jackson, his oldest brother, Paul, and a son in law of Ballew's, Roy Liester [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling] were there at the same time. Ballew took his basic training at Fort Eustis, Virginia in the summer time. The meals were good and the training was fine. The transition from civilian to military life was an easy one. Ballew was trained to operate an antiaircraft gun in basic training. When his basic training was completed, he and five others were selected to join a searchlight battalion at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts as gunners. Due to a mix up, however, the six of them all ended up at Camp Edwards as clerks in the administration section. As such, Ballew's job was to interview a lot of the new personnel about their background, what they did before the war, and what their education level was. They were supposed to go overseas to Europe in May 1944 but their orders were changed at the last minute. Ballew later learned that the change was a result of preparations for the upcoming invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. They had been down in Florida for the winter while the battalion [Annotator's Note: the 231st Searchlight Battalion] learned to operate the search lights. In November 1943 they had gone down to Orlando, Florida. In February or March 1944 they were sent to Camp Stewart, Georgia for a short time before returning to Camp Edwards.

In August 1944 Thomas Ballew’s unit [Annotator's Note: the 231st Searchlight Battalion] got orders to go overseas. They shipped out of the Boston Port of Embarkation in Boston, Massachusetts and joined the largest convoy to cross the Atlantic Ocean. There were ships of all types spread out as far as the eye could see. During the 11 day trip the destroyers escorting the convoy carried out a number of depth charge attacks on suspected German u-boat contacts. In late August they went ashore in Scotland then continued on to a couple camps in England where they drew their weapons and clothing. They ended up in a nice hotel in Southampton waiting for their turn to cross the English Channel to Utah Beach. The trip overseas was the first time Ballew had ever been on a ship out on open water. He wore his life jacket during the entire trip going overseas and again during the trip back to the United States. In late August they crossed the English Channel in a large ship then transferred into small vessels with about 20 men in each boat. By the time Ballew went ashore the beach had already been cleared but he was still able to visualize what the men who landed on the beach on 6 June 1944 had experienced. After going ashore they moved up to a tent camp near the French town of Saint mere Eglise. There, they got orders attaching them to the 9th Air Force and moved about 30 miles inland. Paris fell on 25 August 1944. After that they got orders to move out. The colonel commanding the battalion requisitioned the Saint Jean du Beauregard chateau. The battalion occupied certain areas of the chateau for about two months before moving to another chateau about 30 miles north of Paris. The battalion had three units, A, B, and C [Annotator's Note: Batteries A, B, and C, 231st Searchlight Battalion] scattered around the northern part of Paris. In the latter part of September they ended up at an air force base in Montdidier where they stayed for about five months. They were in Montdidier when the Battle of the Bulge began around Christmas 1944. The fog was so thick that they could barely see their hands in front of them. It was a perfect time for the Germans to launch an attack. The American troops were not prepared for it. They were still wearing their summer uniforms which resulted in many cases of frostbite. There was a desperate need for personnel at time and Ballew is glad his unit was not called.

Thomas Ballew served in headquarters [Annotator's Note: Headquarters, 231st Searchlight Battalion] handling finance and personnel records. He would visit with the personnel in the A, B, and C units [Annotator's Note: Batteries A, B, and C, 231st Searchlight Battalion]. The searchlights used by the unit were very large and were used to guide friendly aircraft. On Christmas Day 1944 the sky opened up. There were three layers of planes. The B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] were at the bottom, another type of aircraft was in the center, and the B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] were at the top. They were flying out to help the guys on the ground. It was a great sight to see. After the Battle of the Bulge came to an end the war took a turn in the Allies' favor. It was a great feeling. At the airfield at Montdidier the men in Ballew's battalion continued training. They trained on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They were in an area where many battles were fought during World War 1 and the men would go visit the sites and monuments. There was a sergeant in Ballew's unit who was a bit older than most of the men. He was an architect from California and knew all of the historical places in France. They would requisition jeeps and would visit the sites. On 11 November 1944 Ballew entered Paris for the first time. Montdidier was about 50 miles north of Paris and the battalion mail truck would travel back and forth every day. When he could, Ballew would hitch a ride on the mail jeep and would go to Paris. Ballew had a big family back home and got a lot of mail from them. Getting mail from his relatives meant a great deal to him. He would send home post cards and photographs of the places he had been. In late September they went into Aachen then from there to Cologne. Those cities had been bombed severely. Many of the cities Ballew visited had been damaged or destroyed. Ballew encountered prisoners while traveling around but never witnessed any surrendering. Ballew was also aware of places like Dachau.

When the war ended, Thomas Ballew's unit [Annotator's Note: Headquarters, 231st Searchlight Battalion] was in Furth near Nuremberg. He was able to attend part of the Nuremberg Trials. He knew it was a very historical time. Later they moved around a great deal. People were being sent home on the point system. After the war, Ballew's unit moved to Bad Kissingen, Germany. There, they stayed in a nice hotel. Ballew was in Belgium when the war ended in May 1945. By December 1945, Ballew was the Personnel Sergeant Major. One day he got together with the First Sergeant, the motor pool sergeant, and the training sergeant. The four of them took a jeep and went to Mulhouse, France on their way to Switzerland. They decided to visit Zurmatt, Switzerland where the Matterhorn is located. This was around 15 January 1945. The food was good, the hotel was nice, and the sights were great. Ballew will never forget looking at the Matterhorn. It was the most beautiful trip Ballew was ever on. After that a lot of his buddies began going back to the United States. In late February they went up to Hamburg where they boarded a ship and returned to the United States. In March 1945 [Annotator's Note: 1946] they put in at New York. It was a beautiful site and it was a wonderful feeling being home. The disembarked in New York and went by bus to Fort Dix. From there they were sent down to Fort Bragg where Ballew was discharged on 15 March 1946. After being discharged from active duty he enlisted in the reserves. He figured that he would be too old to be called up for anything but he was wrong. President Truman called him back to active duty during the Korean War.

During the Korean War Thomas Ballew served in General MacArthur's Headquarters in Tokyo. He was in personnel [Annotator's Note: personnel section]. The Dai Ichi Building was MacArthur's headquarters. MacArthur had told the Air Force guys that they were not to bomb that building because he was going to use it for his headquarters. The building sat right across the street from the Japanese imperial palace. Even though those buildings were not touched, much of Japan was. Evidence of the massive American bombing raids on Japan was still evident five years after the war. Many of the homes in Japan were built of bamboo and not well built like homes built in America. It was a good thing that Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs. If he had not, the Americans would have lost millions of people. So would the Japanese. The Japanese civilians had been trained to kill the Americans with bamboo sticks and there was bamboo everywhere. Returning home and going back into civilian life after World War 2 was a great feeling. After the war Ballew went back to work on the farm for a while, however, he stayed in the reserves and had various duties during his long military career. From 1955 to 1958 he had recruiting duty in Bangor, Maine. In October he received orders to go to Vietnam as a military advisor. While working as military advisor in Vietnam, Ballew and the other Americans did not wear uniforms. Ballew stood six feet two inches tall and weighed about 180 pounds and was easy to tell him apart from the locals. Even back in 1958, Ballew always felt like he was being watched wherever he went. Ballew only stayed in Vietnam for four months. He had an ulcer that came back so he was medically evacuated from Saigon in December 1958. The State Department, which his advisory group worked under, evacuated him from Saigon to Clark Air Force Base. From Clark he was flown to Hawaii and from there continued on to Walter Reed where he spent three months.

Thomas Ballew likes history, he likes people, and he likes to travel. In July 1945 Sergeant Smith, who was a member of the Sierra Club of California, took Ballew and a few other soldiers on a trip to the French Alps. At that time, Ballew saw about 100 of the German children who had been sent to France to breed the master race. Ballew is proud of his service during World War 2. He was responsible for making sure that the personnel records were all kept in order. On Christmas Day 1944 the officers of the battalion [Annotator's Note: the 231st Searchlight Battalion] prepared and served Christmas dinner to the enlisted men. Ballew feels that it is important for there to be places like The National WWII Museum. He is bothered by how indifferent the younger generations are with regards to our history. In Korea, they read the mail written by prisoners before they were sent to their families. They were looking for any mention of the way they were being treated. During most of his time in service, Ballew was a top secret officer. When he and his wife were in Germany in 1962 his wife would go to the beauty salon and would hear the wives of officers divulging secret information. With regards to present day students, Ballew feels that the education they receive is very poor. He reads in the paper that the class valedictorians for schools here are always from another country. Kids are interested in movie stars but are not interested in who controls the country.

To Thomas Ballew, the American flag means a great deal. Hearing the Star Spangled banner being sung still gives Ballew chills. To future Americans who may see this tape, Ballew suggests that they do their studies at all levels. Students need to be educated in all subjects. At present, the educational system in the United States is very poor. The high school dropout rate is way too high. The United States is not the same country that Ballew grew up in. [Annotator's Note: The interview is briefly interrupted by a ringing cell phone.] Education is a wonderful thing. Dr. Ben Carson believes in education and so does Ballew. The brain can still learn regardless of age. People cannot get enough education. Being educated helps the student, helps that student's family and it helps the country. The more people learn the more they know what they are on this Earth for. Ballew has taken a lot of photographs during his life. Photographs need to be taken so they can be passed on to future generations. No one lives forever.