Thomas J. Bostick was born in October 1923 in Laurinburg, North Carolina. His parents, both sharecroppers, traveled around the state looking for work. The family finally settled in Burlington, North Carolina where Bostick spent much of his childhood. As the youngest of seven boys, Bostick says while the eldest five boys helped their parents on the farm, he and the second youngest brother went to school in a segregated one room schoolhouse. Bostick says the Great Depression was difficult for his family and they would often only have one meal a day if that. He says the family was never current on the news of the day because they did not have electricity or a radio in their home with any news coming from trips into town. On 7 December 1941, Bostick was in a small bar owned by his oldest brother when he found out about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Bosick says no one was quite sure where Pearl Harbor was, and everyone celebrated the entry into war. People were driving around blowing car horns. He says, "everyone thought it was a game." On 19 February 1943, Bostick was drafted into the Army. He says it was an exciting time because he had never been far outside of the small country towns of his childhood before being drafted. Two weeks after reporting to Fort Bragg [Annotator's Note: Fort Bragg, North Carolina] for induction, Bostick reported to Fort McClellan, Alabama for basic training. While in Anniston, Alabama, Bostick faced racial discrimination for the first time in uniform. Suffering with a terrible headache, Bostick says he was turned away from a pharmacy and forced to go back to the camp dispensary for relief. While at Fort Huachuca [Annotator's Note: Fort Huachuca, Arizona], Bostick achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant and was assigned to Company H, 2nd Battalion, 368th Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division. Bostick says throughout the entire 93rd Division there were very few white officers. There was one white general and six officers and he rarely saw them. Bostick recalls segregation within the military throughout his time in training. Barracks, mess halls, bathhouses, and all other areas of camp were segregated. Bostick remembers how black troops were originally supposed to be used as a labor force and were to only see combat as replacement troops. Bostick says the military mindset changed as white casualties continued to rise. The thought process, according to Bostick, was, "If we win this war, they [Annotator's Note: the African-American troops] will return home and take all of our [Annotator's Note: the White troops] jobs and women."

Before entering the military, Thomas J. Bostick received some training by a World War 1 veteran while in high school. He believes that because he had scored well in this training, he was selected for cadre training at Fort Huachuca, Arizona and achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant. While in training, Bostick says he only ever had one White captain. Bostick claims the captain thought he was "Mr. It" and treated the Black troops very harshly, after nine months the captain was transferred and never heard from again. Bostick says the men in the unit [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 368th Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division] realized that they were fighting for their country and would no longer stand for the harsh treatment that they had been so accustomed to in the South. Bostick and the 368th boarded a train to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and boarded a ship bound for Hawaii to await their orders for combat. Bostick says the trip overseas was fun at first, until they encountered a storm and were locked in their bunks at night. Bostick estimates that 98 percent of the men on board could not swim. Bostick remembers landing in Hollandia, New Guinea and coming under fire for the first time. "Hit it," is how Bostick describes the feeling of landing on the beaches of Hollandia. Bostick says, "I doubted they [Annotator's Note: the Japanese] had ever seen Blacks, I had never seen a Jap [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese].” The only thing going through Bostick's mind during combat was staying alive. He says other men were crying, hollering, and wondering if they would ever see their families again. Once the initial shock subsided, Bostick says it became a game, it was "kill or be killed." [Annotator's Note: The interviewee askes to pause the interview at 0:35:17.000.] Bostick says combat was much the same across the Solomon Islands and in the Philippines. In the Philippines, Bostick remembers the Filipinos as vicious soldiers coming out of hiding to help fight the remaining Japanese. Bostick says his unit was on Leyte [Annotator's Note: Leyte, Philippines] preparing for the invasion of Japan when the news of the atomic bombs were dropped, and the war ended.

The news [Annotator's Note: of the atomic bombs being dropped] reached Thomas J. Bostick's unit [Annotator's Note: Company H, 2nd Battalion, 368th Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division] on a radio and a party erupted. Bostick says the men drank sake and it was a real "holiday atmosphere." Japanese prisoners were quickly evacuated from the island to avoid harm from the Filipinos seeking revenge. When asked what he thought about the Japanese, Bostick says the soldiers were fierce and refused to give up. One night while in combat, Bostick recalls tuning into a Japanese radio broadcast by a woman he called "Japanese Betty." The broadcast was directed at African-American combat troops. Bostick recalls the woman saying, "Why are you killing us? Why aren't you fighting the Whites at home? They're the ones mistreating you at home." Bostick says while he knows it could not be that way, they were still Americans protecting their country. He says, "she was right, we were slaves." After the war, Bostick says all the Southerners in his unit, including himself, moved North to escape the racial violence of the South. On arrival in the United States, Bostick hoped to be discharged in California so that he could easily return to the Philippines where he would have become an officer in the Philippine Army or a crane operator in Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines]. However, Bostick boarded a train to Fort Bragg [Annotator's Note: Fort Bragg, North Carolina] and was discharged with the rank of staff sergeant on 14 January 1946. Bostick continued to face racial discrimination following his discharge. Having contracted "jungle rot" while in combat, Bostick sought treatment at the dispensary at Fort Bragg where he was told that Blacks could not be treated at that facility and he would have to go somewhere in the Midwest for treatment. Bostick says he treated himself. After moving to Rochester, New York, Bostick found that there were no Army doctors in the area to treat Blacks and he would have to go to Buffalo [Annotator's Note: Buffalo, New York] for treatment. Unable to leave his young family, Bostick continued to treat himself until a Black doctor finally arrived in Rochester to treat his conditions. Bostick says he was very angry when he returned home and faced the same racial discrimination as before the war. Bostick says he felt he had paid his dues and deserved what everyone else had. As a result, Bostick participated in several marches during the Civil Rights Movement.

Thomas J. Bostick's most memorable experience of World War 2 was getting off the ship and going right into combat. When asked why he fought in World War 2, Bostick says, "I either had to or go to jail. If I knew then what I know now, I would've gone to jail." The war changed his life and made him a man. It made him think and do things for himself. Bostick says World War 2 changed America forever; the people in charge realized that they did not own the country. Blacks and poor Whites realized that they had the freedom to move around the country freely. He says he and many others found some freedom and never turned back.