Warren Peiffer was born in 1926 in Bethel, Pennsylvania. His father died when he was seven years old. He has one sister. He was raised by his mother on a farm. They worked on the farm. They took the bus to school. When his father died, his mother decided to sell the farm. She had to go look for a job. They moved to Lebanon [Annotaotor’s Note: Lebanon, Pennsylvania] so she could work in a factory. Peiffer did not go to high school. He went to a country school that had one teacher and half a dozen children. Peiffer was drafted into the Army.

Warren Peiffer started out in England when he was in the Army. There was a German prison camp there. They kept Peiffer there because he could speak German. There were men in the hospital and there was a cemetery there. Peiffer became the cook and cooked for the men who were there. He was working there in England for about a year and a half. He was a cook next to the camp. He had some German cooks that cooked what he told them to cook. The Germans were POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. Peiffer helped take care of the cemetery and bury American troops who passed in the hospital there. He would help carry them to the graves and bury them. He worked in the English hospital because there were men there who needed help.

Warren Peiffer had German cooks in the kitchen. He would give them orders. [Annotator’s Note: the Germans were prisoners of war.] It was an American job and they did not mix with the English. Some parts were bombed out, but not where they were by the hospital. Peiffer would fly with the wounded American men to make sure they got home and then he would fly back. He took a trip to Germany and France after the war. He did not interact with many Germans. He crossed the Rhine River. He did not care too much about France because he could not speak French. He liked Germany because he knew the language. When he returned home, he took his wife to Germany.

Warren Peiffer’s parents could speak German. He had to go overseas. [Annotator’s Note: Peiffer was stationed in England.] People knew he had to go. He took the discharge. When he returned home, he was not married yet. His parents had a farm. They sold the farm and his mother had to go to work. He went to a one-room country school. His most memorable moment was crossing the Rhine River into Germany. He could speak German and the people were surprised he could speak German. He was drafted. He had to practice shooting in the Army. He thinks they freed other countries. He thinks they should continue to teach about World War Two because they should know what they did. They were not over there because they wanted to be. During the war, he slept with pigs. He was stationed at Camp Wheeler, Georgia for basic training. One morning he got up and four pigs came into his tent.