William Banghart was born in May 1919 in Bucksport, Maine. His father worked in the Boston [Annotator’s Note: Boston, Massachusetts] shipyard. They lost their home during the Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s]. His draft number was 136. [Annotator’s Note: Banghart talks about his father.] Banghart got in trouble when he got drafted. He wrote a letter to Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States], saying that he thought he would be more valuable working in the shipyard than being in the service. He was drafted on 15 February 1941. He was sent to Fort Story, Virginia. They had 16-inch guns that would shoot across the Chesapeake Bay. He was in the service when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He wondered what would happen to him next. They were walking down the street when an officer stopped them and told them they were at war and needed to report back to base. It cost Banghart four more years in service.

William Banghart was in the 71st Ghost Artillery and sent to Washington, D.C. as an anti-aircraft unit. They went to a National Guard camp. Banghart took the aviation test but failed it. He was asked if he wanted to go overseas with his lieutenant as his driver. They said loose lips sink ships. Banghart did not know where he was going. They landed in Oran [Annotator’s Note: Oran, Algeria]. The invasion had happened the November before [Annotator’s Note: Operation Torch, the Allied Invasion of North Africa; November 1942]. The Arabs were digging the dead up and taking their shoes, uniforms, and mattress covers. They had to put guards around the cemeteries. Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] was put into Kasserine Pass [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Kasserine Pass, February 1943; Kasserine Pass, Tunisia]. Banghart went through a couple of days later in his truck. He went from the 71st Coast Artillery to the 3rd Wing Artillery. He drove a jeep, a command car, and a Fiat, driving a colonel and other officers. One day when he went on a mail run the Arabs came out and it was nothing but sand. In the evening, the Arabs would come to sit by the side of the truck. They wanted petrol. They used a bayonet to get the gas out of the truck tanks.

William Banghart remembers Rommel [Annotator's Note: German Army Generalfeldmarschall, or Field Marshal, Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel] and Montgomery [Annotator's Note: British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery] were coming through. The 8th Army and the United States Army did a complete exchange in the desert. Banghart was still thinking about Japan. He was under the impression that they were getting beaten by the Japanese. Tokyo Rose [Annotator's Note: nickname given by Allied servicemen to any English-speaking female radio personality broadcasting Japanese propaganda in the Pacific Theater] would broadcast. Banghart was thankful he did not have to go to the Pacific. When Banghart was down by the coast they saw a ship get hit. When the five-inch gun went off, he saw the guy's shirt get ripped from the concussion and he was hit in the arm and the leg by shrapnel. They had to take him down to the dispensary. He was given a shot of whiskey. He was told it would do more damage to take the shrapnel out. He was asked if he wanted to go back to North Africa or go with his outfit. He said he wanted to go to shore in Sicily [Annotator’s Note: Sicily, Italy]. They did not have enough artillery on shore. They used their own destroyers and cruisers for artillery. The English were sending lemons home to England for tea. Many of the English he met were “gung ho”. Banghart was told not to worry about the shells he could hear, but to worry about the ones he could not hear. The war was still south of Naples [Annotator’s Note: Naples, Italy].

William Banghart went with the 64th Fighter Wing. He was in several different outfits. In the letters he wrote, he put down his different addresses. Americans were held up in Anzio [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Anzio, 22 January 1944; Anzio, Italy]. The German tanks were buried in the ground and only the gun was sticking out. After Anzio, things started to slow down. He wrote home that he was bored. He went to the movies and to church. When things were tough he went to church. Sometimes he went to the USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] and to the Red Cross [Annotator's Note: Red Cross, an international non-profit humanitarian organization]. They had Bob Hope [Annotator's Note: Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope KBE; British-American entertainer who was famous for entertaining American troops serving overseas during World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War] and Francis Langford. [Annotator’s Note: Banghart discusses his commanding officers.]

William Banghart drove a lieutenant in a general’s jeep. This could have led to a court martial. Banghart was in the Army for four years and he had 180 points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. He wanted to get out and go home. The war was over in Europe. The general flew him back to Naples [Annotator’s Note: Naples, Italy]. Then he went to Africa and on to Brazil. From there, he went to Trinidad and then on to Miami, Florida. Once in Florida, they took a train to New Jersey. He was discharged in Indiantown Gap [Annotator’s Note: Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania]. They gave him 500 dollars to get home. From there he took a bus back home. [Annotator’s Note: Banghart breaks down when he talks about seeing his parents again.]