William White Brainard was born in East Orange, New Jersey in 1922. He grew up with one brother and two sisters. His father worked as an engineer during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. His father moved his family to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1925 because of his health. His mother worked as a real estate agent during the “boom time” in Florida. She also owned a cupcake business. Brainard’s father passed away in 1932 when Brainard was 10 years old. No one had a lot of money and most people were in the same situation. He attended the same school from kindergarten through high school. Brainard and his siblings helped his mother by doing small jobs and helped with their mother’s cupcake business. All the children did chores around the house. Brainard was attending the University of Florida [Annotator’s Note: in Gainesville, Florida] when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. When the war broke out, Brainard applied to join the Air Force. He washed out of flight school, but was selected to go to gunnery school in Kingman, Arizona. He also qualified in radio and flight engineering. After eight weeks of gunnery school, he transferred to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for three months of radio school. He was given a two week leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and then returned to Sioux Falls. He was assigned to a crew and sent to Carney, Nebraska for B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] flight training for eight weeks. His crew, along with 39 other crews, received orders for overseas duty. He boarded a Victory Ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship] and crossed the Atlantic in 17 days. His ship landed in Oran [Annotator’s Note: Oran, Algeria] in North Africa where his crew received a replacement assignment to join the 15th Air Force. His crew was sent to Naples, Italy and then onto Foggia, Italy. Members of his crew came from all over the United States. His pilot was a veteran and had already completed missions in the Aleutian Islands [Annotator’s Note: Aleutian Islands, Alaska]. Because there were only seven radiomen in his squadron, Brainard had to fly with other crews besides his own. He had to go on a mission practically every day. Every morning he looked at the board to see which pilot he was assigned to and the layout of the mission. He was also told what kind of resistance from the enemy to expect.

William White Brainard served as a radioman on a B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] for the 32nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force stationed in Foggia, Italy. On his 22nd mission, he was flying with a make up crew heading to Vienna, Austria. Unbeknownst to his group, the Air Force canceled the mission, but his crew, along with 25 others, did not get the recall. The German fighters quickly picked up the 26 planes without escorts and began firing upon them. He heard his tail gunner telling them that Me109s [Annotator’s Note: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft] were attacking them. Five minutes later, his plane was shot down. The plane broke into several pieces. Brainard was located in the fuselage near the bomb bay when the plane blew up. Brainard grabbed his parachute and rolled out of the plane. His parachute opened and he landed in a meadow. He began to run towards an embankment and heard bullets firing. He walked towards a farmhouse and hid under bushes for some time. People walked by him without realizing he was there. Brainard eventually fell asleep for about an hour.

William White Brainard [Annotator's Note: who served as a radioman on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber in the 32nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force stationed in Foggia, Italy when his plane was shot down over Vienna, Austria] was able to hide himself in a bush for several hours. When it became dark, he headed into a wooded area not knowing where he was heading. He became thirsty by the morning. As he stepped out of the woods, an older man called over to him and was cautioning him not to drink the water out of the stream. He followed the man, named Jacob, to his home. Brainard talked to the man for some time while he ate and drank. Jacob then wanted Brainard to give him his parachute, so they walked back to the crash site to find it. [Annotator’s Note: A telephone rings at 0:38:40.000.] He later learned while in a prison camp that a few of his crew members survived the crash, along with one officer. After Brainard was captured, he was sent to an interrogation center in Budapest [Annotator’s Note: Budapest, Hungry] before being sent to Stalag Luft IV [Annotator’s Note: Gross Tychow, Pomerania; now Tychowo, Poland]. Brainard remarked about the men in his crew and how each one survived or was killed when the plane crashed and blew up.

[Annotator’s Note: Can hear someone in the background throughout the video.] William White Brainard [Annotator's Note: who was serving as a radioman on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber in the 32nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force when his plane was shot down over Vienna, Austria]. He came upon a local Austrian who asked for his parachute. They located the parachute at the crash site and then walked into town where the Austrian turned him into the police. Brainard slept at the police station for the night. He boarded a train with a German guard and traveled south to Graz [Annotator’s Note: Graz, Austria]. He spent one night in the town and boarded a train to Budapest, Hungary where he was sent to an interrogation center. While on the train, it stopped abruptly eight miles from the station. They were told to get off the train and lay down on the ground. The United Stated 8th Air Force was scheduled to come through and bomb Vienna. Brainard and the rest of the prisoners were picked up by a truck and taken to an old prison. Twenty-five prisoners shared a cell and were interrogated one at a time. He and the other prisoners boarded a train again and were sent to Stalag Luft IV [Annotator’s Note: in Gross Tychow, Pomerania; now Tychowo, Poland], which took about a week. Brainard was given one loaf of bread to last him for the entire train ride. One German guard tried to get the prisoners some soup while the train stopped at various stations on the way. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:56:11.000.] He got off the train in the dark and was forced to run to the camp that was a short distance from the train depot. There were guard dogs that were barking and in attack mode, but the German guards had them on leashes.

[Annotator’s Note: Can hear someone in the background throughout the video.] When William White Brainard [Annotator's Note: who was serving as a radioman on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber in the 32nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force when he was shot down and captured by the Germans] arrived at the camp [Annotator’s Note: Stalag Luft IV in Gross Tychow, Pomerania, now Tychowo, Poland], he was sent to registration before being let into the compound. He slept in a tent for a month, while the Germans finished erecting sleeping quarters. Brainard made friends with a man named Orville Bechard [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling] on the train over to the camp and they remained close throughout their prisoner experience. After nine months in the camp, the Germans forced 10,000 prisoners to march 90 days to another camp in Germany. The weather was very cold and snowy. While in camp, prisoners were given coffee, soup, and mashed potatoes for food. Sometimes Brainard received a parcel from the Red Cross [Annotator's Note: Red Cross, an international non-profit humanitarian organization], but they were very infrequent. Brainard was not given a job in camp because of his rank in service. Many of the prisoners walked around the camp all day to pass the time. The camp also had a clinic with a German doctor.

William White Brainard [Annotator's Note: who was serving as a radioman on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber in the 32nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force when he was shot down and captured by the Germans and sent to Stalag Luft IV in Gross Tychow, Pomerania, now Tychowo, Poland] said that the Germans liked to put all the prisoners in the corner and then shoot around the compound the show the prisoners that their weapons were armed. Sometimes when the prisoners were sleeping, the guard dogs would get underneath the sleeping quarters. The bathrooms had 20 holes that the prisoners used and the Russian prisoners were forced to clean the building and septic tank. When the Russian army broke out, Brainard and other prisoners were forced to march for three months. They walked all day with only a ten-minute break after every hour. They slept in barns during the night. Sometimes the prisoners found potatoes in the barn. The weather was very cold, and Brainard wore a winter shirt and winter coat. Brainard and his friend, Orville, started a small fire and cooked half a potato. In the Red Cross [Annotator's Note: Red Cross, an international non-profit humanitarian organization] boxes, prisoners received soap but could not use it because they had no access to showers. The prisoners used soap to trade with country folks along the way.

After nine months in a prison, William White Brainard [Annotator's Note: who was serving as a radioman on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber in the 32nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force when he was shot down and captured by the Germans] was forced to walk for 90 days across Germany. [Annotator’s Note: Woman interrupts interview at 1:31:09.000.] During the march, the Germans would let the prisoners rest in barns at night with the cows. The prisoners would lie in the hay and later found out they cows refused to eat the hay where they smelled humans. [Annotator’s Note: Woman interrupts interview at 1:33:53.000 and Video break at 1:34:10.000.] Many prisoners used a buddy system to help conserve a blanket everyday before they settled into a barn at night. Occasionally there would be stealing among the prisoners, but it was very infrequent. On 14 February 1944, he had to sleep outside in the snowbanks because they could not find a barn. Sometimes they saw other prisoners on the road. When they reached Hanover, Germany Brainard and the rest of the prisoners boarded a train. The Germans knew the Americans and the Russians were coming, so the Germans decided to walk towards the American lines to surrender.

After nine months in a prison, William White Brainard [Annotator's Note: who served as a radioman on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber with the 32nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force when he was captured by the Germans] was forced to walk for 90 days across Germany. The German guards eventually headed towards the American lines because the Russian Army was a day and a half behind them, and the Germans did not want to surrender to the Russians. Some of the British prisoners did not appreciate the Americans getting involved in the war. They were liberated in May 1945 in Halle, Germany. They were given cookies but got sick. He was taken to a German airbase with other prisoners and they were given food that was good for them to eat. Brainard was flown to Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: one of the transit and rehabilitation camps in France named after popular cigarette brands; Lucky Strike was near Le Havre, France]. Brainard located his sister who was a nurse for the Red Cross [Annotator's Note: Red Cross, an international non-profit humanitarian organization]. He met her in London [Annotator’s Note: London, England]. Brainard then boarded an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] and headed across the Atlantic. There was a hurricane during his voyage, but the ship docked in Norfolk [Annotator’s Note: Norfolk, Virginia.] [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 1:58.00.000.] He was fed well during his trip home, but the ship was getting pounded by the weather. He was flown to Miami [Annotator’s Note: Miami, Florida] and then was discharged in San Antonio [Annotator’s Note: San Antonio, Texas].

After William White Brainard returned home and was discharged from the Air Force in San Antonio [Annotator’s Note: San Antonio, Texas], he visited New Orleans [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] for a couple of nights. Brainard then hitchhiked to Tallahassee [Annotator’s Note: Tallahassee, Florida] to visit friends and then entered college at the University of Florida in Gainesville [Annotator’s Note: Gainesville, Florida] using the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment]. He had been in college prior to World War 2, but stopped and entered into service when the war broke out. He completed his degree in architecture after the war. His brother also served in World War 2 and was shot down. A German woman found his brother and turned him over to a man that shot him to death.

In 1943, William White Brainard joined the Army Air Corps because he lived close to Morrison Field [Annotator’s Note: in West Palm Beach, Florida]. He washed out of the cadet program because he was too nervous and tense to fly. The military sent him to gunnery school instead. Brainard was assigned to the 32nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force. Brainard became a prisoner of war when his plane was shot down and he was caught by a local farmer. As the war came to an end, many of the prisoners began to have hope and talked about what their plans were for the future. Brainard and his fellow prisoners were marching when they were turned over to the Americans. He and his friend had held on to potatoes and did not believe it right away when the Germans surrendered. Brainard and his friend walked into town to find food.

World War 2 changed William White Brainard’s life because he was able to take advantage of the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] and go to college. His father died when he was 10 years old, so his mother struggled to make ends meet for him and his siblings. His mother was very giving and had a selfless personality. He tries to live like his mother did. Brainard believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations. Americans should be taught discipline whether its through the military or other ways. Americans today have an entitlement that they are owed something and it is too bad. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 2:48:38.000 and then the rest of the interview is a recording of interviewee’s medals and pictures.]