William “Bill” Knapp was born in July 1926 in Detroit, Michigan. He moved from there to a farm in Allerton, Iowa when he was young. His father had moved to Detroit to obtain work with the Ford Motor Company. Knapp does not have fond memories of Allerton. His family did not have much. They did not recognize that they were poor because they lived on a farm with animals and crops so he always had plenty to eat and his parents were good, so he did not have it that bad. Detroit was a much more active place than Allerton with its mostly old citizens. Knapp attended trade school instead of college while in Allerton. Trade school was comfortable for him. It would be better for many, particularly in avoiding a big college debt. Trade school provided the opportunity to make more money. During World War One, Knapp’s father stayed on the farm and provided food. There was gas and food rationing during that time. Knapp remembers the Japanese and German aggression prior to the war. His parents were concerned that Russia might go with Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. That would have made for a much different world. Knapp has a favorable feeling toward Russia since they did not go with Hitler. The attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] was announced with a flash message over the radio. Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] declared war on Germany and Japan. War should be prevented through negotiations unless the country is attacked. Hearing the news of Pearl Harbor, Knapp was uncertain about how it would eventually affect him. He wanted to go to war. The main reason for that was not to defend the country, but to get off the farm [Annotator’s Note: he chuckles].

William “Bill” Knapp volunteered for the US Navy when he was 17 years old. His parents consented to his enlistment. Knapp knew that he would never return to the family farm afterwards [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. He liked the Navy better than the Army or the Marines. His job with the Navy was to take troops to the beach and then go back to the ship to get more. He did not have to do hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. He operated a 20mm [Annotator's Note: Oerlikon 20mm antiaircraft automatic cannon] on the ship. Every third round was a tracer. Knapp does not know for sure whether he actually killed anybody in the war or not. He probably did, but does not have direct knowledge of it. His training started in San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California] and was put into boat training because he had been on a farm. The boat [Annotator’s Note: the characteristics of a Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat] would carry 25 troops and had a ramp. There were weeks of training on boat and ramp operations. He was well aware of what to do when he went to war. When Knapp left for the Pacific, he father told them to take care of his son. Knapp was anxious to see the world and learn about how it worked. He had not even seen a Black person at that point. Knapp hated the Japanese just as they hated Americans. He later learned that they both had the same motivations. It was both governments that were forcing them to kill each other. His first destination in the Pacific was Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan].

William “Bill” Knapp was part of the Okinawa invasion on Easter morning 1945 [Annotator’s Note: Knapp was a coxswain on USS Catron (APA-71) during the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. He had no fear at all. That was not an asset for him. It made him less likely to take care of himself. His ship laid off five miles offshore at Okinawa while he initially brought troops to the beachhead [Annotator’s Note: he was trained on a Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat]. After a few days, he transported dead and wounded from the beaches. The dead were buried in a bag at sea and the wounded were brought to a hospital ship. When he dropped the ramp of his vessel, he wondered how many would come back. Freedom is not free. It is very costly. We must protect it at all times. A man once said, “Give me freedom or give me death” [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. He did not connect with any of those he transported. Later, he picked up prisoners of war who suffered from lack of food and beriberi [Annotator’s Note: a deficiency of thiamin, more commonly known as vitamin B1]. They were in terrible shape. Knapp saw terrible wounds and blood on those killed in the battle. It taught him to live every day as if it was the last. He took life more seriously after that. He spoke to some of the wounded about how they hurt and were injured. One officer slapped a man who was crying, and called the man a wimp. The officer justifiably received a lot of negative attention because of that. Flamethrowers [Annotator's Note: ranged incendiary device that projects a controllable jet of fire] had to be used to drive the enemy out of the caves on Okinawa. Governments are responsible for all the death and destruction of war, not the soldiers. Knapp was a gunner on a 20mm [Annotator's Note: Oerlikon 20mm antiaircraft automatic cannon] with every third round fired being a tracer. Kamikazes [Annotator’s Note: Japanese Air Force suicide missions] attacked the ships. They were not afraid to attack because they had prepared themselves with a previous night of drinking, drugs and women. Knapp’s ship was torpedoed by a submarine and had to be repaired in San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California]. While there, he sent home a machine gun and two carbines. When the local sheriff asked Knapp’s father about the automatic weapon fire on his property, he covered the weapons with grease and wrapped them in a sack and tossed them into a pond. Knapp recovered the guns 70 years later [Annotator’s Note: he laughs].

Following the Battle of Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan], William “Bill” Knapp went to Omori, Japan [Annotator’s Note: a neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan which was the site of a prisoner of war camp]. He saw the devastation of the atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Nothing was standing but brick smokestacks. It was a terrible sight to see. The fire bombings were just as bad as the atomic bombs [Annotator’s Note: the incendiary bombs dropped on large cities of Japan during the Second World War were very destructive]. Freedom is not cheap. It is paid for with an awful price, with some paying the full price. Knapp went to fight in Japan. The veterans from the fight in Germany were to be sent to fight against the Japanese. The Japanese would never surrender. They would kill themselves instead of giving up. There was a tall cliff people would jump off of rather than give up [Annotator’s Note: Marpi Point on Saipan in the Mariana Islands had cliffs which stood high above the ocean. Okinawan civilians also jumped to their death rather than confront the approaching American Marines]. The civilians were told that the Americans would torture them, so they committed suicide instead. Americans would have never tortured them, but many Okinawans believed what they were told. While in Japan, former American POWs [Annotator’s Note: prisoners of war] were liberated. The survivors were in terrible shape. They had hardly eaten and many had beriberi [Annotator’s Note: a deficiency of thiamin, more commonly known as vitamin B1]. They had a difficult time eating because they could not keep anything down. They went through hell. The POWs were removed from the camp. The day the Japanese surrendered was the happiest day of Knapp’s life. He had escaped the war. About 50,000 died at Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Knapp requests that the interviewer verify the number of dead at Okinawa. The National WWII Museum of New Orleans, Louisiana states that the United States suffered 49,000 casualties with 12,000 dead during the Battle of Okinawa. The number of military and civilian casualties and deaths during the battle far exceed the American losses.]. Knapp grabbed women and hugged and kissed them on VJ-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945]. It was kind of quiet when he returned to the United States. The first thing he did was get married. He chose a woman he should not have picked. Getting married just seemed to be the thing to do. He bought a house 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]. The bill provided a low interest rate. The G.I. Bill was a big help for the veterans returning home. Knapp never liked the ones who were able to stay home. She [Annotator’s Note: Tokyo Rose which was the nickname given by Allied servicemen to any English-speaking female radio personality broadcasting Japanese propaganda in the Pacific Theater] used to say that the men serving overseas did not have to worry because their wives were being taken care of by the 4-Fs [Annotator's Note: Selective Service classification for individuals who are not fit for service in the Armed Forces. Knapp laughs at the insinuation made by the enemy propaganda broadcaster]. Knapp considered staying in the Navy and receiving another ranking. Instead, he started a restaurant called the I & B Cafe in Allerton [Annotator’s Note: Allerton, Iowa] with his wife, Irene. When it turned into a lot of work, Knapp hired a business broker to sell the business. In the process of making the deal, he decided to go into the business of real estate. He felt he could make money. He acquired his company when the owner decided to give it to him in lieu of paying him for the real estate deals he had brokered. He also acquired seven agents in that deal. Within a year, it was the largest agency in Iowa. Despite some objections, he hired women. He took a lot of heat because the females were said to take away jobs formerly held by men. He understood that women decided on the purchase of homes, so it was wise to have them selling property. It was a good move. The women closed a large volume of home deals. They worked harder than a man would [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. He thought the objections to hiring women were ignorant. Since he felt a woman could do a better job than a man, it was no concern to him. Knapp liked to hire women. He did what his heart told him instead of what he was supposed to do in that situation.

William “Bill” Knapp learned how tenuous life is and how men can hate each other during the Second World War. Hating is easier than love. We need more of the latter. He fought and served in World War Two because he wanted to get away from the farm and milking cows and feeding chickens and cleaning out the coops [Annotator’s Note: he grew up on a farm in Allerton, Iowa]. He served not necessarily to defend the country as much as to escape his farm life. The war taught Knapp how to work. He often recalls events of the war. It has left a scar on him. Some people fell apart, but that did not happen in Knapp’s case. The body and mind can only stand so much before it cracks. That will happen if one does not get relief. Knapp is happy he served his country and saved it from Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] and tyranny. It meant a lot to him that he defended his country and freedom. Institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] can give people an idea of what was required to defend that freedom. It is essential to remember that freedom is not free and must be protected at all times.