William Lutz was born in March 1920. He had three younger sisters, and two younger brothers who served in the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], he went down to the recruiting station to sign up. Lutz wanted to go. He was a little too thin. He was 21 years old when he joined. He was put in the Army in heavy weapons. The tripod was almost as heavy as he was. He carried the tripod. He made expert out on the range.

William Lutz was not in a combat unit. They trained other units for amphibious landings. They went hunting and fishing. Lutz was assigned to the 77th Division [Annotator’s Note: 77th Infantry Division]. He was given six months in the stockade. After two months, the company commander got him out. They were going to go overseas, but first they were given furloughs [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. They were in the Army and did everything they were supposed to for the Army, but when they went to work they were stateside. They worked for the CCC [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps]. The WPA [Annotator's Note: Works Progress Administration] and the CCC were good things. They got 10 dollars a month and 20 dollars went back home. His father would bring him home once or twice a month. They worked on farms. They were Pennsylvania German farmers. One of his best friends was in the Marines. The friend tried to take a pillbox [Annotator’s Note: A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, normally equipped with loopholes through which defenders can fire weapons. It is in effect a trench firing step, hardened to protect against small-arms fire and grenades, and raised to improve the field of fire] on Saipan but did not succeed.

William Lutz was in the 77th Infantry Division. He did not know where they would be sent. They went to Oahu [Annotator’s Note: Oahu, Hawaii] and had three more months of training for island hopping [Annotator’s Note: Leapfrogging, also known as island hopping, was a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan to bypass heavily fortified enemy islands instead of trying to capture every island in sequence en route to a final target]. He enjoyed the rifle range. He liked the Army. He wanted to stay in the Philippines when he got discharged. When they left Hawaii, they ended up in Guam. When he saw a hand on the beach he knew he was at war. The Marines had the Oran peninsula and the Army had the rest of the island. One of Lutz’s friends was killed. The young man was from Reading [Annotator’s Note: Reading, Pennsylvania]. The Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] in front of them would have had to climb a wall that was 200 or 300 feet high. They knew they were not supposed to get out of the foxholes. One guy got out of his hole. The lieutenant saw his shadow and shot him. The first dead man laid in the rain all night. When they left Barrigada [Annotator’s Note: Barrigada, Guam] they went south. They built an airport on top of the mountain. The Japanese could not believe they had an airport on top of the mountain. Lutz had a shovel and his assistant gunner had a pick. He fired the gun against their enemies.

William Lutz knew the enemy was in front of them. [Annotator’s Note: He is referring to the Japanese on Guam]. He did not worry about it. He always had a feeling he would survive. If his friend had stayed down he would have been alright. [Annotator’s Note: Lutz becomes emotional; his friend was killed by friendly fire after getting out of his foxhole at night]. After they left Guam, they headed for the Philippines. They were put on guard duty at an airport in Leyte in the Philippines. Then they went to Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan]. They were supposed to set up artillery bases on all the little islands. They had to help take out the kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese suicide bombers]. Lutz fell overboard and he got hung up in a net. He had to go to the ship’s hospital. Lutz thinks the Marines get more credit than the Army for the Pacific. The caves in the mountains were extensive. Lutz would not go down into the caves. The caves were full of fleas. They buried their dead in the caves. They used grenades to get the Japanese out of the caves, or they would pour gas down there and then throw a white phosphorus grenade down. They would come out and die. [Annotator’s Note: Lutz mentions Ernie Pyle who was an American journalist and war correspondent during the war].

William Lutz remembers that his unit [Annotator’s Note: 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division] was constantly moving. They rested while they were on the ship headed to their destinations. There was a Marine that wanted to buy his .45 [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol]. Lutz did not experience close fighting while working the machine guns. They would get shelled and have grenades thrown at them. When he was on Hiroshima [Annotator’s Note: Hiroshima, Japan] he fired his .45 for the first time. He fired at some Japanese that were running from houses. If he would have known they were women he would not have fired at them. The Japanese women were deadly. They thought they would be raped and tortured. Lutz had a Filipino kid carry his ammo while they were on Leyte [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, the Philippines]. The combat was bad. The Japanese would come at them with anything they could get their hands on. They never had a night attack. They were sent to the islands to weed out the little boats that would commit suicide to blow up their ships. They were fighting with the 1st Marines [Annotator’s Note: either the 1st Marine Division or 1st Marine Regiment within the 1st Division] on the island. They were good at Guam. He did not have time to write home. When he was on Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan] he got up in the middle of a fight and walked away. He does not know why he did that.

William Lutz remembers they took a bulldozer and pushed the ground over the caves [Annotator’s Note: He is referring to his time in Japan]. They dug trenches for the dead Japanese and buried them with the bulldozer. The Japanese would keep coming at them until the last man was standing. He did not mind the smell. He wondered how he could stand it sometimes. They were going to die for their Emperor. He was lucky he got away from the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. The Japanese would run at them with sticks. The motor pool sergeant shot himself in the leg and it had to be amputated. People stayed laying because the medics would be right there patching them up. A tank came up behind Lutz, but he did not hear it. The men in his company were close over there. The lieutenant killed a corporal by accident.

William Lutz was on Leyte [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, Philippines]. He was in the hospital when he heard about the bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. He fractured his arm in 10 different places. Lutz had a tank come up behind him and his assistant gunner pulled him out of the way by his collar. On one island, they brought the wounded back on amtracks [Annotator's Note: Landing Vehicle, Tracked or LVT; also referred to as amtrack or alligator]. The women and children would throw dynamite at the tracks in hopes of killing Americans. When Lutz got to the hospital, the nurse told him to drop his .45 [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol]. Lutz had three knives with curved blades. He got them from the Filipinos. One of the Japanese soldiers Lutz shot had a saber. When he got home, he sold the saber and he got 200 dollars for it. Lutz was in the hospital for about three weeks. His unit was on Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan]. When he was in the hospital, his uncle came to see him. His uncle was in the SeaBees [Annotator's Note: members of US naval construction battalions] and was stationed there for a little while. He was happy when he heard the Japanese gave up and signed the papers. When his arm was better, he was ready to go back to his unit. He thought about his buddies while he was in the hospital.

William Lutz left his unit when there was no shooting. It was as if the war had stopped. He just kept walking. The Marines were laughing and they were going up to the front. He does not remember how he got to the hospital in Guam. He found out later he was flown back on a C-47 [Annotator’s Note: The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota]. He was supposed to go back to his outfit in Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan] after he healed, but they dropped the bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Then they introduced the points system [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. Lutz had enough points to go home. He was shipped back to Hawaii first. He was brought back to Indiantown Gap [Annotator’s Note: Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania] and then he took a cab home. He got a hero’s welcome from his mom and dad. His first wife was only 14 years old when he married her. He was home for three days and went over to the hat factory and got his job back. After he got home, everything was good. Sometimes he had dreams that scared him, such as being killed by a shell hitting him. He is proud of his service. He did not have to go. His weight was too low and the doctor asked if he really wanted to go, but he did want to go. The war was a worthy effort. It was forced upon them. They could not let the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] get away with what they did. Japanese people in the United States were put in concentration camps.