INTERVIEWER:   Mr. Holt, where did you go into the military, when did you go into the military and why did you go into the military?

HOLT:  I went into the military in Richmond, Virginia, May 15, 1943.  What was the other question?

INTERVIEWER:   Why?

HOLT:   I was drafted.  As I said, I went in the service actually at Camp Lee, Virginia and I would stay there to do my basic training, 13 weeks of basic training at Camp Lee and from there was sent to Pennsylvania.  I can’t think of the name of the college, a small college in Pennsylvania, since then it’s been made – well it was a teachers’ college at that time.  Since then, it’s been made into a university, I think.

INTERVIEWER:   How old a man were you then?  How old were you when you were drafted?

HOLT:   I was 27.  From there, I was sent back to Fort Eustis in Virginia to join the platoon at Fort Eustis and we went down to the airport.  We were carried down to the airport every day for, I don’t know how many days, to fly us overseas, but it had turned out we never did fly overseas.  We were brought back and sent to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey and we went overseas from there on December 5 and landed in Glasglow, Scotland on December 17th.

INTERVIEWER:   Of what year?

HOLT:   1943 and from Glasglow, we went to Wales, Bristol and back to _______ and from ______, we were stationed there to do basic training again from there and on May 5, 1944, we were ordered to go to a marshland area in Wales and I cannot think of the name of it now, but anyway we were there on May 25 and we got new equipment.  Everything was new and we were prepared for an invasion, but did not know where.  On June 2, we were put on a truck, carried down to the beach and put on a ship.  That was on June 2.

The ship just set there and I was standing on the deck of the ship on the 4th, just after lunchtime, mess I should call it I guess and all of a sudden, I realized we were moving.  Another GI and I were standing together and I said something like, “Hey, we’re moving, we’re going somewhere.”  Then, of course, the rumors starting flying fast.  They had us going everywhere from Greece to Norway (laughter).

Anyway we sailed all day the rest of the day and night and all day on the 5th and joined a big convoy on the 5th.  I had no idea where we were going.

INTERVIEWER:   Was the sea rough?  Do you remember?

HOLT:   The English Channel was mighty rough.  On the night of the 5th at 11 o’clock, the captain called all the officers and all the first three grades, top sergeant, tech sergeant and staff sergeant and I was a staff sergeant, to a room.  He told us where we were going to land.  We were going to land on Omaha Beach the next day sometime.  Of course, there was no sleep that night.

The next morning we were told to prepare to land.  We went up on deck with all our equipment and sometime, I don’t know exactly what time it was, but I know it was sometime between 9:00 and 11:00 and just as a side light, we started to leave the ship onto this flat barge I guess you’d call it.  It was just a flat surface, no sides to it, just a flat surface and they made it so you could bolt parch to it and make it as large or small as you wanted.

We started, as I said this is a side light, I started down the rope ladder.  We were one deck up and I started down the rope ladder and just as I did, a truck with a tarp pull on the back of it, came up right below me and I think if I had thought about it one second, I wouldn't have done it, but without thinking about it, I turned loose everything and dropped right into that tarp and I rode into the beach and didn't even get my feet wet and the rest of my platoon came in wet from the neck down.  Anyway, that was on D-Day, June 6. 

INTERVIEWER:   I think you could call that a triumphant entry, couldn’t you?  (Laughter) There you are, you’re on top of the ______, is that right?

HOLT:   We made it and I strung the platoon out back of me about 50 feet apart and I was hit crossing the beach.  I was hit and several other fellas were hit, but not seriously.

INTERVIEWER:   So you’re catching small arms fire?

HOLT:   Small arms fire, yeah?

INTERVIEWER:   Were there any mortar?

HOLT:   Not that I know of.  Anyway, really I don’t know.  At that time, your confusion is rampant, you know.  We made it all the way across the beach and the longest beach in the world I think.  We made it all the way across and actually didn't lose a man.

INTERVIEWER:   What division are you in?

HOLT:   At that time, we were with the 1st Division.

INTERVIEWER:   The big red one.

HOLT:   Big red one.  Then we spent the night under about a 100-foot in back of the beach and the next morning, I think it was the next morning, it may have been two mornings after that, I’m not sure.  Time meant nothing to you at that time and we were ordered over the rim of that 100-foot embankment and there was a cleared pathway by the civilians going down to the beach and we went diagonally across the cliff.  We climbed that cliff and I felt when I stick my head over that rim of that cliff, I’m going to get it blown off, but I stuck it up there and I didn't get it blown off (laughter).

INTERVIEWER:   You were a platoon leader, is that right?

HOLT:   Yeah, a platoon leader, and we went in a ways and on the edge of a little town, oh it wasn’t 100 yards or so back, we dug in right there and I don’t know how long we stayed there, one day, two days, three days, and then we were ordered up to a place called Coleville, I remember the name of that, and I was busy getting my platoon dug in and I failed to dig a foxhole for me.  It was getting dark and they said after it gets dark, if you come out of that foxhole, you’re going to be shot and I hadn’t dug a foxhole almost.

This other boy and I started digging a foxhole and got out about a couple of feet and hit solid rock and it’s too late to do anything else and so we had to make that do and the next morning, just as it was getting light, the Germans had five planes over us.  No two of them were alike, that’s how bad the German Air Force was at that time.  No two of them were alike and we were in one of those small fields and the next field over, I don’t know what unit it was, but there 21 fellas in a truck over there getting ready to move out and they dropped a bomb on that truck and killed all of them.

Anyway finally the aircraft shot down one plane and two parachutes came out of the plane and they broke my platoon up into three parts I think and sent them down into those woods where they saw them fall.  We captured the pilot and his gunman.  The gunman had been hit, but the pilot, I think he was the pilot, he was dressed fit to kill.  We got him back up to the headquarters and we were going to put him on the fender of a jeep and carry him to a POW camp, which wasn’t too far from us.

He shook his head, he wanted to ride in the seat because he was a captain or he was an officer and the first sergeant of our company was about six feet six, he’d been a lumberjack all his life (laughter).  He wasn’t anything but mad and when that officer said he was going to ride in the seat because he was an officer, this man whose name was Harmon Reel, he had lived in Canada all his life and he had just recently moved to the United States.  He hauled off and kicked that German, raised him about six inches off the ground (laughter) and the German got on the fender of that jeep.   But anyway from there, we moved in a little bit and finally broke out of there at Ste. Lo.

INTERVIEWER:   Are you getting supplies brought up to you?  What about food and water, ammunition?

HOLT:   Well K-rations at that time.  We had plenty of ammunition that was available all along.

INTERVIEWER:   What were you carrying, an M1?

HOLT:   Yeah, all of us except two with a BAR, a Browning automatic rifle.  We had two BAR men.  We started moving inland.  We went through Ste. Lo and then from there until we got to Orleans, I think it was, we didn’t have any resistance hardly.  We got to Orleans and ran into some resistance and then, but there wasn’t a whole lot.  Then from there until Paris, we didn't have much resistance.

INTERVIEWER:   Were you marching or a convoy, how did you get there?

HOLT:   We were a convoy at that time.  We started out marching, but then it changed into a convoy, but I remember we went over, there was a body of woods and the road went right through the woods.  It was uphill, I’d say it was a long hill and woods on both sides of it and we were going up and it just got into the crest of the hill and we’re going down.  A call came up from behind us.  Of course, everybody, I know I did, I just rolled out of that truck and headed for the field on the side.  The funny part was, I had a jeep driver, I mean a weapons driver that, he used to be a professional football player.  He weighed, I think he weighed 250 – 260 pounds and I ran out of the side of the truck heading to get out of the way and get across the ditch.

I looked and he went off the other side of the truck and he was already with me (laughter).  And I remember his last name, his last name was Dunlevy.  Anyway, one German plane came up through that convoy strafing and I don’t know what damage he did, but anyway – oh the truck went on down.  Everybody got out of the truck and left it running and the truck went on down and ran into a tree, but anyway it didn't hurt it.

From then on, as we said, we went onto Orleans and then onto Paris and when we got to Paris, we were transferred to the 9th Army for the invasion of Germany.  We had headed north through northern France and we were going up to Belgium and to Holland.  We were supposed to stop there in Holland to get ready for the invasion.

INTERVIEWER:   What time of the year is it?  This is ’44?

HOLT:   It was about November now.

INTERVIEWER:   November of 1944?

HOLT:   Yeah, but then we got ordered, they had the Battle of the Bulge and we were sent down there and put on the north side of it.  Put in foxholes, snow all over the ground and cold in blue blazes.  I had on all the clothes I had.  I wish I had shoes big enough to put on two pairs of shoes (laughter).  It was cold!

INTERVIEWER:   It was the coldest winter on record.

HOLT:   Well it was cold up there, I can tell you that.  A warm day, the temperature got up to 0, you know.  We were in a foxhole and there wasn’t any two hours on, four hours off.  It was 12 hours, 24 hours a day.  It was cold.  I remember an officer came around and said, told us, “We estimate this column, German tank column, going straight for the coast,” but he said, “If that column turns north, God help you.” 

We were, of course, in foxholes at that time, but after that, the Germans ran out of fuel and stopped.  We pulled back then and went back to, on the way to Holland for the rest of the winter.  Then in February, the last part of February, it was something like February 24 or 25th, we started out, we started to push toward Germany and we crossed the German border at Monchengladbach and we didn't meet any resistance there, none.

This was just inside the border and I remember that after we crossed the border, we had been in Monchengladbach about a day I think it was and somebody comes along and says, “Man, there’s a warehouse over yonder somewhere full of schnapps, let’s go get some of that schnapps.”  So we took a vehicle and went over there and came back loaded down with schnapps and …

INTERVIEWER:   Wait a minute, you and I know what schnapps is, but a few years from now when somebody sees this tape, they may not know what schnapps is.  Tell me what schnapps is.

HOLT:   Schnapps is an alcoholic beverage, it’s very potent.  The people over there drank it by just about a little thimble full in a cup of coffee and that’s the way they drank it.  But these GI’s were drinking it out of a canteen cup and about an hour and a half after they started issuing that stuff, the whole company was crazy.  There were four of us left, there was me and I was a staff sergeant.  One of the buck sergeants was sober and one of the corporals was sober and a PFC was sober and that was it for a company of 200 men.

We were trying, really what we were trying to do was keep them from killing one another (laughter).  That’s right. 

INTERVIEWER:   What about the company commander or did you have any officers?

HOLT:   Didn't have an officer at that time, no.  We was it.  All four of us were running around trying to keep them from killing one another.  Long about daylight, let them sleep, long about daylight, I walked out.  It had quieted down by that time.  I walked out, this was a big, big house.  Somebody said it was a doctor’s house that I don’t know, but there wasn’t anybody in it and it was a big, big house, three-story house.  It had a driveway right by the house, wide cement driveway.  I walked outside, thought I’d get a breath of fresh air and all of a sudden, I heard up above me somebody said, “Cockadoodle Doo” and I looked up and it was the cook and he was standing in the third story (laughter).

It ain’t funny.  The third story, raised out his hands like that and jumped out of the window, third story, right on that cement driveway – killed him.  Right in front of me.  He jumped out, that stuff made him crazy I reckon.  He jumped out and we had to call the MP’s and the medics.  Everybody was over there.

Anyway, from there, we, I can’t think of the name of the town.  I tried to think of it before I came here and I cannot think of it, I got to go back.  When we got to Paris, as I said, we were taken out of the 1st Army and put in the 9th Army.  We were told that they were for the invasion into Germany.  So we were in the 9th Army, the 9th Army was being formed, that _________ and so we spent part of the winter there in.

From there, which is right on the German line, but from there we crossed the line into Germany and that’s when this thing happened.  From there, we went to someplace up in Germany and we ran into all kind of resistance from Monchengladbach, from then on, we ran into all kinds of resistance.

We set up a headquarters in some town and I cannot think of the name of it and we worked out of there.  We didn't go any farther for a while, but then we finally broke out and went on, didn't stop much.  As I remember, we didn't stop much until we got to Brunswick, Germany.  Then from there, we went to a little place called Pine, Germany.  It’s just a small place.  Then the war ended.  We were sent back.

Then we thought we were coming home.  We’d been over there nearly three years and thought we were coming home and one day an officer came around and says, “Your unit has performed well over here and you’re needed in the Pacific” (laughter).   Oh, I remember that mighty well.  You know, morale went down just like that.

Oh man, we thought we were coming home and then they tell us we were needed in the Pacific.  But I thought, well we were going to have some, I thought we’d probably have some AWOL’s.  I thought maybe some of them felt to bothered by it, but we didn't.  We were on the train.  They put us on the train. 

We were in Brunswick, Germany.  We went all the way down and got to Paris.  We had to change planes in Paris.  We had to go to a part in southern France, a big port, I can’t think of the name of it now.  Anyway we were on the way there to get on a ship to go to the Pacific and spent the night in Paris and believe it or not, that was the night they dropped the atomic bomb in Japan.  We didn't have to go.  That’s where we stopped, right there.  We didn't have to go any farther.

That’s how close we came to going to Japan, but we’d already been overseas over two years.  You know, looking forward to going home and then to have that, drop that bomb on us.  Then they sent us to Antwerp and we worked as dock guards inspecting stuff that was going out of there.  We actually did nothing, we didn't stop anybody from sending stuff home.

Anyway there was something for us to do.  Then in December, I’ve forgotten what date, we went from LeHavre, France over to England and then we were put on an aircraft carrier to come home and the only way, an officer came out and said “Four and a half days, you’re going to be in the United States.”  You know how long it took us?  Ten days.  We ran into four major storms, major storms and I mean they were major.  I’ve seen waves breaking over like that over the aircraft carrier.

INTERVIEWER:   Did you get seasick?

HOLT:   Don’t talk to me about that.  When I went overseas, it took us 12 days to get there, I was sick 12 days.  I didn't eat or drink anything and I lost, 155 pounds down to 132 pounds in 12 days.  I didn't eat.  I couldn’t even keep water down.  Coming back, it was a little better, not much, but a little better because I could stay in the bed all of the time, but going over, you couldn’t do that. 

INTERVIEWER:   Why not?

HOLT:   Cause they had battle stations for you.  You had to go to that battle station and you couldn’t leave it all day.  I didn't eat or anything or drink anything, but I did coming back.  I could manage to get to the mess hall and back into the bunk before I lost it.  It’s frightening to see those waves breaking over the deck of the aircraft carrier.  I was on the Independence and that was the biggest aircraft carrier at the time.  But when I saw the waves breaking, it scared me (laughter).

INTERVIEWER:   Where did you arrive, New York?

HOLT:   We came into New York and they told us to start with that they were going to have us home by Christmas, but we didn't get home until after the 1st of the year.  After so long a time, they finally gave up trying to get us home then.

INTERVIEWER:   Where were you processed out?  Where were you discharged from?

HOLT:   I was discharged from Fort Mead, Maryland.  As it turned out, when I was discharged, the day I was discharged, I was on my way to the place where they were going to discharge us and somebody called my name and it was a boy from my hometown and he said, “My wife is going to pick me up.  I’m leaving today, do you want to go with me?”  (Laughter) He carried me right to my door.

INTERVIEWER:   I’ll be.

HOLT:   And that’s my story.  I don’t know of anything else I can add to it.

INTERVIEWER:   Again, I’m going to ask you what I’ve asked other people.  All that time in combat and all the things that you saw, what did you learn?  What does it all mean to you? 

HOLT:   That’s something, I’ve asked myself, what kind of lesson did I learn, what kind of lesson did that teach me and for the life of me I can’t think of a lesson.  I just can’t, the only lesson I can think of is, don’t do it again.  That’s a hard question to answer.  When you think about what kind of lesson did that teach me, what did I learn from that.  There’s nothing you can learn from that really that you could take back to civilian life.  I don’t know of anything that you can …, but you know they said that the World War II veterans came home and went back to work and made no to do about it.

They talk about the other veterans in Vietnam and all those, what was done, so much to do about that, but I think it’s hard to … I just don’t know anything that I learned from it other than war.  What I’m saying is that I don’t know of anything that I learned from it that I could take back into civilian life.

INTERVIEWER:   Does war ever settle anything?

HOLT:   I don’t think so.  I don’t think so, I don’t think it settles a thing.  I think you got a prime example of it right here in the United States.  What did war settle here, nothing, not a thing.  Well you go back to the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, the 1st World War, this past American war and you still are going to have wars.  Every war that ever came along said this is the last war and it never has been, as far back as you can go.

INTERVIEWER:   And just because the shooting stops doesn’t mean the war is over.

HOLT:   No.

INTERVIEWER:   You’ve got all the wounded and the bad memories.

HOLT:   You’ve got the wounded and the mental scars that it left and the physical scars that it left.  In the 1st World War, I was about six or seven years old at that time, but I had an uncle that was in that war and he was a mental case.  He never came out of a mental hospital.  From the 1st World War until he died, he was in a mental institution the whole time.  I think if you served in a war, it’ll leave a scar on you, a mental scar.  I don’t think you can get by that.

INTERVIEWER:   And yet the closeness that I experienced in the military, the closeness with others, your buddies that depended upon you and you had to depend upon them, that closeness, that bond is about as strong as you’re going to get.

HOLT:   About as strong as you can get and sometime I think it is even stronger than the bond between brothers.  I think after you’ve served in a case like that that the bond between fellas and you … I can tell you.  I was a platoon leader and when you get into a battle, you might separate yourself in a way from your other, from the men of your platoon.  In other words, you’re a leader and they’re below you, but when you get into a battle, they’re equal with you (laughter). 

You want to turn to them then.  They’re the ones that you turn to.  I can tell you that from first hand.  All of a sudden you became a good buddy of theirs you know.  Beforehand, you might have felt like you were a staff sergeant and you’re a leader, you know, but when you get into battle, they’re all of a sudden they become just as equal as you are (laughter). 

I think you saw an example of it while I was talking.  It is hard for me to talk about that without breaking down to some extent.  I can’t help it and it’s been what, 50 some years ago and it still, I lost some mighty good boys in my platoon and I still remember them.  They’re still in my mind right now like it was yesterday that I saw them. 

INTERVIEWER:   Mr. Holt, we would not in this country be enjoying the life that we have in this country had it not been for you and other people.  Thank you, Mr. Holt.