Interview with Mr. James Kennedy
[b. 8/12/22]
Recorded on 10/16/05
[Interview starts at 001 on counter]
Hannah Farley: I am Hannah Farley and I am interviewing James L. Kennedy at 11137 Peppermill Lane Fishers, Indiana. Mr. Kennedy is 83 years old and was born on August 12, 1922. He has served in World War II. He was in Company E, Second Battalion, 302nd infantry regiment, 94th infantry division. He has served as a corporal.
HF: Were you drafted or did you enlist?
James Kennedy: I was drafted
HF: Where were you living at the time and who were you living with?
[007]
JK: I was a student at Butler University and I was living in a rented room with a man named Bill Davis, who I don’t keep in touch with anymore.
HF: So, was he your friend?
JK: Yes, and my roommate.
HF: Do you recall your first days in service? Did you meet any new people?
[011]
JK: Yes, I did and I don’t have many exact memories of my first days in service. But, I did meet some new people and one of them was an usher at my first wedding.
HF: Do you remember any of their names?
[014]
JK: Bill Burley is the usher and I stayed friends with him after we came back from the army and I got to know him pretty well and (?then?) when he passed away, when he died.
HF: Can you tell me about anything you remember about your training experience, like where was it? What was your schedule throughout the day?
[018]
JK: Oh, I was sent to Wheeler. It was near Dayton, Georgia and it was in January of 1943. And it was fairly warm weather; it was in the south. ___+ multiple training exercises were in temperate weather. You ask about my training situation. I was___3_+ my first days in the army. We had physical education, physical training early in the morning at six o’clock. Then we had breakfast and then we would wash up after breakfast and (?fall out?) and we would have schooling. Not formal schooling, but this training is firing rifles and hiking and kitchen clean-ups and things like that.
HF: What were all the places you went to while you were serving in the army?
[035]
JK: (?Wellup?) and Camp Cleaver. I went to Port Benning and from Port Benning I went to a university in Florida. I went to Stetson University and Rollins College in Florida. And that was preliminary for starting ASTP which was the army acronym for Army Specialized Training Program. And I went to the University of Mississippi, then in the fall of 1943, early fall, in late September or early October. And I studied college courses there. And I (?carried?) like twenty hours which is normally students in college (?carry?) fourteen, fifteen, sixteen hours. We (?carried?) 20 hours plus we had army training as well, hiking and drill. So, it was a very close schedule.
HF: So, did you leave the country?
[048]
JK: Not until (?Wellworth?). I was in the ASTP, the Army Specialized Training Program, which was (?sensibly?) to take people who were maybe___ with ___+ (2 seconds) And I was in college when I got drafted but then they figured that I would be maybe more helpful to the army if I got more education, so I studied physics and chemistry and algebra and trigonometry, English, literature. Then they decided in their (?ways?) to close ASTP. And they kept like one percent of the upper achievers and all went to medical school because they were going to run out of doctors for the army. So, they sent the upper achievers, over achievers to medical school, and the rest of us wound up in the infantry. And I wound up at Camp McCaine in Mississippi. And then I went from there to New York to get ready to sail across the ocean with this 94th infantry division. We sailed across the ocean on the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mary, [meant to say Queen Mary] the old Queen Mary which is at Long Beach, California and being used as a hotel. But we went from Camp McCaine to Nyak, New York, which is a army installation, which would prepare soldiers to go overseas, and our whole division went on this one boat, (?all?) 22,000 men. And we all went on Queen Mary I. Any Other Questions?
HF: Do you remember arriving and what was it like when you got there?
JK: Arriving where?
HF: When you got off the Queen Mary?
[076]
JK: Well, we got off in Greenoch, Scotland. Which was a town in Scotland, probably 25,000 people. Not a big city, but we were met by Red Cross ladies and gave us coffee and doughnuts and writing paper in case we needed to write to our relatives back home. Yes, I remember that___+.
HF: Describe your specific job assignment in the infantry.
[082]
JK: Oh, I was a rifleman. So, my job assignment was to obey the sergeant and shoot the enemy. I don’t know any broader definition of my assignment.
HF: You indicated that you were involved in the Battle of the Bulge. Tell me about your role in this battle and some of your experiences.
[088]
JK: We were in France, in Brittany and Normandy. Which was western or northern France. And we went to the Bulge area in November/ December of 1944. Then we went in boxcars and they called them forty and eight’s because they would hold forty soldiers or eight horses. And there was an organization of veterans called forty and eight’s. And then we were transferred from one place to another in Europe and probably in___ +. They were called the forty and eight’s because the organization, but I never joined it. I remember once we got into the Bulge area, it was Christmas Eve, and there was a priest there and he said midnight mass. And we went out and got some holly and decorated our room in this home where we were quartered. And we had berries, red berries with the holly and we just decorated the windows and the walls with this holly. ___+ (3 seconds) and red berries, and that was our Christmas.
HF: Were there many casualties in your unit in the Battle of the Bulge?
[111]
JK: Oh yes, yes, we had quite a few casualties. I don’t remember how many. I remember some boys getting killed that were side by side with me. I remember one fellow who was, got hit badly in the groin area, and he was bleeding and I was digging a fox hole, and he had his legs down where I was digging. And he was bleeding in all the dirt that I was shoveling out, and I didn’t want to tell him to move his legs, so I didn’t. It was messy because he was bleeding and (?he was loosing?). A middle age man that was in his thirties crying about ___ he wouldn’t see his children again or his wife. And it was very heartbreaking for me. But, I was all worried about this blood flowing into my fox hole.
HF: You also said that you were in the Liberation of France. Tell me a little bit about this.
[125]
JK: Well, I was more involved in the Liberation of Germany. I remember crossing the Sar River in rubber boats and the enemy (?fire?) with ___ and rifles. And then when we got across the Sar River we had to climb a small mountain and I remember at daylight I was propped up against a hill, a path that went along side this hill. There I was reading Time Magazine, which was a war issue. It was about the size of a Reader’s Digest and it had no advertising. It was the same issue as the Time Magazine that was printed in the United States, but this had no advertising and very few pictures. And I was propped up against this hill reading, holding the magazine in my hand and a sniper fired a bullet, and it went right through the magazine, and I was holding it in my hand and it was ___+. But I didn’t get hit, ___+ it knocked the magazine out of my hand. But, I remember that. I didn’t save the magazine. I wish I had.
HF: Describe some of your most memorable experiences from the war as a whole.
[149]
JK: Well there was one when the bullet was fired at by a sniper, fired by a sniper, and it shot the magazine I was holding in my hand, that was an experience. And, number two, when I first went in the army. When I was in Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, which was the reception center. Where they took you in, got inducted into the army. I have ___ feet. My left foot’s a nine and a half and my right foot’s eleven. And somebody said, you know, “What are you going to do about shoes?” And I said, “Well, I don’t know.” And he yelled out to the supply sergeant, and he said, “Hey sergeant, we’ve got somebody here with a size nine and a half and an eleven.” And he said, “Give him the (?size?) tens.” Which wouldn’t work because I couldn’t get my size ten on my right foot and it was too big on my left foot. Anyway, he (?looked?) around to get a pair of shoes that fit me. But that was kind of a comical incident. [165] When we were in Nyak, New York, on the way to Europe, I got a pass to go into downtown New York City. Went in on a train, and we were in there for seven or eight hours. Walked up and down Fifth Avenue, through St. Patrick’s Cathedral, (?and?) the Rockefeller Center, walked up to Central Park, Plaza Burtow. Just walked around downtown New York City, and had some supper.
HF: What was your service related injury? How did you receive it?
[177]
JK: We were in Normandy and Brittany, France. And I was on patrol overnight. I was with the sergeant and three or four others, and artillery bombardment came across. I don’t think they ever see us, but they just fire artillery just for the heck of it I suppose, hoping (?they?) will hit somebody. And when you’re under artillery bombardment, you just laid on the ground, if you had a fox hole, which I didn’t have because we were on patrol. But if you had a fox hole, you could crawl in the fox hole and protect you from the artillery. So___. Anyway, I got hit in the hip and it wasn’t hurt badly. They took me back to the aid station and they gave me a tetanus shot and put a big band-aid on my hip where I got hit and I went back to service___+.
HF: Describe some of the awards you received from being in the army.
[198]
JK: Well, I got the Purple Heart and I got three awards for the theaters of combat. For Brittany, Normandy, West Germany, I don’t know what else. I got the good conduct medal, and I got the____ badge, which was probably the most cherished decoration of all. And the ___+of generals and the combat infantry badge, and that was coveted. But I didn’t get any decorations for valor or bravery.
HF: How did you stay in touch with your family during the war?
[210]
JK: With letters. We wrote v-mail, which was letters that we could write, but they’d be photocopied. So that we could write on regular stationary, about the size of your eight and a half by eleven there and then it would be photo--- and it would be put in an envelope and sent to my parents, my mother and my dad. And they corresponded back and forth with me and they’d ___ me up probably once or twice a week and I’d here from my parents and my brother and my sisters.
HF: Who did write to the most?
JK: My mother and father.
HF: What was the food like?
[222]
JK: It was satisfactory. We had had D rations and C rations and A rations. I can’t remember which was which, but one of those rations, it was C or D or A was canned, which you could eat right in the can. ___ pork and beans or chicken and rice. Then the A rations were in a cardboard box about twice the size of your, maybe three times the size of your tape recorder. And it and had a can, and it would be like a small can of tuna or about as big around as a baseball and maybe an inch high. And it could be Spam, or chicken meat, or pork ___,and it had a roll toilet paper and cigarettes and matches and crackers and I don’t know what else. Maybe a piece of candy.
HF: Did you always have plenty of supplies?
[245]
JK: Oh yes, we never ran out of anything. After the Battle of the Bulge, we were in Western Germany, in a town called Sinz, [spells] S-I-N-Z, and I remember the name of that town because it was an unusual name, but we had to live in a (?transfer?), and I think it was six weeks I didn’t have a bath. And it was dirty, muddy, rainy, cold, snow, sleet. It would be like thirty degrees or twenty-five degrees. And we couldn’t change our clothes because we didn’t have anything to change to. We just had one set of clothes and an overcoat, and you just got wet and dirty and just stayed wet and dirty.
HF: What were some of your feelings during the war? Did you ever feel stressed-out or pressured?
[261]
JK: Oh sure, yeah, I was lonely. I missed my parents and my brothers and sister. But, it was ___+ of us that we’re experiencing the same situation, so I didn’t feel extremely sorry for myself. I just lived with it.
HF: Was there something special you did for “good luck”?
JK: No, no. I said prayers.
HF: How did people entertain themselves?
[271]
JK: Well, we didn’t, we didn’t entertain ourselves. Reading the newspaper, the “Stars and Stripes” which was an army newspaper, which was published in France. And we also had editions that were published in Germany, and England, and the South Pacific, and ___+. We read the paper and if you got to go to a place like Paris or London, there were U.S.O. Shows, the United Service Organizations. That’s where we had movie stars like Bob Hope and other big names.___+ (8 seconds)
HF: What did you do while on leave? Where did you go?
[286]
JK: Well, I went to Paris and I went to London and I also of course went to New York when getting ready to go across the ocean to Europe. But, I got a pass to Paris once, and when I was in England, I got a pass to London. But I went to London when the (?buzz bombs?) were flying in, it was (?war with?) Germany. Bombs that were fired from a field in Germany or France and they would come over and explode on the air over England and they armed many of them so that they exploded over London. And a lot of landmarks, famous, got hit by those. ___+.
HF: Do you recall any particularly funny or unusual events that happened?
[301]
JK: Well the unusual one was the magazine getting shot out of my hands. And I should have saved it, but I didn’t. (?Of course there’s?) sergeant saying, “give him a pair of tens.” I think ___+. I guess that’s it. I’m sure there are other things that happened, but I can’t recall them.
HF: Did you or your friends pull pranks on other soldiers?
[310]
JK: No, except when we were in basic training. Bill Burley and___+ We were on a night exercise and we had to dig fox holes, and the sergeant came by and he said we’re like five and a half feet from the next fox hole, and he said they have to be six feet apart. I guess we did this wrong. We had to make sure they’re six feet apart. Bill Burley___+. He said___+ in the articles of war but you can’t get punished for doing what you’re supposed to do. So he complained to the sergeant about it, and he said, “(?we’re being?) punished, we have to dig another fox hole.” And he says, “Well, I won’t punish you (?because?)” but he said, “I will reward you.” And we had to pull an extra tour of extra guard duty from like four o’clock until seven in the morning. And he said, “I’ll just give you a reward, so you can pull an extra tour of guard duty instead of having to dig any fox holes. I can’t punish you, so I give you an honor of fulfilling guard duty.”
HF: What did you think of your officers or fellow soldiers?
[337]
JK: They were very good people and some were better than others. I’d have to say in balance they were all quality people.
HF: Did you keep a diary or journal of your experiences?
JK: I did not.
HF: Do you recall the day your service ended?
JK: Yes.
HF: Can you tell me what you were doing at the time? Do you remember anything?
[346]
JK: Well, we came back from Europe on Cold Ale Picter, [this is what it sounds like, but I haven’t checked what he actually said] which is a 1,500 ton ship. The Queen Elizabeth is 75,000 tons, and this ship was 1,500, so it was like a row boat compared to the Queen Elizabeth, or the Queen Mary. [meant to say Queen Mary?] But, we sailed from La Harvre and we got just a day out of La Harvre and we ran into a big storm. It would be a hurricane in today’s weather. And Turksherpin [sounds like this, but must check actual name] sailed out of La Harvre the day before us. it was a 35,000 ton, ___ was, 20 times bigger than ours. And they turned around and went back to La Harvre, but our admiral or captain of our ship said we’d just go on through, and we did. In the mess hall, or the dining hall, or the trays that we had to eat on just slid down the tables and ___+ . And the trays would slide down the dining room tables and they’d get on the floor and everything would get stomped on and the food got spilled on the tables and it just ___. We were supposed to land in New York Christmas Eve, and we actually got there December 26, the day after Christmas. But another thing in this boat that we were on, the S.S. Bode Elvick, [must check actual name, but sounds like this] which was a (?victor?) ship, it was ___ hundred tons, which was a small boat. There was a soldier on there and he had been in three paratroop landings in Sicily, Italy, and Normandy, and he had never got a scratch. And he was ___ he was on deck when the ship hit a big wave and he went against the boat ___+. He broke both his arms. He made three parachute jumps and never got a scratch, but he just got a bad break.
HF: What did you do in the days and weeks after the war?
[401]
JK: Well I looked for a job, and I got a job with a man named Harry Tousley, and I worked for him for thirty years.
HF: So, what did you do in your job?
[404]
JK: I was an accountant, and I studied accounting at Butler University. Anyway, I was an accountant for Mr. Tousley and always kept up with business.
HF: Did you make any close friendships while serving?
[411]
JK: Oh yes, I met Bill Burley in ___ and I met another one, Bill Diamond, who I hear from every year at Christmas and lives in Connecticut. And I visited him once after I married Marge and we were in New York for a meeting and we had a couple days to loose, so I rented a car and we drove up to Connecticut and visited him and his wife. And I say I hear from him every year at Christmastime.
HF: Did you join a veteran’s organization after the war?
[420]
JK: I joined American Legion because of a banker who was a veteran of World War I. And he belonged to American Legion and he invited me to go to a meeting with him, and I did, and I joined. But, I never really was active in the American Legion.
[tape recorder turned off for about 1 minute, then turned back on]
HF: Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or military in general?
[431]
JK: No, no. I didn’t enjoy my service and I never thought very much about war.
HF: In your veteran’s organization, what kind of activities does your post or association have?
[436]
JK: I don’t know because I did not engage in any activities and I was not active in the American Legion.
HF: Do you attend any reunions?
[439]
JK: I attended one reunion in 94th infantry division, which I am a live member, but they have a national organization, they have meetings around the country. Mostly in the Middle West. They have meetings in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Detroit, Boston, ___, New York City. And they had one in Indianapolis and I attended those meetings and I had a group from my division, (?there were maybe?) Fifteen members of E Company, and I had them to our house in Carmel.___+ (8 seconds) attended.
HF: How did your service and experiences affect your life?
[458]
JK: Made me appreciate all the things that we have in this country. We take so many things for granted, and I’ve been around with ___ (?into?) Europe, and I’ve been to Russia and I’ve been to Africa and I’ve been to Norway, and Sweden, and Finland, and ___, and Germany, Ireland. This is the greatest country on earth. We have more freedom, we have more opportunities and it is the ___ place to live and I appreciate it.
HF: Is there anything you’d like to add that we’ve not covered in this interview?
[470]
JK: Not really, unless I ___+ this is the best country on the face of the earth, and I love it here.
[473] End of interview
