“I was in the Navy and served in the Pacific around Okinawa and some of the islands. We were on a destroyer escort ship and didn’t see much action. We escorted troop ships and supply ships from the US and we were one of the first boats to go in the harbor and on land after the surrender. I saw a lot of Japan. I was in the farm areas and the war didn’t hit there. The people were extremely friendly and good to us. A high school principal invited us to talk to teachers at his school and people invited me into their house and fed us tea and sweet potato pastries. The pastries were edible, but I wouldn’t go buy one. Communication isn’t like it is today. The people didn’t have much information about what was going on, but they wanted to get rid of the emperor because he was a tyrant. Everyone on our ship came back. I was lucky because it was luck of the draw where you served and you have to go where they send you. Other people weren’t so lucky. A friend from my hometown was on a ship that sunk and he swam away and survived. I lived on a farm in Michigan and I kissed the earth when I got back. I am 92. My family is good German stock and we live a long time. I was 19 when I went in and had finished by first semester in college. Being in the service was a good growing experience for me. I was wet behind the ears and a spoiled kid but war made me grow up.”