The War:

Soldiers’ Personal Accounts and Oral Histories

At the end of World War II, the soldiers who served as part of the 103rd Infantry Division were gradually discharged from service and returned to the United States to live out their lives. One thing that kept these men united however was the common experiences and memories from their time in Europe during World War II. As time passed, some soldiers from the division began to tell their stories through a variety of mediums, including oral histories, audio and video recordings, and memoirs. Family members of 103rd Infantry Division veterans have also generously donated numerous diaries, journals, and other documents that illuminate the experiences of the men who fought in 103rd across Europe.

The men of the 103rd Infantry Division also worked painstakingly to memorialize those who died in combat. After the war, men from the division as well as the division’s reunion group worked to create monument memorials in cities and towns that were liberated by the 103rd throughout the place they fought in Europe. However, one of their larger concerns was to record all the available information that they could locate on these men. Thus, they also worked to document the names of those who were killed in action, their deaths, and the location of their graves. When available, the memorials below also include information about the lives that these men lived before the war.

Note: All of the personal accounts below are unedited and may contain graphic descriptions of wartime experiences.

Photo Credits:

Header Photo: Gallo, SC 271399 - Troops of the 44th Division await truck transportation after unloading at a station in Northern France on their way to the front. 16 October, 1944. U.S. Army Signal Corps Archive via Flickr..

Oral Histories Photo: SC 196053-S - Tired frontline infantrymen from a battalion of the 36th Infantry Division cut off by the Germans for six days in the Belmont sector, France 31 October, 1944. U.S. Army Signal Corps Archive via Flickr.

Interviews Photo: T/5 Lee J. Higgins, SC 405042- A public relations worker interviews a Russian woman at a displaced persons camp in Kaiserslautern, Germany. 3 May, 1945. U.S. Army Signal Corps Archive via Flickr.

Audio Files Photo: Bradley, SC 337210- Two linemen of the 101st Infantry Regt., 26th Division, check vital communication wires in Saarlautern, Germany. 27 February, 1945. U.S. Army Signal Corps Archive via Flickr.

Soldiers Memoirs Photo: Photo from 103rd Infantry Division Association Archival Collection, Special Collections at McCain University Library and Archives, the University of Southern Mississippi.

Diaries and Journals Photo: Unknown photographer, SC 200380- Five men of an infantry squad (3rd Infantry Division) clean up, write letters, and relax at a command post in the Neuf Brisach area, France. 19 February, 1945. U.S. Army Signal Corps Archive via Flickr.

Memorials Photo: Pvt. Arthur H. Hertz, SC 199094-A- Graves registration officer identifies dead Yanks among Germans killed in Ardennes salient during 1st and 3rd Army squeeze against Von Rundstedt's lines. 11 January, 1945. U.S. Army Signal Corps Archive via Flickr.