CENTER FOR U.S. WAR
VETERANS' ORAL HISTORIES
World War II
Henry C. Piasecki
World War II Oral History Interview
US Army, 9th Infantry Division
Date: October 18, 2004
Interviewer: Michelle Carrara
Summarizer: Kaz Garcia
Veterans History Project
Summary
Henry C. Piasecki was born in January of 1925 in Hartford, CT. He had three younger siblings, Raymond, Regina, and Helen, and both parents home with them. Piasecki had always wanted to join the Navy as soon as he turned 18. Unfortunately, because of dental issues, he was not accepted by the Navy. Since Piasecki grew up during the Great Depression, it had been financially difficult to get to a dentist. Instead, he volunteered for the draft as soon as he was 18 and eventually got drafted in the U.S. Army in 1943.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed, Piasecki was shocked since no one expected it. He stated that everyone was “ready to go” after. Many of the men who Piasecki grew up with volunteered for the draft around the same time as him; they all ended up in the same battalion but different companies.
Piasecki took the train to Fort Dix, New Jersey, after his acceptance. This is where he received his uniforms, helmet, and equipment. After this, he and his company went to Camp McCain in Mississippi for basic training that lasted for 13 weeks; it was his first time away from home. They had to wake up early, work hard all day, and go to bed late.
Then, Piasecki went to Fort Pierce, Florida, for special training in the amphibian corps. He was there for about two months, doing small boat landings, and learning net climbing between ships. Piasecki then traveled to Camp Pickett in Virgina and stayed through Thanksgiving. He learned map-making skills there, that served him well later.
When Piasecki eventually got to Camp Shanks in New York, he was able to go home and visit his family. His brother, Raymond, eventually joined the Navy in 1944 and was sent to the Pacific. Piasecki deployed aboard a converted British ocean liner to Peyton, England, with the rest of his company. He did more amphibian training there, as well as received more map-making skills. Piasecki recalled that it took about a week to get to England by ship, and that he got through it because “you’re excited.” He mentioned that Peyton was a small town, “like Sea Girt [NJ]”.
During his six month stay in Peyton, he continued training, although he was not sure for what (D-Day). There were rumors that circulated, but no one knew what was going to happen next.
While in England, Piasecki got hit in the leg from a piece of iron that fell. He had to be taken in an ambulance to the hospital; this was when his map-making skills came into use: the ambulance drivers did not know where the nearest hospital was!
Piasecki was in the 203rd Engineer Combat Battalion, and ultimately attached to the 6th Amphibian Corps. On June 6, 1944, they landed in Normandy in the late afternoon as support troops.
All’s ya could see were white sheets. They had poor men stretched out dead. There had to have been 1,000 of them.
Piasecki’s unit was stationed a long time at Omaha Beach doing cargo work and laying new roads. They guarded 30 or 40 enemy prisoners of war, who repaired the gutters and potholes. There was little fighting during this time, and he mentioned that the prisoners were like gentlemen — they were glad to be with them instead of in the war.
The boredom of their assignment got to a few of them. Piasecki and two others, Jimmy Harper and Ted Miller, voluntarily switched to the frontlines because they were tired of construction and watching the prisoners. As a result, they lost their commissions and went out as Privates to a frontline unit, the 15th Engineer Combat Battalion with the 9th Infantry Division.
The men in this unit had fought through North Africa and Italy and just wanted to get home at that point. They thought that Piasecki, Harper, and Miller were stupid for volunteering for the frontline. Piasecki remarked that “we’re not stupid, we’re just young.” Regardless, the new men in his unit were nice.
Piasecki was not in the Battle of the Bulge, but he was near it, clearing road mines so the tanks could reach the battleground. He recalled losing his Corporal who pulled out a mine incorrectly. Piasecki and the others were not sure what happened, but all of a sudden there was an explosion, and their Corporal was gone.
I was lucky I didn’t get killed that night. Talk about a rookie.
Throughout the war, Piasecki never shot his gun, not even at a rabbit. He commented that he was not sure if he could even kill a rabbit and did not want to think about whether or not he could shoot a man.
Piasecki described his one close call. Due to machine gunfire, they took cover off the road in a gutter. He was a novice with his crawling method, especially since he was trying to not get his uniform dirty! Piasecki crawled high off the ground; the ditch was all mud. His helmet popped off and he stopped to retrieve it, all while gunfire was coming at them.
In October 1945, Piasecki was able to accumulate enough points to go home. At that point, his family had not seen him for almost two years, so they threw him a welcome back party.
During the war, Piasecki was able to receive packages and mail once a week; however, he was not able to write anything about the war. Instead, he talked about things he did, places he saw, etc. Piasecki is Polish and speaks a little Polish, so during his time in Europe, he tried to converse with Polish people a few times. Furthermore, the food was not too bad considering that they were in war – the meals were at least hot.
Piasecki was in Germany when the war ended. When he heard that it was over, he cried. Piasecki asked to go to the Pacific, because he did not want to stay occupying Germany – but they were not sending anyone from there to the Pacific. Like many during his time, Piasecki was shocked about the atomic bomb. He was mostly upset that many of the civilians that died were innocent.
Piasecki did not stay in the military because he met his wife; they got married when he was 22. At the time of recording, they had been together for 57 years. He travelled back to London after the war, but not back to Peyton. The Piaseckis have been to Italy, Morocco, France, and Hawaii but, at time of recording, have not seen the World War II monument in D.C.
Piasecki stated that this was the first time he ever talked about his experiences because “the past is the past.”
As a result of the war, Piasecki felt that he grew up and matured a lot faster, especially because he was on his own for three years. He concluded that he would do the same thing again and would most likely try to enlist the day after his 17th birthday.
Henry C. Piasecki passed away at age 88 on October 29, 2013.
