Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:01 | Harold Darden could not help noticing that Germany was the cleanest place he had ever seen, except for the war damage, of course. The sting of combat was lessened by the stores found in empty homes; bread, preserves and "the French champagne, oh Lord!"
Keywords : Harold Darden German Bread French Champagne Camp Lucky Strike Falkenstein
Harold Darden, along with 3 fellow students, decided to enlist in order to, "Whip up on them Germans." After an unusual problem involving a urine sample, they were sent back to Auburn for pre-radar school. As it turned out, this training was never used.
Infantry replacement Harold Darden was welcomed to the front with the words "Welcome to Hell!" Swept into the Battle of the Bulge, he dealt with accidental friendly fire, frostbite, snipers and crawling in the dark right into the feet of the enemy.
Harold Darden served in the German occupation for 2 months and then was sent stateside to prepare for Pacific action, which was then made unnecessary. Not really the "Greatest Generation," he says. They just had a job to do and they did it.
