Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Alan Kinder

WWII | 14th Field Artillery Regiment, Observation Battalion

Alan Kinder was astounded when he got to Luxembourg City because they still had electricity and it was brightly lit. He was apprehensive because the Battle of the Bulge had broken out and the Americans were suddenly on the defensive. After a cozy little Christmas celebration in a tavern with some civilians, his unit moved to support the forces holed up in Bastogne. (9:15)
Alan Kinder was part of an artillery sound ranging unit which sought out enemy artillery using the sound of the guns firing. They were attached to different units as needed. Eventually, they crossed the Rhine into Germany and occupied an abandoned German air base. (6:51)
The Germans did not want to surrender to the Russians so the men in Alan Kinder's unit spent a lot of time sending prisoners to the rear. Eventually, with no more war to fight, they were sent to patrol empty country roads where they befriended the German farmers. (3:54)
It was a lot rougher going home. Alan Kinder had come to Europe on a big ocean liner, very smooth. He went home on a tiny Victory Ship which pitched and rolled all the way home. Once there, and once Japan surrendered, the Army didn't have a lot for him to do. (7:09)
After the war, Alan Kinder did not keep in touch with the others in his unit. They all scattered and there never was a single reunion. He does have a lot of fine memories of them including a memorable Thanksgiving day during which the men begged not to go and eat turkey and dressing. (6:08)
During World War II the country was filled with a spirit of togetherness and cooperation that has long ago faded away. Alan Kinder remembers that time and knows how much we could use that same spirit again. (2:41)
Alan Lertzman

Korea | 7th Division

Alan Lertzman went from a comfortable Ohio State fraternity house to the bitter cold of a Kentucky Army base when he was drafted in 1951. He had attended military school and had a college degree so he was a natural for Officer Candidate School. He didn't mind the hazing but getting left in the desert with a compass and a canteen of water was an ordeal. (7:03)
It was the best duty he ever had, recalls Alan Lertzman. The newly commissioned 2nd Lieutenant was assigned to Air Defense Command and stationed at Swarthmore, a girl's school in Philadelphia, but that ended all too soon as he was put on a plane for Korea and on the job training as a Forward Observer. As a Forward Observer, he had to quickly learn how to call in artillery strikes on Chinese positions, and avoid being taken out by Chinese patrols. (5:47)
The call came soon after Alan Lertzman targeted his first strike as a new Forward Observer on the Korean front lines. The shells were hitting around U.S. tanks. Just before he was transferred to a radar station, he heard bugles and heavy artillery in the middle of the night. The battle of Pork Chop Hill was on. (7:28)
He had thought about an Army Career, but Alan Lertzman's experiences in Korea led him back to the civilian world. Later in life, there was a side effect to his war service that began with free cigarettes in the C-Rations. (3:07)