Introduction:
"My name is Jim Baerhen, basically I was in the infantry; carried a browning automatic rifle. We saw duty in France and Germany, Austria and Belgium and Holland."How did you join the service?
During the Second World War, I was drafted. As soon as you turned 18 you registered. I turned 18 in November of 1943 and I was drafted in January of '44, sent to a camp to be inducted in Indiana. And then transferred to a training camp in Fort McCullin, Alabama for my infantry basic training. After that was completed in 19 weeks, I was transferred to a secondary camp in Mississippi and assigned to an Infantry Division; which subsequently—after about 18 or 19 weeks of training—the entire Division was shipped to Europe."How many men are in an Infantry squad?
"An Infantry Squad consists of twelve men. Of the original twelve that were shipped over seas, through attrition and wounded and killed, there were only three of us, by the time the war was over that were the original twelve.How long were you on the battle field?
"We had 115 days of actual line combat, not all in one stretch, but it was over a period of time you would have some relief time, but actual battle time there was over 110 days."
Did you receive any decorations?
The picture you're seeing now is the bronze star that I was awarded. I'll read from the general order that was issued from the 63rd Infantry division. It reads, ' James H. Baehren, Private First Class, Infantry company B, 253rd Infantry Regiment; for heroic achievement in action on March 5, 1945 in the vicinity of Sargamese, France. While the company was repulsing an enemy counter attack, Private First Class Baehren advanced through intense enemy fire to gain a position from which he could give better supporting fire to his company. The courage displayed by Private Baehren was an inspiration to all who witnessed his action and contributed greatly in repulsing the enemy counter attack. Entered military service from Toledo, Ohio.' ""Now, this picture was taken by my dad, who had a portrait studio, after I came back from basic training. When I went into the service I weighed about 215lbs, and at the time this picture was taken, I was down to 155lbs."
How did you send mail?
"[Mail] during the war, was called V-mail. The serviceman would write on a standard sheet of paper, would turn it in, and the Army would then [put it on] what today we would call microfilm. And these films would be shipped back to this country and they would be printed and be mailed to the parents or the friends or whoever the serviceman had written the letter to. It saved a tremendous amount of space! They could mail literally thousands of letters on one role of film instead of bags and bags [of envelopes]!"Where did you enter Germany?
We were in the small town of Sargamese, France; we were then ordered into Germany. [I] went across the river, next to Sargamese, France, in a salt boat to secure a position on the other side of the river. After that, the engineers came in with what they call a bailey bridge. It was just pontoons, metal pontoon boats, and they would lock them together and put a plated road across the top of the boats so they could move trucks and tanks and personnel across the river. And that was the first point that the 63rd division went into Germany.Where did you go from there?
"From there we zigzagged across Germany, up to the Battle of the Bulge, and then further South, across the Rhine river, went through the Seigfried line, and ended up in Reichensburg, Austria at the time the war was declared over in Germany.What then?
From there, we were in camps, in Germany, waiting to be shipped to the Orient for the invasion of Japan. Unfortunately, when Truman ordered the bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki it brought a quick end to the war in the Orient, so there was no need for all these troops to be shipped for the invasion of Japan. So, we were shipped to various camps in Germany, and France waiting to be shipped back to the United States."Conclusion:
"In conclusion, I think I can say that the one thing being in the service, and going through a war, and seeing all the death and destruction it makes you really know how valuable life is!"
