“I doubt if anyone ever gets used to combat.” (Audio Interview, 6:16)

Joseph L. Bieber

War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: Army Unit: Company B, 133rd Infantry, 34th Division Service Location: Africa; Italy Highest Rank: Corporal Place of Birth: Highland Mills, NY

Joseph Bieber says he spent more time in the hospital than anywhere else during the war. After only four months in service, he was shipped overseas to Africa and from there to the invasion of Sicily and then Italy. Wounded in the leg at the battle of Salerno, he would receive a wound to the same leg only a few months later at Anzio. The shell from the German 88 that damaged his leg that day would take him out of action permanently. Bieber’s story is one of green troops thrust into battle for the first time, relatively unprepared for the rigors facing them.