Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:16 | Murray Leff joined the ROTC while in college. He was still a student when the attack on Pearl Harbor angered him, but it also baffled him. Surely they must know they can't win a war against us?
Keywords : Murray Leff Brooklyn New York City Poland Bialystock Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Pearl Harbor Japan
It may have been unusual in Brooklyn, but Murray Leff developed an interest in guns and owned a rifle as a young mn. This gave him a leg up on the firing range during his infantry training. Something else unusual about him is that he actually enjoyed the trip across the Atlantic on his way to join the war in Europe.
The locals in France were friendly and engaging. Murray Leff had taken French in school, enough to communicate, and this sparked a lifelong interest. When he got to the front, it was a mere sixty miles from Germany itself.
It was against the rules but he did it anyway. Murray Leff had traded some cigarettes for a camera and he began to document his unit's action as they pushed into Germany.
Murray Leff well remembers his first day inside Germany itself. He was on his face in the dirt and stuff was falling on him. Then, one of his own sentries nearly killed him. He looked at Stars and Stripes one day and found out about this thing called the Bulge. That's where he was headed next.
In Metz, Murray Leff was fed an extra special meal before he was thrown into the Battle of the Bulge. He had close calls with a machine gun and an artillery shell, better luck than one of the new guys who had just arrived.
While he was fighting in Europe, Murray Leff marveled at the high turnover rate in his unit. So many casualties. He is baffled how anything as destructive and awful as a World War could ever happen.
