Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:12 | Arnold Mathias didn't like basic training at all. He didn't like being told when to go to bed, when to get up, how to cut his hair, what to eat and when. But then he realized that discipline is what makes the military work.
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The "big government man" told them they had sixty days to clear off their property because the Army was going to build a base there. They didn't want to appear unpatriotic in the wake of Pearl Harbor, so Arnold Mathias and his family looked for new land to ranch and farm. Then he was off to college with empty pockets.
Standing in formation, having finished basic training, Arnold Mathias heard the Sergeant bellow, "Anybody here know anything about a foreign language?" Before long he was immersed in the Chinese language. Then, just as abruptly, he was immersed in a tank.
Arnold Mathias thought the crossing was pretty miserable in a Liberty Ship full of seasick troops. Then, as he cleaned grease from new tanks in a French barnyard, he found a new and pungent form of misery.
An enlisted man in a tank usually had no idea where he was, but Arnold Mathias knew he was at the Siegfried line because of the sawtooth obstacles and bunkers. Warning a group of teen boys away from the bunkers, he engaged them in conversation and was highly amused before it was over.
Combat puts you in a different frame of mind and, years after the war, Arnold Mathias was trying to explain this to a young interviewer. He suddenly realized that she had no concept of what war really is.
When Patton said, "Go get 'em," you went and got 'em says Arnold Mathias as he relates the tale of his armored unit's push on the Ruhr Valley. The enemy defense was strong and it wasn't long before a round from a German 88 found his tank.
