Galen Cole is a
World War II veteran from
Bangor, Maine. He served from July
1945 to
February 1946 with the 46th
Armored Infantry Battalion and would earn a
Combat Infantry Badge and the
Military Order of the
Purple Heart.
This 95 minute interview is his story including leaving from
Maine for
Europe, serving in six countries, getting wounded and making a small decision that saved his life; he gave up his seat in a half-track when another solider asked for it.
Cole ended his military career with an unusual job, driving a wrecker as he helped clean-up US war debris on the
Autobahn before being sent home by ship.
This interview was conducted by journalism instructor
Jeffrey Hope at the
New England School of Communications at
Husson University and was recorded by photographer
Larry Ayotte in
January 2016. It was submitted to the Veterans
Oral History Project at the
Library of Congress where it will be permanently archived.
The interview was part of a journalism class at NESCom and we would like to thank Mr. Cole for his generosity and for all he has done for veterans in Maine.
Below is a log of the interview if you would like to listen to a specific section.
:00
Purpose of
Interview, Introductions of Interviewer Jeffrey Hope, videographer Larry Ayotte at the New England School of Communications, Bangor, Maine
1:00 Galen Cole,
Service,
Highest Rank
2:00
Living in Maine prior to entering the
Army
5:15 "We knew where we were going" (to Europe)
6:25 "What discussions did you have before leaving for Europe?"
7:30 Discussing the war after Cole returned home (we did not)
810 Getting drafted
9:15 "It was not frightening until we got overseas"
11:04
Remembering Camp Blanding, Florida
14:07 Remembering the older recruits
15:30
Florida sand fleas put Cole in the hospital
17:00
Going overseas unescorted on the
SS Pasteur, a turbine steam ship
19:30 Joining 5th armored division
20:20 Riding in the half-track
21:14
M1 Garand Rifle
20:20 M1 Rifle "I got to feel very comfortable with it."
24:48 Duties with the
5th Armored Division
26:50 Army rations
27:52 mail call while in Europe
30:23 "Those letters meant almost as much as life itself."
32:44 battery change
32:57 mail continued "
I never lost faith."
34:00 The mail is found
34:56 "Probably the happiest day of my life."
35:52 Writing mail for others
36:49 The rules for letter writing
38:00 Cole is told, "If there is anything worse than a yankee, it's a republican yankee."
38:35 The Army shower wagon
40:49 lighting adjustment
41:01
Giving up his seat in the halftrack in
Germany to
Private First Class William Golladay, a life changing moment
48:58 "Not a day goes by that
I don't remember my shock when I came to realize that here I am, whole, out of the halftrack."
49 14 media card change
49:30 April 2, 1945, Germany, the halftrack is hit by a shell
1:01:18
Recovery after a shell hits squad
1:06:19
German civilian woman helps injured soldiers
1:10:52 recovery
1:11:50 war is over
1:14:03 media card change
1:14:23 The war ends, but Cole can not return home yet
1:17:45
Returning to US by ship
1:18:56
Seeing the statue of
Liberty as Cole returns home
1:19:33 Cleaning up US war debris on the Autobahn in Germany, Cole assigned to a wrecker
1: 23:46 War wreckage: "They weren't set up like the movies, at all."
1:26:35 Cole ordered to see
Buchenwald concentration camp
1:29:39 "How could a man be that unbelievably cruel? You just can't figure it."
1:29:57 The war experience: "It made me a man."
1:31:00
Short reference:
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
1:31:15 "I never lost huge amounts of sleep over it."
1:32:30 What would you like school children to know about your experience?
"
Freedom is not free."
1:33:33
Thoughts on the museum he founded, in Bangor, Maine, the
Cole Land Transportation Museum.
1: 35:25 interview ends
- published: 15 Feb 2016
- views: 26