War... It’s Not What it is Made Out to Be:

An Interview with Mr. Gerald K. Root

On Saturday, May 17, 2003, we were fortunate to have the pleasure to interview Gerald K. Root, a war veteran from WWII. The interview took place at the Canton Community Center at 10:00 in the morning. The purpose of this interview was to gain knowledge of Root’s war experiences so we could write a short story. Going into the interview, we were expecting to hear gruesome and horrific stories from movies such as Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down. Much to our surprise, we learned that this was not the case at all.

Question: What is your full name?

Mr. Root: Gerald K. Root

Question: Have you lived in Canton your whole life?

Mr. Root: Yup...81 years.

Question: Is that where you lived when you served in the war?

Mr. Root: Yup.

Question: Can you tell us what branch of service you were in?

Mr. Root: I was with the medical corp, the artillery, the infantry, and the tank corp. I got bounced around a lot when I was overseas. [laughs]

Question: Can you tell us anything about the training you received?

Mr. Root: I just had my basic training...medical training...at Camp Barkley, Texas. That was it...then I went overseas as an aid man.

Question: Can you please spell that camp name for us?

Mr. Root: Oh Christ (laughs)...B-a-r-k-l-e-y...it was in Texas.

Question: When you went overseas, did you go to Europe or Japan?

Mr. Root: Europe.

Question: In what area specifically were you in?

Mr. Root: I started in Salerno and I ended up in England after the war.

Question: Where is Salerno?

Mr. Root: Italy...that's where we made the invasion.

Question: So did you experience the combat of the war?

Mr. Root: All the way through...four years.

Question: Do you remember any of the invasions you went on?

Mr. Root: Ahhhh...we made the invasion of Salerno...and then the invasion of Ansial...and then the invasion of southern France. Don't ask me the dates. [laughs]

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Question: As an aid man, were you on the front line?

Mr. Root: That was in the beginning, I was the aid man...Then I wound up with the 9th artillery. After we got hit, I was with the 36th division. And after I was put in the hospital, I was gone more than 30 days...so they put me with the 79th division.

Question: So you actually got hit...by a bullet?

Mr. Root: Ahh...shrapnel.

Question: It says here you received a Purple Heart?

Mr. Root: Yep, that was for being hit.

Question: Can you tell us anything about being awarded that?

Mr. Root: Ahh...they just handed to me...we were on the line when I got it. No fancy services there.

Question: When you were hit, did you ever feel like you wouldn't survive?

Mr. Root: You were actually hopin' that you wouldn't survive...Ahh you got to the point where you didn't give a damn whether you lived or not...after four years.

Question: I don't mean to be offensive, but would you care to share where you got hit?

Mr. Root: Oh...in the head. [casually speaking]

Question: Did you have a helmet on?

Mr. Root: ...No. I was sleeping, I just took the helmet off...I got a piece of shrapnel still in my head...doctors said it was in a spot where it would never bother me, so they left it.

Question: So it’s still in today?

Mr. Root: Yup.

Question: Do you remember anything about the night you got hit?

Mr. Root: There was plane flying close overhead...and all’s I remember is wakin' up, and then all hell broke loose.

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Question: Were you ever scared or unhappy, or just uncomfortable in the war?

Mr. Root: Only once...that was the day I went into the service...ended when I came home...Nah, after a while you get to a point where you don't care...you just get disgusted. They keep you doped up half the time anyways. Seemed like every time you turned around, they'd stick a needle in your arm...[laughs]

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Question: Did you ever have any contact with the enemy?

Mr. Root: Yea, we had prisoners everyday.

Question: How were they treated in the army?

Mr. Root: Prisoners? We treated them pretty good...the Germans were treated good. I can't say too much for how we were treated...I was only captured for two days. They never did nothin to me. They were good to me.

Question: So you were actually a prisoner?

Mr. Root: Yep.

Question: So did somebody come to free you?

Mr. Root: Yeah, our troops just moved up and took the town back over. They just left us to take care of some of the sick.

Question: Did they feed you...as a prisoner?

Mr. Root: Oh yea...fed us good...better than the American army...[laughs]

Question: Do you remember how you were captured?

Mr. Root: Oh yeah...we were on the line...they took the town we were in and I didn't get out fast enough.

Question: What was the worst part of serving in the war?

Mr. Root: Most of it was bein’ away from home. Of course, the pay wasn't the greatest either...50 dollars a month...Most of the time it wasn't really as bad as some people think it is...You'd fight for a while, then pull back and rest for a while...sometimes you would make a push and a shot would hardly ever be fired. You'd get em on the run, and they'd just take off and leave...next time they might fire at ya...you never know...it wasn't as bad as everybody thinks it is...