Karina+&+Alena

__**Interview Questions**__
Edward Emerich, World War II, Signal Corps.

1. Where and when were you born? 2. What were your parents’ occupations? 3. How many siblings did you have and what are their genders? 4. What were you doing before you entered the service? 5. Did anyone else in your family serve in the military? 6. Why did you enlist into service? 7. In which branch of the army did you serve? 8. Why did you pick the Signal Corps? 9. When did you leave for training camp? 10. Please describe your early days of training. 11. What were your service dates? 12. Describe your trip getting to where you were stationed. 13. Did you witness any battles or were you in any? 14. What kinds of weapons were you assigned? 15. Were any friendships formed? 16. How did you stay in touch with your friends and family during service? 17. What did you do when you were off-duty? 18. Please tell us about any special duties you had. 19. How did casualties and destruction affect you emotionally? 20. What would you say would have been the highlight of your service? 21. What was the highest rank you achieved? 22. Did you receive any awards or medals? 23. Were you, or did you know anyone who was a prisoner of war? 24. How did the citizens of Hiroshima affect you? 25. What did you learn about the culture and/or citizens in Japan? 26. What kind of relief did you supply to the citizens of Hiroshima? 27. What are your personal thoughts on the atomic bomb, was the right choice made to drop it? 28. Where were you when the war ended? 29. How did you return home? 30. How was the reception with family and the community? 31. How did you readjust to everyday life? 32. Did you stay in contact with any fellow veterans? 33. Are you a member in any veterans’ organizations? 34. What was the most memorable experience from your service? 35. Overall, how did your wartime experience affect your life? 36. What kinds of life lessons did you learn from your service?

__Edited Transcript__
Emerich Interview Transcript

K. Chekanov: “This is Mr. Ed Emerich. He was born on December 19, 1927. He was in World War II and was in the Signal Corps. Highest rank achieved was a Sergeant. This interview is taken on February 24, 2011 in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. My name is Karina Chekanov, and my name is Alena Chekanov, and this interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.”

A. Chekanov: “Where and when were you born?”

Emerich: “ I was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania on December the 19, 1927.”

K. Chekanov: “What were your parents’ occupations?”

Emerich: “Well, My father, my mother didn’t work, but my father worked in the Steel Mill. The Bethelem Steel Mill was the name of the company. People that lived in Lebanon either worked in two places, the Belthelem Steel, or the Steel Foundry. Those were the, and the other places people worked were, they had like material factories where they made like stockings and dresses and things like that. That pretty much was the job opportunity for people who lived in this city.”

A. Chekanov: “How many siblings did you have, and what are their genders?”

Emerich: “I had one sister.”

K. Chekanov “What were you doing before you entered the service?”

Emerich: “Going to school. Well, I went through the school rank, and I had just graduated from Lebanon High School.”

A. Chekanov: “Did anyone else in your family serve in the military?”

Emerich: “Well, not my immediate family, but all of my uncles. I mean, we had- I had an awful lot of them. Eight at least. Eight uncles served- all served in the war way back then.”

K. Chekanov: "Why did you enlist into service?”

Emerich: “Well, there’s quite a story connected to that because, I came out of school, and my father wanted me to go to college. And I didn’t particularly like college and wanted to work with my hands. However, in those days, what your father and mother told you, you did. I mean, that’s the way it was. So he made me take the college course in high school, and then we planned to go to college. And then my birthday, they were going to draft me, and they weren’t going to draft me. They were changing the dates back and forth. So my dad and I sat down and talked about it, and we thought ‘well why don’t I enlist for a small amount of time as I can’- which was a year and a half- and we decided to do that. So, before I did anything, I went to the service. We decided that I’d go, and when I’d come back, we’d talk about college. And fortunately for me, when I came out of the service, I got college free. I got what they call the G.I Bill. I got a free education, so it was wonderful. And my dad was happy, and I had to go.”

A. Chekanov: “In what branch of the army did you serve?”

Emerich: “I was in the army, and it was called the Signal Corps, and the Signal Corps is a branch of the army that takes care of telephones, flags, more of the administrative type things. That’s what the Signal Corps does.”

K. Chekanov: “Why did you pick the Signal Corps?”

Emerich: “Well, I didn’t know where to go. I was just a kid. And when I went there, one thing and another and whatever, I wound up in the Signal Corps.”

A. Chekanov: “When did you leave for training camp?”

Emerich: “Well, I left when I was age seventeen, and I don’t remember the month anymore, but it was 1946. It was a year.”

K. Chekanov: “Please describe your early days of training.“

Emerich: “My early days in training? Well, they sent me to a place called Fort Dicks, New Jersey. That is where they trained new people coming into the service. And I woke up in a hurry because I wasn’t used to what I was exposed to. And I think my greatest surprise and fear was crawling on my hands and knees toward barbed wire while they shot machine guns over me. That was part of the training. I mean, you had to learn that. I mean there was a lot of things that they did in my learning. They taught us how to shoot, and there I was lucky. My father, as I grew up, took me hunting and fishing. And when we went out on the range to fire, I won the weekend pass, we shot five hundred yards, and I hit them all in the bull’s-eye because I was shooting squirrels and stuff as a little guy. So that was a very enjoyable thing for me.”

A. Chekanov: “What were your service dates?”

Emerich: “Service dates? Well, I went in in 1946, and I served actually, it was an eighteen month tour and after fourteen months they took so many of us and gave us honorable discharges and sent us home. So you can do the math. It would have been somewhere around- getting into 1948. Somewhere, because it would’ve been a year and a half. Somewhere in that range.”

K. Chekanov: “Describe your trip getting to where you were stationed.”

Emerich: “Describe my trip...”

K. Chekanov: “To Japan.”

Emerich: “To going there you mean? That was another thrill for a young guy like me. They put me in a boat. Now I’d never been in a boat, and of course, we went from here over to Japan, and we hit some typhoons, and the old ship would go up and and down and my belly “whuup”. And the funny part of it was, I slept in the bottom of the boat, and there were four or five bunks, on a pole, and every time the guys threw up above me, it wasn’t too good, splashing- you know- on the floor and stuff. So it was, it was quite an experience, going on- a lot of fellows got sick because they were never in the sea. But that was my trip to Japan- was in a boat.”

A. Chekanov: “Did you witness any battles or were you in any?“

Emerich: “Well, this was the tail end of the war, and I’ve seen some fellows shot, but I wasn’t really in front line combat. I ran a supply room. I was in the Signal Corps, and my job- and they gave me six Japanese, to work with me, and then I, like you, had to learn the language back and forth, I had a book. They had a book, and we worked it out. But they had things to do, and I was in this building, so I didn’t really get into the actual shooting- of people.”

K. Chekanov: “But were you assigned and weapons?”

Emerich: “Yes, I had a .45 for the side, I had- and I also had rifles.”

A. Chekanov: “Were any friendships formed?”

Emerich: “Oh my, yeah. Sure, I was a kid. There were a lot of us, and the part of going into the service that young. There were many, many other people, from the United States, that were drafted, whatever, so we had a lot of young people. We had all kinds. We had the kids that were hoity-toity. We had the ugly guys, the nice gu- so it was a combination of all different personalities. So I made a lot of friends, with everybody, you know. Good, bad, and different.”

K. Chekanov: “How did you stay in touch with your friends and family during service?”

Emerich: “Well, I wrote, letters. That’s how I- we didn’t use telephones, nothing like that. We just communicated with letters. I wrote to my sister, my parents, and so on.”

A. Chekanov: “What did you do when you were off-duty?”

Emerich: “Well, I was a pretty busy guy, because at night time, when we had our free time, the fellows all wanted to go out. And now, we were the young guys, but there were a lot of older guys, in our platoon. And they’d want to go into the Cabaret, Now the Cabaret is a dance hall, where the Japanese girls are. You bought tickets, and when you wanted to dance with a girl you went over and gave her a ticket. And then the guys who would sit at a table would all- I never drank- they all drank, oh my gosh lots, and lots. But the reason they took me along, I could speak Japanese, so I could communicate, back and forth. And the only sad part about these guys- they would over drink because they would figure ‘Well today I’m here. Tomorrow, I’m going to get shot, so I’m going to drink and- you know, this is what happens to a lot of young people, and it destroyed a lot of their minds and things. But anyhow on the way home, a lot of them drank too much. Now you girls are pretty young, and I want you to- to understand that I’m going to be telling you things that are right out, okay? We were on our- we’d, we’d go home, and we had Pro-Stations. Pro-Stations mean, that the guys, if they were fooling around with any of the Japanese girls were supposed to go in there and treat themselves so they didn’t get Venereal Disease. Do you know what Venereal Disease is? That’s a disease that comes from sex with a girl. And of course, during wartime like that, they didn’t have all the cleanliness- the Japanese people. And the guys would say ‘Oh, they called me babyface’ at the time everybody get- ‘I don’t want to go- hey, baby, I don’t want to no, no, no, no’ and of course, then they’d get Gonorrhea, and the one guy got Syphilis the si- and, hair and teeth fell out- all those things occurred. So, because I could speak the language, they kind of- I was kind of the guy that would go out at night with them and so on down the line. So I hope that answers your question.”

K. Chekanov: “Please tell us about any special duties you had.”

Emerich: “Well, my duties were to run the warehouse and make sure that whatever they came to me for, like supplies, I’d make sure that they had them, telephones, anything that went into the offices and things of that nature. And then I had- they called them. The Japanese were called “gooks”. That was the term that the soldiers would use. And, of course, they would help me, and I would provide any equipment that people would come to me for- for the battalion.”

A. Chekanov: “How did casualties and destruction affect you emotionally?”

Emerich: “ I didn’t see too many casualties because I wasn’t in the front line. So I really didn’t witness a whole lot of that and I didn’t see hardly any- anything along those lines.”

K. Chekanov: “What would you say would’ve been the highlight of your service?”

Emerich: “Well, the highlight of my service was going through Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped. In other words, that actually, if you remember history, after they dropped the Atomic Bomb, that was the end of the war, because that literally destroyed them. You people can remember you saw pictures back then or whatever. And there’s quite a story connected to that because, the big-shots called me in one day and said, “We’re going to send you to Japan, to Tokyo.” I was in an island 300 miles away called Kyushu. And they wanted me to transport telephone equipment in a railroad car to Tokyo. And they gave me a .45 and an overcoat. I had no bathroom facilities, and it took me a long time to go from there to Tokyo. And they told me, in no uncertain terms, “Don’t you ever open that door. Don’t open that door. Ever.” It was a railroad car with a closed door, and I was the only thing in there with the equipment. Well, when we went, and went, and went. Finally the train stopped, and my curiosity got the best of me, and I didn’t know what to do, so little by little, I pushed on the door, and there they were, all crowded around- the Japanese guys, you know. And I didn’t- jalsfkdashfksjdflskdnfaoi- and I’m really, to be honest with you, scared, but I wasn’t going to get off the train or anything. But what I did do, I viewed what I could see, because I was curious, knowing the bomb had been dropped in Hiroshima. And it was unbelievable, just like you saw the pictures. It was just like that, to me being there after it. Everything was flat. So that was a great experience for me.”

A. Chekanov: “What was the highest rank you achieved?”

Emerich: “A sergeant, I wasn’t in that long.”

K. Chekanov: “Did you receive any awards or medals?”

Emerich: “Well, the only thing I got, was the shooting. Because I was lucky. Remember I told you the story about the shooting? Then you got an expert medal, you know that type of thing? And then you got bars, for the different countries that you served in. Like there’s the German Theater, there’s the Pacific- Japan and all that, I had the one from the Pacific Theater, different little bars that you get, That you served in that Country. So that’s the only thing I had.”

A. Chekanov: “Were you, or did you know anyone who was a prisoner of war?”

Emerich: “The only- No I didn’t, no. I had met some fellows that were from the German Theater, and when the war ended there, they kept in the army and they transferred in to Japan. But- not a- No, no prisoners- that I knew personally, no.

K. Chekanov: “How did the citizens of Hiroshima affect you?”

Emerich: “Well, I was really shocked. I mean, it was, very hard for me being that young and looking out here and seeing like nothing but a plowed field where buildings were and people- I didn’t see the people, but I saw all the debris after the bomb had gone- done and what it had destroyed, so I was mighty shocked, excited, it was a big thing for me, being a small boy. And going where the Atomic bomb was dropped, because many people, that was quite an experience, not many people had that opportunity, to do that. And I really cherish that, that I could tell people that I had gone through there and what I saw.

A. Chekanov: “What did you learn about the culture and/or citizens in Japan?”

Emerich: “Well, as I told you before, because I could speak it, I got to go out with the guys all the time. And then I got to speak with the, I had the five that worked with me. So I learned a little bit- how they lived and everything. So, I have to mention one thing, though. When I first got to Japan, we were walking down like that fence out there, down through barbed wire. And they’d go “ohayo, ohayo”. And “ohayo” in Japanese means good morning. Now, I’m- don’t forget, I’m a young kid, just got there. “Ohayo.” No, no, I’m from Pennsylvania, I’m from Pennsylvania. And they’re laughing, laughing, lau- you know. So it was, you know, it was, everybody. I was so embarrassed, you know, but I didn’t know, you know. I’m all excited, little kid, you know. And, “Ohayo.” Yeah, Penns-, no, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. And then all the other soldiers that were there before me were lau-“Come on, Babyface. They’re saying “Good morning”.” But then I learned as time went by- the different language, you know. I got acclimated to their, to their language.”

K. Chekanov: “Do you still remember any Japanese?”

Emerich: “Do I remember any? No I knew a lot over there of course. And I never got in contact when I came stateside or back to America. But, my wife and I did a lot of traveling over the years and there were a lot of Japanese and Chinese in our group. But I didn’t make any personal contact with them.

A. Chekanov: “What kind of relief did you supply to the citizens of Hiroshima, if you did any?

Emerich: “What kind of relief? Did I what?”

A. Chekanov: “Did you treat them, or did you bring any-”

Emerich: “Well, I didn’t really get out of the train. I had no personal contact. The train just stopped and refue-, got water and whatever, and on we went to Tokyo. So, I didn’t really make any contact with any Japanese in Hiroshima. The only thing I did was view what had happened and then they were- a lot of them crowded around and all kind of, and I knew enough to talk with them. But there was nothing like a friendship.”

K. Chekanov: “After seeing the effect of the A-bomb, what were your personal thoughts on it?”

Emerich: “Well, as I told you, I was, naturally really surprised and excited. And second part of that question says, do I think it should have been dropped. Well, that’s a pretty hard question to answer. However, I’ll do the best I can with it. And I think at my age, seeing what I did, and heard stories from the American soldiers, how they were tortured, and if were caught and things, I didn’t have a lot of love for the Japanese people. But, then again, I was brought up as a child in a church. And for me to realize all the people that had died and were burnt and all of that, that was hard to take too. So I was kinda in the middle. But by the same token, had we not dropped the bomb, who knows where the war would have gone? How many more Americans might have been killed or whatever. So, I guess it was good that it was dropped because it did end the war. And that saved more American people, and Japanese people to be killed. So that would be my viewpoint.”

A. Chekanov: “How did you return home?”

Emerich: “Well, I returned home in the normal way that- they always had everything all done, the paperwork and what have you. They had your trip planned for you. They sent me from Japan to San Francisco, California. That was the place where you got discharged. And there, that was exciting too, you know. All these things were exciting to me because I was just a little guy, you know. “What’s that little kid doing in the army?”

K. Chekanov: “How was the reception with family and the community when you came back?”

Emerich: Oh, good, good. They were all glad that I was able to come home. And then they all wanted to know, like you. “What did you do?” “Where were you?” “How was it?” You know, lots and lots- many questions. And of course, I was single at the time. My parents and I had friends, school friends. And I shared a lot of- answered a lot of questions that they had. “How was it over there?” You know. How about, “Are they crooked?” and “How do they talk?” and ,you know, all that. Their color, many many questions, you know. And of course I just tried to answer them to the best of my ability ‘til they could understand.”

A. Chekanov: “How did you readjust to everyday life?”

Emerich: “Well it didn’t take me long. I came back and I was glad I was out. At that age I was full of pep. And I went out and I got a job. I worked for the government. My mother, fortunately, knew the personnel director in Harrisburg, in the capitol. And of course I went to college. And then I went from there to work for the government.”

A. Chekanov: “And what did you do?”

Emerich: “Actually, what they did with me, they elevated me to the boss. And we did what they called traffic surveys and topography. In other words, topography- the airplanes that fly over the land, and if you’d see a line, like on a map, it was our job to drive down that road and make measurements, distances, and plot deer camps or whatever because they made new maps every so many years for the state of Pennsylvania. And that was our job. And the other part of the job was like truck surveying. We used to go on major highways and then there was a crew ahead. We’d stop the trucks and they would pull up on the scales and we would weigh them. And then record all of this. And then again, the purpose in that was because of high-ways and the condition of them and so on. This was all for the government. And that was part of my duties.”

K. Chekanov: “Did you stay in contact with any fellow veterans?”

Emerich: “I know quite a few veterans but not from the ones that I was over there in Japan with. I wrote a couple letters, but we kinda drifted apart. But now I know guys that went in and we all can talk and chat. Just like I was involved with the veterans going down to Washington. You know, we got involved with all those guys.”

A. Chekanov: “Overall, how did your wartime experience affect your life?”

Emerich: “Well, for me, it was a marvelous experience. Had I not had that opportunity, I got a free education, I saw parts of the world, usually things I would have never done, unless I was a service man. So it really- I grew up in a hurry, and it was wonderful. It taught me how to get along with people. So it was a real plus in my life. It was a good way to get started, to go out and get a job and work with people and communicate, you know. So it was wonderful.”

K. Chekanov: “What kind of life lessons did you learn from your service?”

Emerich: “Life lessons to me- you’re asking me what I learned? Well, the first thing I learned was how to communicate with people. Because I was an individual. And when I get thrown into the crowd of thousands and thousands of personalities, the rich kid, the poor kid, the big guy, the little guy, the guy that cried, the guy that was tough. So, I learned to communicate with everybody. I mean, we all did. We made friends and you got to know different people. And that was very good for me because that helped me as far as my life because when I came out and had to go in to get a job, I was able to communicate with people somewhat better than had I not had that background. Was that what you wanted to know?”

A. Chekanov: “Yeah. And do you have any final thoughts or anything you want to share?”

Emerich: “You mean as far as the interview? Well, I’m very pleased that I was selected to be part of it because what it did for me, back then, I really didn’t comprehend what a veteran is. And how people really appreciate them. Giving their lives to get freedom back here. That’s war. And at that young age for me, and only being in a year and a half, I did everything I wanted to do, but when I got on this trip to go to Washington with other fellow veterans like mine, they picked the old guys. And the way people treated us was phenomenal. Now I’m older, remember when I was back there young, you know, you’re just busy and I’m just part of it. But now I really appreciate being a veteran and all the respect that people show me, because of being a veteran. Because, today in people’s minds, I think, people are- In fact, I’ll give you an example. I go places socially and if a person would come in with a uniform, people would go over and pat him on the back, “Hey thank you very much for what you’ve done.” So I’m realizing now, so much more than I did when I was so young and little. So that’s the best way I could...”

K. Chekanov: “Do you have any artifacts that you would like to show us?”

Emerich: “The only thing I have is that kimono there. Actually what I did when I was there as far as artifacts are concerned, I sent a lot back, but I didn’t keep any. I mean I sent it to people. Like, I’d send you something, or you, you. All my friends- I sent things. But they kept them, and that’s the way I wanted it. But I didn’t maintain anything for myself. Other than, my wife kept that. I mean, my mother had that, and then when we got married, she said “I want you to take this.” And I sent- it was a golden opportunity to get real china, dishes and things. And I sent, oh, tons and tons of it home because I could buy it very reasonable. And I took advantage of it and sent it to my friends and family and so on down the line. And then the only other thing that I have, and I don’t know if this would be any good or whatever. But these are more or less just pictures- there’s some Japanese buildings, but.. Oh, here’s something. That is, I might talk about that. This is a picture of a cart and an ox. And that was called the honey-wagon. What they did over there, now don’t forget we were 300 miles south of Tokyo. And the people down in this island weren’t as educated as those in Tokyo, didn’t get the schooling and all of that. So they were more or less laid back people. And what they’d do, they’d go to different- we call them hotels, here, but over there, you wouldn’t believe what they call a hotel. What they did in those hotels, they didn’t have a bathroom like we do, where you sit down and flush it and so on. They have a trough. You go to a room and there’s a troth there. And you just, spread your legs and you go at-. And then these guys, with the ox and the cart would come along and collect that. And put it into these big wooden tanks. And they had a pole about from here out to the edge of the patio. That they could stand and reach out to the rows and then they’d pour that like what we would call fertilizer, here. And they had radishes over there, that we have again about that big, they’d get about that big in Japan and about that big. But it’s human waste, which we don’t do that because of disease and bacteria and so on. But it was like another world down there. The people were so far behind. And I was shocked when I saw that. And the odor was unbelievable cause everybody would say, “Here comes the honey cart!” cause it was horrendous, you know. Very, very strong. I just happened to see that, and I’ll tell you a little bit about that. And there’s some pictures of the- as you know, a lot of the buildings in Japan and China, excuse me, were more like that. The roofs tip out and up. You probably seen that in school and so on. This is a kimono that I got when I was over in Japan. In fact, I sent it home to my mother thinking she might like it. It’s pure silk. And these are the type clothing that was common over there that the female people would wear. And then along with the kimono, they would have a fan that they’d sit on a hot day and fan themselves. And also, with a kimono, they had a headband that they would wear. As you see, it was like a skull cap. They’d pull that over their head and this would hang on the back. Somewhat like that. It would be down along the kimono then. Gotta swing it. Yeah, yeah. So, really that’s all the other things that I had the opportunity to get. I sent home to friends and my parents. But this is the one thing that I kept. As I showed you the fan that the ladies would use, if you notice in the center of the fan, it’s the insignia of their flag of Japan. And that was pretty prevalent over there, like here in America, they’re very proud of the flags that they fly. And a lot of the things that they had like fans and different things, they always had the insignia on the item as often as they could. In closing, I would just like to mention that, the opportunity that I had as a young man in the United States was very rewarding to me because it opened a lot of doors for me. And now that I’m in my eighties, I look back on things differently than when I was a young man. And I’m so honored to be part of this program with the veterans and it really proves to me the true meaning to veterans as to what they really do do so that we, here in America, can have our freedom, which is so important to all of us. And thank you very much for allowing me to be part of it.”

__Edited Narrative__
Edward Frank Emerich was born December 19, 1927 in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He was born into a family including his parents and one sister. Mr. Emerich had a long line of successful war veterans in his family as well. He attended public school in the local Lebanon School District. When Mr. Emerich graduated, his father wanted him to attend college, but those were not Mr. Emerich’s plans. Mr. Emerich wanted to get a job working with his hands. The U. S. Army was drafting soldiers to go to Japan, and they were switching around the date that Mr. Emerich would be drafted. Mr. Emerich and his father reached a consensus when they decided that Mr. Emerich would enlist for the minimum amount of service and attend college afterwards. At the age of 17, Mr. Emerich was sent to training camp in Fort Dicks, New Jersey. The training experience there was difficult, but he excelled in shooting. Mr. Emerich knew how to shoot before he entered training because he and his father would often hunt and fish when Mr. Emerich was young. This experience led him to excel among the other troops in shooting. In 1946, Mr. Emerich left home to the foreign country of Japan. Getting there was an exciting adventure for a seventeen year old. It was his first time on a boat and the weather going to Japan was unfortunate for the soldiers on the boat. Many people on the boat ride got sick, including Mr. Emerich himself. When they arrived in Japan, Mr. Emerich was stationed in the Signal Corps. The Signal Corps took care of telephones, flags, and other administrative things. Mr. Emerich also ran the warehouse and provided equipment for people who needed it. Although this branch of the army was not involved in combat, and this period was the tail-end of the war, Mr. Emerich was assigned two weapons. He was appointed with a .45 and a rifle. These guns were rarely needed, because he was not engaged in combat. Being a “young kid” in the war, many friendships were formed between Mr. Emerich and other soldiers. Many people were drafted at this time, so there were lots of peers alongside Mr. Emerich. Off-duty, many of the soldiers went to the Cabaret in their free time. Mr. Emerich was used as a translator to communicate back and forth with the Japanese girls and the American soldiers. When he was working, Mr. Emerich was assigned five Japanese men and learned the Japanese language from them. He caught on quickly and could speak with the Japanese people fluently. One day, Mr. Emerich was put on a special mission. He was called in by his bosses and told that he would deliver some telephone equipment to Tokyo. He was excited to go on this mission because he was aware of the atomic bomb that had been dropped on Hiroshima. His bosses told him to never, under no circumstances, to open the train car door. Mr. Emerich travelled 300 miles to Tokyo from an island called Kyushu. When the train car stopped, after hours of being in a train car all alone, his curiosity got the best of him and he opened the door. Mr. Emerich saw many Japanese people crowded around his train car. The main thing that he saw, though, was the unbelievable destruction of Hiroshima. This was said to be the highlight of Mr. Emerich’s service. When he completed his year and a half in service, Mr. Emerich left the war with various medals and awards. His service was just as substantial as the physical fighting of the war. His final thought on the Atomic bomb, even after seeing the destruction and annihilation, was that, although it killed many, it spared even more lives, on both sides of the war.  After his service, Mr. Emerich readjusted in the community well. He went off to a free college education provided by the military called a G.I. Bill. He then graduated, married, and got a new job with the government. His mother knew the personnel director in Harrisburg who provided him with a job after he graduated. He was appointed to boss, and worked in traffic surveys and topography.  Throughout his life, Mr. Emerich has felt honored to have served his country. People treat him with respect, and he has seen the courtesy and appreciation given to today’s troops for giving their lives to grant the rest of us freedom. He has also met with other World War II veterans, although he knew none of them personally. The war greatly affected him in multiple ways. He learned communication skills, saw the world, and made numerous friends. The war payed for his education, and although he was not in the front line of the war, and didn’t experience any battles, his work was still an extremely important part of the war.