Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Art Fox

WWII | Headquarters and Service Company, 312th Engineer Combat Battalion, 87th Infantry Division

Home from the war, Art Fox was able to return to school and finish his civil engineering degree. He also had some work to do when he found out his girlfriend was engaged to a Marine. Writing letters home had given him a taste for writing, so he set out to somehow use that skill in the engineering field. (5:23)
While waiting in France for passage home, Art Fox was assigned the task of drawing up a map detailing the unit's movement from Le Havre to Czechoslovakia. This he displays, while lamenting that at no point on that map did the USO catch up to them. (2:19)
Twice he was approved for Officer Candidate School and twice he never got to the top of the list. Art Fox didn't like that but he did like the unit he deployed with. Great soldiers and high esprit de corps. His letters home reflected that and one was so inspiring, it was read by Raymond Massey on CBS radio. (3:22)
Art Schultz

Korea | 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division

The Army told him he was going to be a combat engineer, but when Art Schultz got to Korea, they told him he was in the infantry and gave him a rifle that didn't work. Soon the BAR man was gone so that's what he became. (4:59)
It was just another hill in Korea, but when Art Schultz was firing his BAR in the assault, a sniper got him right through the front of the neck. Back stateside and recovered from his wound, he enlightened a Major who was a little upset at the lack of a salute. (6:54)
Art Staymates

WWII | B Company, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division

He knew he would be going in the service, so Art Staymates asked a friend who became a recruiter how he could get in the Air Corps. Ask for the infantry, he was told, because everybody asks for the Air Corps. Do well and they will transfer you. So he tried that. (5:22)
It ws great soft duty. After his infantry training, Art Staymates was sent to train Air Force recruits and medics in small arms. His unit deployed in the meantime, so after a queasy Atlantic crossing, he became a replacement in the 1st Division and started training for the Normandy invasion. Not so soft. (3:13)
As the landing craft neared Omaha Beach, fear gripped many of the men, but Art Staymates was determined to get ashore. Seeing that the boat was being strafed, he took them over the side instead of lowering the ramp in the face of the fire. The water was deep, and heavy packs weighed the men down. And once you could keep your head above water, there were the bullets. (5:08)
Once you were off the boat and managed not to drown, there were 300 yards of beach to get across with heavy machine gun fire. Ships finally began pounding the bluffs above and the 101st Airborne dropped in behind them. Art Staymates made it from the water almost to the top of the hill when he ran up against a tangle of barbed wire. (Caution: Graphic Content) (5:17)
The Germans had the best artillery and tanks, but the Americans had the best small arms and were too stupid to quit, says Art Staymates who had reached the top of the bluffs at Omaha Beach. Then there were the hedgerows, which were a whole new challenge. He was never comfortable among the French, but the Belgians were wonderful. (4:47)