Walt Losey:
His Story of War
Mr. Walt Losey was born in September. 1923. He is now 76 years old. Before the war his family concluded of his mother, his father, his brother and his sister. The three of us interviewed Mr. Losey in the Library on the date of Wednesday, March 28, 2001. Mr. Losey was only about 16 years old when the war started, but little did he know he would be in the war. Walt served in The Third Armored Division in Europe, and helped his country to victory. Walt’s life was different before, during, and after the war.
Of course, one of many people in the army was Walt Losey. Before the war started he was attending high school in the city of Corning, New York. Walt had a job, and worked as a machinist. During the Great Depression Mr. Losey’s family didn’t have much, but never suffered from starvation. “You had to make your own toys if you wanted something to do,” Walt stated. The news of the early parts of war got to his family on the radio, there was no television then. Walt heard about Adolph Hitler during school and would learn about that in his studies. The day Pearl Harbor was bombed, Walt didn’t know until someone told him while he was walking up the street. “Everybody knew they were going to the army, you knew the U.S. would get involved,” Mr. Losey told us, and he would go to the army.
In World War II Walt Losey learned many things. After being drafted in 1943 he spent eight months in England prior to D-Day. Two weeks later he traveled through France, Belgium, and Germany, he and his division met the Russians at Elbe River and figured the war would end sometime soon. Mr. Losey was in the signal core, they kept communications between the division, and the company was scattered through divisions. Walt made twenty-one dollars a month and was allowed five days home to visit. He earned five combat stars as well in war. “People were scared to death of war, but you got discipline in the army,” Walt had said. The impact of what was going on in the world didn’t hit him until Walt first reached Normandy, and he was there. “War was an awful thing, it’s amazing what one man had done.”
When the war ended he was stationed in Sengerhousen, Germany. They were very happy to here that the war had ended. Most people heard of the good news of the war on the radio, after that word got around fast. In order to get home from war you had to have a certain amount of points, if you did not you would have to go over to Japan and fight there until you earned the points. Mr. Losey had enough points and would journey home back to the U.S. Mr. Losey said that the war ending was almost a “let down” because he got used to the people and the environment, but was glad the terror was over. When he got home his family had moved and he had to find them. He later looked them up and they had relocated to Big Flats.
The life of Mr. Losey changed many times before, during, and after the war. Mr. Losey said that WWII made soldiers grow up and mature fastly. He said overall the war was a good experience for him. He learned a lot about freedom from the incident. Looking back at concentration camps, he said, “You have to appreciate what you have. We must stop things like Hitler terrorizing Jews and things like this from happening again. It’s amazing what one man did to the world and what he could’ve done even more. I’m glad I could help to stop it, and I’d do it again.”