Galen Cole was a World War II veteran from Bangor, Maine. He died January 2, 2020 at the age of 94. 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.
Because of his experience in WWII Galen had an immense desire to leave his community better than he found it. Later in life he created a family foundation that supports the Cole Land Transportation Museum. The museum has a collection of Maine's land transportation. The foundation's goals also include assisting young people to become responsible members of society, assisting veterans of American wars and combating illiteracy.
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 has been accepted by the Veterans Oral History Project at the Library of Congress where it is permanently archived.
The interview was part of the journalism class Producing and Hosting Radio Public Affairs taught by journalism instructor Jeffrey Hope at the New England School of Communications. 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