Joseph Tauchen, a Madison, Wisconsin native, discusses his service as a truck driver in the Army during World War II with the 37th Infantry Division, 129th Infantry Regiment. Born and raised in Madison, Tauchen worked as a drill press operator at Gisholt Machine Company after graduating high school in 1941. He states his reaction to the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked was simply: "Here we go!" Tauchen reveals he enlisted in the Navy in 1942, but his wife tore up the papers before it was finalized. A month later, he was drafted into the Army, inducted at Fort Sheridan (Illinois), and sent to Camp Walters (Texas). He describes basic training at Camp Walters where he worked as a lineman in the telephone section and became acting corporal in his platoon. Tauchen comments that money was automatically deducted from his paycheck and sent to his family, and he had to pay for items at boot camp such as insurance and toiletries. He notes his wife worked for a telephone company and as a cleaner while he was in the Army. Tauchen states boot camp was not a big adjustment for him and that he volunteered for kitchen duty so other recruits could visit their wives. Tauchen tells an amusing story of being ordered to drive some officers in a jeep, although he had never driven a jeep before; after transporting the officers, he was made a jeep driver in the motor pool. Next, Tauchen describes his deployment to the Pacific aboard an old Dutch cattle ship via Camp Stoneman (California), San Francisco (California), the New Hebrides Islands, and Guadalcanal. Tauchen learned a month later that his son was born the day he left the United States. Tauchen reports the ship was very hot and it sailed unescorted; he saw only one other ship during the entire twenty-one-day journey. Tauchen mentions half the men onboard were African American. He is unsure what happened to them, but he heard a rumor they later went to Bougainville (New Guinea). Tauchen describes spending three or four days in Guadalcanal, noting it was his first experience in a war zone. From Guadalcanal, Tauchen and his unit moved to Bougainville, where he saw one Japanese soldier, "a stray," during his entire thirteen-month stay. He explains his Division faced the Japanese 6th Marine Division, perpetrators of the Rape of Nanking. Tauchen portrays Japanese soldiers as brave, fierce fighters. He insists the Japanese knew where every American gun was placed, and he discusses Japanese style of combat. Tauchen heard rumors of Japanese soldiers eating breakfast in the open, allowing Americans to mow them down, and he claims that during a bombardment, the Japanese hid in trees, and if a soldier died, another pulled his corpse away and took his place. Tauchen states he volunteered to join the 37th Infantry Division motor pool in Bougainville; his primary duty was to drive hot food to the front lines. He describes daily life in the tropics, remarking that ticks were everywhere. Tauchen also discusses the entertainment available to soldiers: he went to movie theaters, saw a USO show featuring Jack Benny, participated in a poker party, and brewed alcohol with his buddies using fermented fruit. Tauchen claims that overall there was not much drinking. He also recalls listening to music from American radio stations while he washed his unit's command car. Tauchen fondly remembers meeting New Zealander troops in Bougainville, and he portrays their relations as cordial; the New Zealanders shared food in exchange for help with their duties. Tauchen touches upon a few scandals and disagreements with superior officers: a captain ordered Tauchen to get rid of his non-regulation sidearm, leaving him with nothing but a jeep-mounted BAR. He also tells how two officers were disciplined for a scandal involving missing beer. Next, Tauchen talks about his near court martial. Returning to base after dropping off a patrol, an officer ordered Tauchen to drive across a flooded river. Initially recommending against it, Tauchen relented, and the truck was immediately swept up. Another officer jumped into the river with a rope, attached it to a wrecker truck, and managed to pull Tauchen's truck out, upside-down. Tauchen states that he almost received a court martial for disobeying his superior officer, but instead he was forced to stay behind in New Guinea for thirty days while the invasion force went to the Philippines. He was ironically given training in water-proofing vehicles and driving them underwater. After his punishment, Tauchen describes boarding a Liberty Ship that took him to Hollandia (New Guinea) and then the Philippines, where he joined his unit just outside Manila. Tauchen was given a tour of Manila while the fighting was ongoing, and he describes how the Walled City at the heart of Manila was flattened. When driving through the city, Tauchen comments that repairs had to be made on the jeeps fifteen to twenty times a day because shrapnel kept piercing the tires. He characterizes the Filipinos as friendly and remarks two Filipinos who were attached to his unit had American girlfriends. After Manila, Tauchen was sent to Baguio (Philippines), where he was housed in a freezing church. He reports a close friend of his had a pet monkey from Manila that he had to leave behind in the Philippines when they were sent home. Tauchen left Baguio and spent a month working at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp (Philippines), before being deployed north to Luzon Island (Philippines). He states his duties in Luzon were to drive troops to outposts and to deliver water to the barrack kitchens in a ton-and-a-half water truck with a water trailer attached. He reports that his unit was preparing to invade Japan when he heard that the atomic bomb had been dropped. Tauchen returned to the U.S. aboard the "Sea Corporal," a relatively luxurious troopship. He states he volunteered to work in the ship's mess to earn extra pay. Tauchen reveals the ship stopped at Enewetak (Marshall Islands), narrowly avoiding a typhoon that hit another ship carrying members of his division. Tauchen arrived in Los Angeles and was sent to Camp Anza (California) before being decommissioned at Fort McCoy (Wisconsin). He tells how he meant to surprise his family, but the bus broke down, and one of the passengers, a coworker of his wife's, managed to contact his family. Tauchen describes arriving in Madison and meeting his son for the first time. Tauchen mentions he came down with malaria once a month for two years after his return home; however, he was grateful to receive an unusually large malaria pension. Tauchen explains he returned to work at Gisholt Machine Company, which was required by law to reemploy him under the Selective Service Act. When the workers there went on strike, Tauchen went to work across the street for Ben Anderson Milking Machine Company until the strike ended. He left Gisholt to work for Phillips Petroleum Company, which he depicts favorably. After twenty years with Phillips, Tauchen states he started a ceramics business in Oregon (Wisconsin) with his wife and manufactured a variety of items including cups and dishes.
