Oscar C.J. Hackbarth, a Sun Prairie, Wisconsin resident, discusses his experiences in the Army Signal Corps as a cryptographic technician with the 95th Infantry Division, 3rd Army during World War II. Hackbarth was born in Richfield (Wisconsin) but grew up in Watertown (Wisconsin). After high school, he attended the Milo Bennett School of Linotype in Toledo (Ohio) to become a typesetter. Hackbarth explains he worked as a "two-thirder" apprentice printer for weekly newspapers in Dunn County (North Dakota), Lodi (Wisconsin), and Neillsville (Wisconsin). Hackbarth reveals he was drafted in 1942 while working at the Clark County Press in Neillsville. He comments he was eager to go to war as young men are "gung-ho for anything." Hackbarth discusses his training, which took two years. He was inducted at Camp Grant (Illinois) and then went to Camp Swift (Texas) for basic training with the newly formed 95th Infantry Division. From there, he trained with the Signal Corps at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio (Texas), followed by Camp Coxcomb (California), then Indiantown Gap (Pennsylvania). Hackbarth mentions there was diversity in the ages of men in the 95th Infantry but that most were Midwestern high school graduates. Hackbarth reveals he married a woman from Wisconsin when he went home on furlough and that she lived with him for several months in an apartment in Indiantown Gap until Hackbarth was deployed to Europe in 1944. Hackbarth describes taking the USS West Point from Boston (Massachusetts) to Liverpool (England) where he stayed in drafty Winchester barracks. In September 1944, he landed on Omaha Beach (France). He explains the 95th Division was attached to Patton's 3rd Army and supplied the frontlines using drivers from the Red Ball Express. Hackbarth describes his first combat experience in October 1944 at Metz (France) which lasted six weeks; there were heavy losses in his division with 500 killed and 2900 wounded. Next, Hackbarth details his role as a cryptographic technician with the Signal Company. Working in the message center, he decoded messages on special "Enigma" machines and transferred them up and down the ranks from ground troops to the headquarters. He states cryptographers had twelve-hour shifts; when he was off duty he explored the towns and countryside where they were stationed. Hackbarth also describes how the Signal Company often commandeered civilians' homes or businesses to use as message centers as the 95th Infantry traveled across France and Germany. Hackbarth discusses the code machines, security procedures, and a few lapses that occurred in the message center, explaining that the code machines had to be guarded at all times and shipped very carefully. Hackbarth details other combat experiences. The 3rd Army relieved the British at the end of the Battle of the Bulge then headed to Germany, capturing an important bridge to penetrate the Siegfried Line. According the Hackbarth, the 95th Infantry Division ended up in the Ruhr Pocket on V-E Day. Always interested in history, Hackbarth laments that historical areas in the Ruhr were destroyed. He also touches upon recreation and military life. Hackbarth received a pass to visit Paris, which he did not enjoy very much. He states that most GIs went to Paris to sell Army-issued cigarettes to the French on the black market. Hackbarth comments on his interactions with French and German civilians. He recalls befriending a Polish family who lived in Metz; the mother of the family knit clothes for Hackbarth's newborn son. Hackbarth mentions his parents spoke German in the home in Watertown, and he studied German in elementary and high school. He comments that his loyalty was never questioned, but a Finnish-American friend was not accepted into the Signal Company. Due to anti-fraternization rules in the Army, Hackbarth explains he had to be careful when talking to Germans. He reflects upon relations between the French, Germans, Americans, and German-Americans. Near Warstein (Germany), Hackbarth met a German girl and her family after Russians stole her bicycle. Hackbarth portrays her as resentful of the Americans and says she blamed Hitler for the theft of the bicycle. He also discusses German attitudes towards war crimes. At the Warstein prisoner of war camp, Hackbarth describes how German civilians were forced to dig graves for 200 massacred Polish prisoners. He reports the Americans used tanks to prevent former Russian and Polish "slave laborers" in the POW camp from rioting against the German civilians. Despite the precautions, a German doctor and policeman were assaulted by Polish POWs in retaliation. Hackbarth recalls confirming the news of Hitler's death for the German girl and her mother who said: "Now we hear how bad it was, the treatment in the camps. One must be ashamed to be a German." However, Hackbarth states he "couldn't quite believe that the German people were totally innocent of the camps." After V-E Day, Hackbarth returned to the U.S. on points and was discharged in October 1945 at Camp Shelby (Mississippi). He reports he returned to Watertown and used the G.I. Bill to finish training as a printer. Housing was the biggest readjustment problem for Hackbarth; he states they lived with his wife's parents until they could move into a G.I. quonset hut. Next, he describes a difficult employment situation at the Watertown Times that prompted him to move to the Milwaukee Journal. Hackbarth reveals he moved to Sacramento (California) in 1958 to work on the Sacramento Bee under improved work conditions but moved back to Wisconsin after three years because of he was concerned about drug culture and the school system there. Hackbarth mentions he did church work for twenty years and joined the American Veterans (AmVets) Milwaukee chapter. He attended several reunions of the 95th Infantry Division but comments it was "mostly for the infantry line troops" and that fewer Signal Company men attended.
