Memories of World War II

An Intergenerational Project Involving Teens and Veterans in Littleton, Colorado

William A. Sarber
by Jessica Nygren, 13 years old

Bill Sarber. Bill Sarber was born on January 27, 1920, in Kosciusko County, Indiana. Bill married and raised a family after his time in the service and now has three children and three grandchildren.

Bill was drafted to serve in the Army and he accepted being drafted as a civic duty. He went to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey for basic training. There, he learned discipline, and the ability to live and get along with others. After basic training, Bill went to Fort Dix, New Jersey. On Pearl Harbor Day, he was in the station hospital at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey with a case of the mumps. Bill was never in combat. He served in the Signal Intelligence Service as a private, technical sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain. Some of his responsibilities were to develop, produce, and distribute codes and ciphers used by U.S. forces to encrypt messages. He was finally discharged in February, 1946. He received the Bronze Star Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal. He felt that his military jobs were important and that he was obligated to do the best that he could. Bill believes that war is a great waste of lives and resources. He thinks that we should try to spend more time learning about and understanding other people and nations. Bill Sarber's war experiences have helped him to appreciate and understand diversity.

On VE Day Bill was in London and on VJ Day he was in Germany. He returned home by rail from Frankfurt to Marseilles, and then on a liberty ship from Marseilles to Boston, and finally, from Boston to Camp Atterbury, Indiana. Bill had no difficulty adjusting to his return home.

During Bill's post-war employment years he worked in Yellow Pages sales and management and as a labor relations manager for Mountain Bell Telephone Company.

William Sarber
and Jessica Nygren

Jessica Nygren writes, "I am thirteen years old and I live in Colorado. I have a mom, dad, and ten-year-old sister. I am now in 8th grade. I enjoy playing basketball year round competitively and it is my favorite sport. Also, I play soccer for my school and softball in the summer. In my spare time I enjoy going to movies, parties, and pretty much hanging out with friends. My favorite subject in school is math and I also like to learn about major past events in history. World War II is a very interesting topic to me."

More Biographies:

Bob Bailey, by Nathan Cyr
Herb Berner, by Eric Lomas
Bud Goodwin, by Meaghan Kormondy
Harry Johnson, by Jessica Nygren
Harry Nuce, by Holly Velarde
LaVerne Sarber, by Carrie Wagner
William Sarber, by Jessica Nygren
Norm Stangl, by Brad Morrell
Bill Stofer, by Eric Lomas
Lou Trujillo, by Holly Velarde
Paul Hixenbaugh, by Aimee Luallin
Ralph Mollica, by Alli Meers

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Send comments about the Memories of WWII pages to Phyllis Larison