Central Illinois World War II Stories – Oral History Interview: Eugene Houser of Farmer City

Eugene Houser served as clerk typist in an Army Replacement Battalion in the Mediterranean Theater. From 1944 to 1946, he worked in a unit that processed incoming replacement troops and cut orders for troops being discharged. He says he didn’t do anything heroic, but like all Americans, he was deeply involved in the war effort. He left his father who had some physical handicaps to run the family farm because, as he puts it, he couldn’t have faced himself if he hadn’t gone into the Army when called. His story reflects those of many of the behind-the-line soldiers. His great respect for all who served is obvious throughout his interview. Houser talks about the men he met during these years. Years after the war, he and several other veterans collected stories of veterans, men and women, from the Farmer City, Ill., area into a book they titled “Their Roles Remembered.”

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