His experiences in the European Theater during World War II. His youth in West Texas during the Great Depression; his education in Cisco and Mexia, Texas; his early interest in the cornet and the influence of Robert L. Maddox; enrollment at Texas Tech, 1942; induction into the Army, May 20, 1943; assignment to the 76th Infantry Division Band, Fort Meade, Maryland; infantry training at Fort Meade, and Camp A.P. Hill, Virginia, 1943; specialized winter training, Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, 1943-44; shipment to England, December, 1944; Battle of the Bulge and his transfer to the Military Police, January, 1945; various accounts of experiences while moving across Germany; improvising creature comforts; looting; guarding German POWs; end of the war and his transfer back to the band; his postwar career as a university professor of trumpet.
