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BARSANTI, William (b. 1923)

Oral Histories

OH 1556

Accountant. His experiences in the European Theater during World War II. His youth in an Italian immigrant family in Tonopah, Nevada; his early job selling newspapers while in school; graduation from high school and enrollment at Woodbury College, Los Angeles, California, 1941; his transfer to the University of Southern California and enrollment in the Enlisted Reserve Corps, September, 1942; induction into the U.S. Army, March, 1943; basic training Fort Robinson, Arkansas, March-August, 1943; selection for the Army Specialized Training Program, 1943; engineering courses at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; closure of the ASTP and his transfer to the 106th Infantry Division, Camp Atterbury, Indiana, 1944; assignment to Cannon Company as supply sergeant; shipment to England and transformation of Cannon Company into a rifle company in the 423rd Regiment, October, 1944; replacing the 2nd Infantry Division in the Ardennes Forest, December 11, 1944; a brief visit with his brother Olinto on the Siegfried Line; the Ardennes Offensive and the capitulation of the 423rd Regiment, December 16, 1944; Stalag XII-A, Limburg, Germany, December 17-23, 1944; living conditions at Stalag XII-A; Stalag II-D, Stargard, Germany, January-April, 1945; living conditions at Stalag II-D; evacuation to Bremervorde, Germany, April, 1945; liberation, May, 1945; his postwar business career in Europe.