What the Hell do you want?!

Photograph of US soldiers returning home from WWII

What happened is, they pulled up in NJ when I got off the ship. And we had to wait for the train. They told us we couldn’t go out until the troop that was in there finished up their dinner. So I was a cocky enough guy that I was going to see what the situation was up there.

I went into this big assembly of all the troops and I saw my brother’s signature. It was my brother’s outfit! I thought I better go in and see if anybody knows him. I bet there were a thousand guys in there. It was an awful lot. It was a train-load of guys. I know because our group was on another train waiting. My brother Ray! He was in the engineers. I got up on a bench there in a big auditorium and I hollered out, “Is Ray Lott here?” and I heard “Yeah what the hell do you want?!” (Laughing) It was my brother. (Pause) He had no idea it was me. Ray didn’t know I was home; it was news to him. And we got discharged together in NJ. (crying) That was so wonderful.

Ray was discharged with me. Oh my God. Well, I got discharged before him. Same day. I rubbed that into him. But it was a miracle running into him. Oh my God. We never went to bed that night. We didn’t. We really didn’t. It couldn’t have been any better. We came home on the train together and I remember the conductor said on the train, he announced that two brothers had been reunited after the war and they were on the same train, THIS ONE! He announced our names. Everyone was cheering. They served cocktails on the train and they had a party; all the way from New Jersey to Binghamton New York. I was so fortunate.

So my brother and I came home on the train. And the whole family… My mother, oh she was thrilled. Ralph was home before I went over. I couldn’t believe it. Nobody could.