Entered Army July 1941. Completed artillery training May 1942 and completed officer candidate school August 1942 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Assigned to 82nd Airborne Artillery and parachute training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Entered European Theater D-Day +3 June 1944 as a parachute field artillery unit commander and was responsible for a battery of 6.75 MM Pack Howitzers for 19 months in the European Theater. Participated in two combat jumps D-Day +3 and the Nijmegen Sector Nijmegen Bridge September 1944. Additional battles were in the Rhineland, Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) and Central Europe. Discharged as a 1st Lieutenant in September 1945.