Hans Siverts was born in March 1918 in Marshall, North Dakota and lived on a ranch until he was five. He had six siblings. His father was a farmer, rancher, and horse trader. His mother became the postmaster of their village. After high school, Siverts applied for school in a commercial college. He took a job in a restaurant and in an automobile dealer tire department during college. He went to work in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He joined the National Guard in September 1940. His boss at his job was a lieutenant in the unit and convinced him to join. He was aware of the events in Europe including the diatribes of Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. It was obvious he was going to spend a year in training, with the probability of going to war. They were activated in 1941 and went to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana with the 34th Infantry Division. His company was the Headquarters Company, 109th Quartermaster Battalion [Annotator's Note: Minnesota and South Dakota National Guards]. He went from Corporal to Technical Sergeant. The weather was hot and clammy. He had not traveled much as a kid and in Louisiana, he traveled quite a bit. In supply, he got to go to civilian warehouses. He was there until February 1942.

Hans Siverts remembers Sunday, 7 December [Annotator's Note: 7 December 1941; the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] well. He was serving with his National Guard unit [Annotator’s Note: Headquarters Company, 109th Quartermaster Regiment, 34th Infantry Division]. He went on leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] on 16 December. They went by train to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and boarded the RMS Duchess of Atholl and went by convoy to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The journey was tough. It was very slow, and the weather was not good in February [Annotator's Note: February 1942]. They carried depth charges. They went into Ireland. He stayed in Northern Ireland the whole time he was in the Division. He was strictly in supply. They were in charge of the rationing of food. They had a lot of night activity. In September 1942, they got a bulletin soliciting enlisted men to apply for Officer's Candidate School. He did and was accepted. He was soon on the RMS Queen Elizabeth headed to Camp Lee, Virginia. He graduated in December 1942. That was about three and a half months of drills. He was commander of his group for a week. It was excellent training and an honor. He got leave to go home for the holidays. In January, he went to Atlanta, Georgia to the 4th Convalescent Hospital [Annotator's Note: at Camp McPherson, Georgia] that was being organized at the time. They were assigned to Europe. They went to England on the RMS Queen Mary in October 1943. They had 3,000 cots with them. Siverts was Supply Officer as a second lieutenant. He became first lieutenant and became a captain in Europe.

Hans Siverts' activities in England were in several locations. His hospital [Annotator's Note: 4th Convalescent Hospital] was servicing patients in England. Most of them were accidents and noncombatants. They did get patients from Africa. Their hospital was a convalescent one and they had no nurses. A lot of them [Annotator's Note: the patients] would return to their units. He moved across the channel to Omaha Beach [Annotator's Note: Omaha Beach, Normandy, France] where they built the hospital in three or four days. After they moved into France, they had German prisoner of war camps in their area sometimes. They would interview the prisoners to use as laborers. They would use engineers to guard the prisoners. It was late in the war and most of them did not have shoes. They were very good workers. They had some Polish prisoners and they stayed away from the Germans. They would return the prisoners to their camp whenever they moved locations. They went to Saint-Lo [Annotator’s Note: Saint-Lô, France] in July 1944 where there was viscous fighting. They moved outside of Paris [Annotator’s Note: Paris, France] prior to it being taken. The military was moving very fast and they were using trains and planes to keep up with moving the hospital close to them.

Hans Siverts went into Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France] a couple of days after it was liberated. He took a day off and went into Paris and found a hotel. He took tours. The French catering to the Americans happened immediately. There were massive parades. From Paris, he went to Maastricht, Holland and set up a hospital. They then went to Spa, Belgium where they took over a permanent installation. They were in Spa during the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. The Germans were nine miles from their hospital [Annotator's Note: 4th Convalescent Hospital]. They took as many patients as they could back into France. The company retreated to Dinant [Annotator's Note: Dinant, Belgium] and set up a hospital about 18 December [Annotator's Note: 18 December 1944]. On 25 January [Annotator's Note: 25 January 1945], it broke open and the Army was moving fast. Some of the places they took over necessitated dealing with the Burgermeister [Annotator's Note: master of a village, town or city] and the utility people to get their services. They were moving fast towards Berlin [Annotator's Note: Berlin, Germany]. They would bring in nurses if needed. They had 15 doctors, four dentists, and medical administrative people. The doctors were from all over the United States.

Hans Siverts' unit [Annotator's Note: 4th Convalescent Hospital] pretty much stayed together through the war. The last station when the war was over was in Germany [Annotator's Note: Arolsen, Germany]. Siverts was transferred out before then. He was a supply officer of a hospital that was going home. They were in Hofheim [Annotator's Note: Hofheim, Germany]. They had a regular Army colonel who had a Bentley [Annotator's Note: automobile]. A bulletin came out that said all civilian vehicles had to be sent to Mannheim [Annotator's Note: Mannheim, Germany]. The colonel told him to forget the Bentley. Siverts did not do so. He was then assigned out of the company the next day. He had a black company [Annotator's Note: a company made up of African-American soldiers] and they were terrific. He blended in beautifully. He did not get home until late November 1945. His company was aboard ship – the 4084th [Annotator's Note: unable to verify] and they were last on the manifest. About four days out of New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York], some sergeants wanted to meet with him. They asked if they could get off the ship first. Siverts went to the commander of the ship, USAT Ambrose E. Burnside, and asked if they could. They did get off first. In the black society of the military, color was irrelevant. Siverts volunteered to be on the train south with them. He got out in Atlanta [Annotator's Note: Atlanta, Georgia].

Hans Siverts thought he would be going to the Pacific. They were pulling back and shutting down the hospital [Annotator's Note: 4th Convalescent Hospital]. He was reassigned due to his points to Hofheim [Annotator's Note: Hofheim, Germany]. He was discharged in Atlanta [Annotator's Note: Atlanta, Georgia]. He had corresponded with a lot of people while he was in the service. One of them wrote him and told him to call him. He was in Columbus, Ohio and told him to come up for an interview at a NAPA Auto Parts for a factory job. He was hired and went to work the next day. He had no difficulty transitioning to civilian life. He used his G.I. Bill in Denver, Colorado in 1963 to buy a home. He thinks Americans know about the war. The tragedy of the military is Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War]. There is an image that World War 2 veterans came back to celebrations but that is not factual. Emotionally the feelings were not as bad as Vietnam because there was not the infighting for World War 2.