Wallace G. Hurley was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1923. His mother and father divorced. His alcoholic father headed to California. Hurley's mother remarried to a doctor. Because Hurley did not get along with his stepfather, he moved in with his aunt when he was 15 years of age. He was on his own ever since then. Bounced from public school, he began Catholic school but elected to jump a freight train bound for California to seek his father. Later in life, Hurley managed to locate his father. He was disappointed to find his father still a drunk. After a brief talk with him, Hurley said goodbye to his father forever. Hurley spent time in jail as a homeless individual in California before he returned to Arkansas. It was easy to hitchhike in those days. Hurley was at the Ordnance Plant in Jacksonville, Arkansas when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio. He worked in the employment office. He was a photographer for the company despite knowing little about taking pictures. He was shocked to hear of the attack. He worked at the plant until he entered the service at 19 years of age [Annotator's Note: in 1942 or 1943]. He was rejected with bad knees at 18. He was accepted a year later with no concern about his knees. The invasion of France was in the planning stages and the military was seeking cannon fodder.

Wallace Hurley was initially trained as a scout but reassigned to regular infantry. His training was at Camp Robinson near Little Rock, Arkansas. After training, he was assigned to a different unit. After training, Hurley went to New York and boarded the Queen Elizabeth for deployment. The cadre of men that accompanied Hurley to the ship was sent to a remote firing range facility for additional rifle training. Hurley did not have to do that despite never firing live ammunition in training. He first fired live ammo from his assigned weapon during actual combat. He had been a hunter since his youth and was familiar with handling guns. When he arrived overseas, he was handed a BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle] which he liked because of its firepower. His objective at that juncture was to kill as many of the enemy as he could. The BAR was well suited for that goal. In training, the BAR man had two ammunition carriers. In combat, no one was assigned to carry his ammo. Hurley tried to carry 11 magazines, but he was too small to be comfortable doing so. He converted to an M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. He sailed to Europe in less than five days aboard the Queen Elizabeth. He returned after the war on the Queen Mary. He was fortunate with that. He shared a cabin with 18 or 20 other soldiers. Food was served around the clock. The food was bad so he ate candy bars. The smell was bad because of the seasickness. Hurley had difficulty with nausea during the voyage. The ship arrived in Glasgow, Scotland. Hurley took a train through the beautiful landscape of the country farmlands. He was assigned to the 71st Infantry Regiment, 44th Division [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 71st Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division]. He did not have much camaraderie with the Yankees in his Company G. The feelings were mutual. Likewise, Hurley did not like his stepfather who was a Yankee and left home after the man beat him. After the war, the Company G men resolved their issues during multiple reunions. In combat, Hurley lived in a foxhole with one guy. They were rotated often. Men did not want to stay in the hole with Hurley because he never slept. He did not want to be killed in his sleep so he always stood guard.

Wallace Hurley seldom knew where he was when he was in combat. He entered France and fought there before crossing into Germany and capturing Mannheim. During the Battle of the Bulge, his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 71st Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division] was assigned to the 3th Army under Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] and headed to Belgium. They were sent to aid the 101st Airborne Division. In the forests, the artillery tree bursts sent shrapnel toward the men below. Foxholes had to be dug deep for protection. While on a scouting patrol, Hurley dropped two grenades into an enemy machine gun position. He knew he had tested his luck too much after that incident. He was supposed to just locate the enemy. It was easy because they would talk to each other. Girls even spent time in some of the enemy positions. The Americans did not have that opportunity. After locating the enemy, Hurley had to report back to his commanding officer. He did not try to capture any Germans because he wanted to return to the United States. After Belgium and its harsh weather, Hurley contracted pneumonia. The soldiers were equipped poorly for the conditions they fought in. Hurley won a contest as the individual who could climb highest into his helmet. [Annotator's Note: Hurley smiles.]

Wallace Hurley faced a division of white camouflaged German soldiers who approached the American lines. The Americans numbered only about a dozen men. They discarded their souvenirs for fear of being executed by the enemy. Instead, the drunken Germans jumped in the foxholes with the Americans and celebrated the New Year. The captured Americans were placed under the custody of one German. The drunken guard was jumped and the Americans escaped and made their way back to their lines. Further down the line, a friend of Hurley reported that he manned a machine gun and piled up 100 bodies of the inebriated Germans in front of his gun.

Wallace Hurley contracted pneumonia during the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the hospital for four days. Following his declared recovery, he was sent to a replacement depot. Still being sick, he was placed in charge of German prisoners. He was impressed with their work ethic. During this period, Hurley's family did not know where he was and could not get mail. He asked to return to his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 71st Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division]. He marched from Belgium to Austria during the duration of the war. He crossed the Alps and briefly entered Italy. The scenery in Austria was beautiful and the women were nice. He was there when the war ended. The outfit was returned to the United States for refit and training for the invasion of Japan. The odds of surviving that massive invasion were low. The projected casualties were about one and half million Americans. The whole of Japan was preparing for the fight. Hurley felt he was lucky to have survived Europe. Japan could well be another situation all together. He was in the United States when the war ended. He had returned to America on the Queen Mary and was at Fort Chaffee, near Fort Smith, Arkansas. There, he volunteered for latrine duty to avoid being outside or assigned other duties. He was mustered out of the Army shortly after the surrender of Japan.

Wallace Hurley recounts the story of his admired company commander who was killed while capturing two Germans. The second in command actually shot the company commander. Hurley had little respect for the shooter who took over the company. He was not a leader like the man he killed.

Wallace Hurley was discharged at San Antonio after returning to the United States. Men were given various strange assignments during that time. They found ways to make money in the process. A man was killed for his gambling winnings. Hurley fought with a man who slept above him. The man was rifling through Hurley's duffle bag. That individual disappeared from the barrack. Hurley found a hammer and a hatchet under the man's pillow. It turned out that he had killed the gambler. Hurley found out at a reunion that the killer had wanted to murder Hurley. Another soldier had coughed, causing the killer to stop and return to his bunk. Hurley managed to keep his Berretta pistol that was in the duffel bag. The Lugar pistols that Hurley had accumulated were sold to black soldiers in London for 100 dollars each. He had obtained the German pistols from enemy soldiers who had surrendered to his unit at the end of the war. Hurley felt the Allied weapons and soldiers were the best in the war. There were exceptions but that was largely the rule. It was kill or be killed between the opposing forces. Through the hedgerows, Hurley was scouting ahead of his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company G, 2nd Battalion, 71st Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division]. His job was to draw fire. He was not anxious to do that. Advancing to a farmhouse, he encountered Germans. They were after local women. The Germans fled the two American scouts who took the farm. When two Germans returned, they approached Hurley's fellow scout who was asleep. Rather than letting them discover his comrade, Hurley shot both of the enemy soldiers. That incident stayed on Hurley's conscience for years.

Wallace Hurley lost sleep for 14 years over shooting two German soldiers in the back during the war. He met with a man long after the event who helped him through the sleeplessness. It renewed his life and he never had the nightmares again. Hurley was not satisfied with his treatment by the Veterans Administration. Service from them takes too long.

Wallace Hurley was discharged as a Private First Class in 1946. He never used the G.I. Bill for education because he was married and had to go to work. He had a hard time finding a job. He had difficulty thinking about working inside after being outside in combat for so long. He took a warehouse job with Sears Roebuck. Two days later he was promoted to manager and got a raise. He worked there for seven years but was fired to make room for another man. The company ultimately fired that man. Sears was a good company with a good retirement plan. Hurley has been previously interviewed by a television station. He talks to young and old audiences.

Wallace Hurley missed his bed most of all while he was in combat. The rain was heavy in France. Foxholes filled up so he slept on his raincoat. His raincoat did not protect him from the weather anyway. The month long rain in France was unusual. It was said the war brought it on. Hurley attended an upholstery school. He enjoyed the work even though it was nasty. The war changed Hurley's life in many ways. He knew the value of life and reduced his risk taking. It made him want to settle down and have a family and home. He succeeded in doing so. He learned from the Depression times to save money. The world needs to get along these days. Leaders have a hard time getting together to solve the world's problems. It is important for The National WWII Museum to continue to teach the next generation about the reality of war. It is hell and full of suffering. Hurley stayed cold the whole time he was in France and Belgium. Bathrooms are non-existent. A person gets filthy. Living conditions are hell. Hot meals never come. Hurley's sergeant kept the jeep for his personal use. Other companies had meals brought to them. A person in combat never rotates out. He is there to stay.