The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Charles Scheffel. Scheffel grew up in Oklahoma and enlisted in the Army ROTC in 1940. He was called up in 1941 after Pearl Harbor. He was allowed to finish out his senior year of college and was married in March 1942. He embarked on the Queen Elizabeth from New Jersey in September 1942. As leader of 200 men, he landed in Scotland and drove with them to Whittington Barracks where they joined with the British 51st Highlanders. He lists the three main survival lessons he learned from the seasoned English soldiers: having a batman to back you up, digging a two-man foxhole, and waiting for the ""crack and thump."" Scheffel how the ""crack and thump"" lesson would later save his life when he was seriously wounded when attacking the Siegfried Line. From England he went to Algeria with the British troops on the Scythia. The ship is torpedoed off the coast limps into Algiers. Scheffel made the decision to leave the British Highlanders and join up with American 9th Division in February 1943. The division went into Tunisia. Then he was sent to spend another month with the …

Coat of butter yellow cashmere. Tent-style coat with A-line flare, just above knee-length. Long sleeves. Center front closure with three buttons. Two large patch pockets at front hips. Four box pleats on back. Unlined, but with band of yellow material inside back running from armhole to armhole to help keep the structure of the back pleats. Label: "Valentino / Made in Italy".

Photograph of a large wooden doorway in an Italian courtyard. The brick's on the ground in front of the door are arranged in a herringbone pattern. There is a smaller door to the left of the main entrance which stands a the top of a short staircase. [2000, Italy]

Photograph of an ascending staircase with a metal railing taken from it's side. The staircase is in an alleyway which has a brick herringbone-patterned floor. The stairs are pushed against a stone wall containing two doors and two windows. [2000, Italy]