Michael Jessen interviewed Vernon Jessen in August 2007.

Biographical information:
Vernon F. Jessen was born March 7, 1926 in Iowa. He enlisted in the Army June 14, 1944 at Camp Dodge, Herrold, Iowa. He had completed 4 years of high school at the time of his enlistment, had worked as a general office clerk and he was single. He joined the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Swift, where he was assigned to Company E of the 85th Infantry Regiment. While engaged in combat operations against German forces occupying Italy, Jessen was wounded in action at Mount Della Torraccia on February 22, 1945. Jessen attained the rank of Private First Class.

Oral history discussion:
Vernon did his basic training at Camp Carson and joined the 85th Regiment , “E” Company at Camp Swift. He discusses in detail his 8 day voyage to Italy on the SS West Point. He briefly describes the trip to Pisa from Naples. He is very descriptive of his surroundings. He describes his time in combat with details concerning climbing the mountain, meeting up with and killing a German officer, and getting a wounded soldier out of harms way. He was awarded a Bronze Star in 1999. He was assigned to go to Trieste after the war, and describes the side trips to Venice and the Rivera. He was originally scheduled to go to Japan after returning, but after the Atomic Bomb was dropped the ship was redirected to New York.

This oral history was digitized as part of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Recordings at Risk grant project.