Floyd "Chunk" Simmons continues his story in this second of three interviews with a discussion of his time serving in the 10th Mountain Division of the United States Army during World War II. Mr. Simmons arrived in Italy in August 1944 and stayed until May 1945, where he fought against the Germans on Mt. Belvedere. He tells of a time during the assault when he ran ahead of the rest of his company across a field with mines; he was the first person across before the mines went off and thought he was the only person who survived. When the mines went off, Mr. Simmons was hit with shrapnel and a steel rod pierced his hand, so he was sent to a hospital and missed traveling around Europe with the rest of his company. Mr. Simmons explains what it was like during the war when the men were not at the front. He also tells about seeing other men from his company after the war and the short-term and long-term effects of being in combat, including physiological ones.
