PFC Vern Staley, U.S. Army, WWII, Combat Medic

Vern Staley wanted to join the military at age 17 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His father refused to sign off, telling him to finish high school and accurately predicting "there'll be plenty of war left as soon as you get out of school." After graduating, Staley was drafted into the U.S. Army and assigned to the 70th Infantry Division. He went through basic training and was then sent to Colorado to be trained as a combat medic.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Staley describes arriving in France in December 1944, just in time to be assigned to Task Force Herren in response to German offensives as part of Operation Nordwind. He walks us through the intense fighting against Nazi SS troops and being pinned down on the battlefield. He also tells us what it was like to treat the wounded, serve during the coldest European winter in a century, and how his division celebrated the end of the war in Europe following nearly 90 days in combat.