He was drafted on October 9, 1943 but was deferred for six months because of some important defense related work at the U.S. Naval Observatory.  After basic training at Camp Blanding, Florida he was sent overseas on the Queen Mary, and after assignment to several replacement depots in Eastern France. He was attached to Company I of the 378th Infantry Regiment of the 95th Infantry Division at Niedervisse, France on November 26, 1944.

After several days of combat operations through Guerting, Hargarten, Falck, Dalem, Remering and Berviller his company crossed into Germany after a vicious German artillery bombardment on the Sauberg, a small mountain overlooking the Saar valley.  On December 1, 1944 Company I came under a heavy mortar attack in Altforweiler, Germany, just across the German border, where he received a serious wound of the right arm from the mortar attack.

After treatment for the wound in Metz and other field hospitals he was flown to England for further treatment at the 187th General Hospital at Tidworth. He was later tranferred to Bath, England from where he was placed aboard a transport at Southampton and returned to the United States on February 23, 1945.  After further treatment and rehabilitation at the Camp Pickett, Virginia hospital he was discharged on August 6, 1945 and enrolled at the George Washington University and graduated in 1952 with an MD degree.  He has practiced medicine in Greenwood, SC since 1954.