Joseph Splichal entered into the service of his country on April 13, 1942. He was inducted into the Army Air Corp at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was sent to Williams Field by Phoenix, Arizona. They had no, or very little, basic training as they needed truck drivers immediately in the African Campaign. He was sent to New Jersey in November and left on a Liberty ship on January 14, 1943. He volunteered for KP duty aboard ship to get more food. He was a hungry farm boy and they had only two meals a day. Seeing Arabs when they landed was quite an experience for a Kansas farm boy. Joseph refueled airplanes - first with five gallon cans. Imagine refueling an airplane with five gallon cans of gas. They then got gas in barrels, which was an improvement. They later got gas trucks, which Joseph drove from then on. From Africa to Italy they were moved on cattle car trains. The Arabs stole just about everything out of their duffle bags. They crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. In Rome, he and 19 other GIs had an audience with Pope Pius XII. He helped evacuate civilians when Mount Vesuvius erupted in Sicily. He was stationed near Rome. He thought he was very fortunate to see Rome when no tourists were allowed there during the war. He also had a picture taken on top of the leaning tower of Pisa. Joseph was in the service 3 years, 5 months and 21 days and never had a furlough to come home. He arrived back in the United States July 11, 1945. When he came back to Kansas he had a month's furlough and was to go to the South Pacific. Fortunately the war ended in the South Pacific so he didn't have to go. Instead, he was discharged at Lincoln, Nebraska on October 3, 1945. His rank at the time was Corporal. Decorations and Citations he received were: American Theatre, EAME with 7 Bronze stars, Good Conduct Medal, 4 Overseas bars. His overseas duty was spent in the following campaigns: Tunisian, Roma-Arno, Sicilian, Naples-Foggia, N Appennines, Southern France, and Rhineland. After his discharge, he returned to Kansas. He was a farmer in Republic County the rest of his life. Enjoying the soil. He married Rosalie Sterba. They had five children; Nancy Splichal Scarffe, Dorothy Splichal Nelson, Paul Splichal, Carolyn Splichal Waln, and Cynthia Splichal Poppe. His parents were Wesley and Emma Splichal of Munden, Kansas.