Arthur Staymates was born in Murrysville, Pennsylvania in 1925. He attended Franklin Regional High School. After graduating High School, Arthur Staymates was drafted into the United States Army in 1943. Over the course of the next six months, Staymates trained with 69th Infantry Division in Camp Shelby, Mississippi. On arrival into England, Staymates was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division as replacement.

On June 6, 1944, Staymates led his men of Co. B 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division in the early morning to assault Omaha Beach during the Allied invasion of Normandy. Many of the 1st Infantry Division men were veterans of N. Africa and Italy campaigns and were not real thrilled with a new Sgt. but they respected Staymates and apparently was very close to his men.

Staymates recalls the devastating artillery fire and machine gun fire striking his Higgins boat. He ordered for the ramp not to be dropped as the MG fire was too intense and ordered his men to go over the sides. When he jumped he was in about 8-10 feet of water and had to cut free everything he was carrying, except his weapon, in order to survive.

Staymates was battlefield commissioned to a 1st LT. The army wanted to transfer him to another BN, as that was standard practice in his division for battlefield commissions and he refused to leave his company. Told his commander he would rather be KIA with his own men. They commissioned him anyway and left him stay in Co. B.

Staymates and the 1st Infantry Division then attacked east of Aachen through the Hurtgen Forest, driving to the Rur, and was moved to a rear area 7 December 1944 for refitting and rest following 6 months of combat. When the German offensive (commonly called the Battle of the Bulge) was launched on 16 December 1944, the division was quickly moved to the Ardennes front. Fighting continuously from 17 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, the division helped to blunt and reverse the German offensive. Thereupon, the division attacked and again breached the Siegfried Line, fought across the Ruhr, 23 February 1945, and drove on to the Rhine, crossing at the Remagen bridgehead, 15–16 March.

The division broke out of the bridgehead, took part in the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket, captured Paderborn, pushed through the Harz Mountains, and was in Czechoslovakia, fighting at Kinsperk, Sangerberg, and Mnichov when the war in Europe ended. Sixteen members of the division were awarded the Medal of Honor. The division lost 3,616 killed in action, 15,208 wounded in action, and 664 died of wounds.

Staymates was promoted to lieutenant and stationed in Nuremberg after the war. He said he was the commander of a detachment that guarded high-ranking Nazis who were being tried for war crimes. Those prisoners included Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess and Julius Streicher.

Staymates met his wife, Maria, in Germany. After the war, they returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania and relocated in 1962 to Hagerstown, where Staymates operated a financial advising firm.