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Birth Date
My great grandparen'ts came to America in 1910 from Sicily
My Papa was born in the U.S. on Unity Street in the North End of Boston
He was the econd oldest, but oldest boy of his family and as a result had many responsibilties -
Education
My papa's family moved to Jamaica Plain in Boston where my papa and his other siblings atended school. -
Graduation
My papa graduated high school from Roxbury Memorial High School where he learned the art of printing. After graduation he got a job right away in a printing shop in Boston. He told me that he earned 20 cents an hour, which came to be around $8.00 a week. But after all of the taxes were deducted it turned out to be around $5.80 a week and he gave most of his earning back to his big family. -
World War II
World War II broke out in Europe -
Plunged into war
The Japanese navy bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. decided to enter WWII against Japan -
The Navy
After some time of training, my papa was put onto the U.S.S. Wasp aircraft carrier. President Roosevelt's son, John, was also on his ship, and his first admeril was John McCain's grandfather. My papa was a rear gunner on a dive bomber plane. He had only one bomb on board which they were suppose to use on any large Japanese ships that they saw in the pacific. -
Injury
My papa was eventually rescued by a Navy search plane. His knee cap was completely smashed and his lungs were filled with the sea water. He was put in the hospitol for a couple months where he recieved several surgeries on his knee. He had metal rods placed in, which is still in his leg today. He is very proud of his scars from the surgeries and often tells me the story of how he got them. -
Disaster
My papa's place was attacked by the Japanese while he was flying over the Pacific. His plane was dismanteled and fell straight into the water. His pilot, Charles E. Brady, was severily injured by the hit and was unable to be released from the sinking ship, unlike my papa who was miraculously able to escape from the ship and survive. It's said that he was under for 10 minutes. He told me that he found a pocket of air in the back of the plane that he used to breathe. -
Enlisting
At 21 years old, my papa decided to enlist in the war in 1942 rather than be recruited by the draft so that he could pick which field to serve in. He told me if you got picked by the draft you had no say in which field you were put in, and he only wanted to in the U.S. Navy. -
Discharged
After he was discharged from the navy, my papa returned to Jamaica Plain. He resumed his job as a printer and also took up night corses at Harvard University where he studied writing. His professor told him that he was a fantastic write and that he should really continue with the classes so that he could eventually start writing a book. This was what my papa wanted to do, but at that time working was his main focus. He had to drop the classes he was taking which he still regrets to this day. -
After the navy
My nana and papa were married on July 21, 1946. They had been dating since the fourth grade. My nana used one of my papa's friends parachutes from the war as material to make her wedding dress. They have been married for 66 years.
