Captain Vincent “Bill” Piepol (later changed to the original Purple) was from a small town in Massachusetts. At the incredible age of only 18, Bill was piloting a B-17 into World War II at a time when the outcome hadn’t been established yet. Read how...
Corporal Fern Frechette, his parents immigrated from Canada but he’s a real American hero. Read how Fern as a part of General Patton’s “Ghost Army” tricked Hitler into loosing the War. You’ll also read what it was like being on the heels of the Nazi’s...
1st Lieutenant Thomas McDonald was married only weeks when he was shipped off to War. McDonald was a navigator in a B-17 that was shot down twice. Second time becoming a German POW where he chronicled his life at war and in the camps. You’ll...
Pvt 1st Class George Pelletier was a machine-gunner during some of the war’s most brutal battles. He explains to us the life of a soldier during WWII and how “food was a problem.” How he fought during the Battle of the Bulge, in the Rhineland,...
Corporal Charles Sanderson considered himself just a truck driver during the war. However, he was a much stronger spoke in this gigantic wheel than he knew or would ever admit to. From driving on the Red Ball Express to bring supplies to the front lines...
Staff Sergeant Albert G. Pinard was a Marine in the South Pacific, originally starting out as an aircraft mechanic working on Corsairs, he was soon to be a gunner in the two-seat Dauntless dive bomber. You’ll read how he and his pilot would search over...
Staff Sergeant Santo DiSalvo and his brother Tony were both soldiers during WWII. Thankfully both returned. Santo will come back sporting the Distinguished Service Cross and a Purple Heart to go along with the shrapnel in his shoulder. DiSalvo shared his campaigns from invading a...
Tech Sergeant Joe Chiminiello spent most of the War in a 3×3 foot sphere miles above the Earth, but not away from danger. Chiminiello gave us his insight on being a lower ball turret gunner in B-17’s and B-24’s. How he considered himself so lucky...
2nd Lieutenant Charlie “Buck” Rogers and his brother Robert also served in WWII but in different theaters. Robert was a Marine Captain in the South Pacific while Charlie was a pilot over the front lines in Europe. Charlie would end up flying a small unarmed...
Staff Sergeant Lauri Rautio and his brother Unto, were another family that gave and fought during WWII. Unto would be an aircraft mechanic on P-51 Mustangs for two flying-aces out of Bodney, England. Lauri was with the Mighty Eighth in the belly of a beast-B-17...
There were many others during my interviews worth discussing in details, more than I’ve been able. Here are some that made the final section called,”Very Honorable Mention.” John Casey considered himself just a welder, but what he and his crew welded saved more lives directly...
