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RUSS D’ARCANGELO Interviewer: Joseph Cammarota Q: What division did you join? A: Army Q: What company where you in? A: After basic training, I was assigned to a headquarters battery, in a Milburn battalion. Q: Did you meet your wife before or after the war? A: I met her before the war. Q: How did you meet? A: I was paying an insurance bill for my father, she worked for an insurance office, and I said to my self, she is pretty good lookin’ let me see if I can get a date. I thought she was probably goin’ out with someone, but I asked anyway, and she said ya. For our first date, we went to the Paper Mill Theater, up in Milburn. That was in 1942 so we met six months before I went into the service. Q: How did she feel about you goin into the service? A: She said everybody had to go, just hope everybody could come home alive. Q: Why did you join the Army? A: They drafted me! Q: How did your family members feel when you where drafted? A: Well, it was that part of time when we had to register to enter the draft, like bout six months before I say between the ages of 18 and I don’t know what the age was. You had to register, and every week they draw numbers to see who was going, and if you where able you went. So that was just part of life and if you’re number was called you went. Q: What did you know about the war before you entered? A: I just knew that there was just… Hitler and Mussolini where trying to take over all of Europe and he had to be stopped. The English and the French where being pushed around so it was up to us to command it with our subs and weapon capacity and the capacity to build tanks and aircraft’s and stuff, and plus the men, and that made the difference. Q: Where did you revive your training and for how long? A: Well when I was drafted I went to Fort Dix for 8 weeks and I got my basic training there. Then I went to the University of Mississippi to Army administration school because I guess I didn’t take that course in high school. For 8 weeks and from there I went on to camp Edward’s in Massachusetts where I became part of the ordnance. Q: Where did you serve and for how long? A: I served in… I was drafted in June the 10 1942 and was discharged November 12, 1945. So that was three and one-half years. Q: You where in Europe? A: Ya, ya after we got our training up in Massachusetts with the ordnance deportment, they sent us to Europe in September of 1944, so the invasion was June the 6, the invasion had already started wile we where in progress so all of our company was stationed in Scotland, we traveled all night and we said oh this is great ‘cause the was on the other side so we can spend time in England, you know get to know the country and everything. But we traveled all night and we stopped at 6 o’clock to go to our destination, and it turns out it was a corp. and uh-oh it was the south half of England, so we get off the train and get on a boat and cross the channel and we went to France, and when we got to France, they sent our company up to La Harve, and we stayed there for the rest of the war. When we came back in 1945 and they gave us 30 days leave because the war wasn’t over. And they where getting’ ready to send troops into the pacific. And while on the 30 days leave I got engaged while I was at home I went back to my outfit and the war was over. I got discharged in November 1945. Q: Did you go to Japan? A: No Q:Do you have any vivid memories? A: Ya I do, I got my draft card and my draft notice. It was just luck to see like my neighbor who got his arm blown off just fortunate to live to tell about the battle, so we can thank God for that. Q:Where any of your friends in your company? A: No, they where mostly from Cape Cod, and Massachusetts, and a couple of New York but a lot from Massachusetts. When I graduated high school with a with a college prep course I couldn’t go to college because I had no money. So I had to get a job and it took me three months to get a job. I made 35¢ an hour and I still got my first pay slip. I was lucky that but I did take a college preparatory course and the best thing about the war, was then the war was over they had something called the GI Bill, so I went to college to get my degree, it took me 6 years and help me out. I became an IRS Agent, so my college degree helped me out a lot. Q:Do you still keep in touch with your friends from the service? A: Yes I did. Q:How did you communicate with your wife? A: There was something called “V-Mail” I used to write her. Q:What you’re other family members do to help the war? A: My brother, I was the oldest of seven children, I was the first to be drafted then my brother was going to get drafted but he joined the Navy. Q:Do you have any postcards, letters, etc? A: Ya.