Tomorrow Magazine Veterans Day Special Issue, 2003

WWII
➤ 16,354,000 Americans in
military service
➤ 291,557 killed in action
➤ 110,000+ POWs
Paul Pirro
U.S. Army, 1943–1945
Private
U.S. Army Reserve, 1950–1953
Corporal
Machine Operator
New Process Gear (retired)
UAW Local 624
I’m lucky that I’m here.
Paul Pirro as told
Oto Molly Rose Teuke
On June 6, 1944, we invaded France at
Omaha Beach. We landed at 6:30 a.m.
Our outfit [299th Combat Engineer
Battalion] lost 30 percent of our men
right on the beach, from the German
artillery shells. I’m lucky that I’m here.
Our job on the beach was to blow up
obstacles with TNT and to pick up
mines, all under fire. That was a dangerous
job.
I went back there in March 1972.
The American Cemetery is on top of
the hill. There is a chapel, then steps
going down to Omaha Beach and
Utah Beach. The first thing I did was
kiss the sand. I told my wife that I
never thought I’d be back there. Some
of the concrete German pillboxes had
been kept there as memorials. The
Germans had been in there with
machine guns, and when our ships
started coming in, they were shooting
at us. That’s a day that I’ll never forget.
I was also in the Battle of the Bulge,
in the Bastogne area. The American
troops there were cornered on Dec. 16,
1944, by the Germans. The battle went
on for quite a while, and the 82nd
Airborne and 101st Airborne had to
drop supplies to us. I have five battle
stars, one for every heavy battle that I
was in. I was 18 1/2 years old when
I entered the Army. The president gave
a unit citation to the whole battalion.
When Saving Private Ryan came
out, reporters from a local TV station
came to my house to show me the
tape. The filmmakers didn’t get it exactly
right, but it’s only a movie, and I
only saw five minutes of it. I had tears
in my eyes and they turned off the tape
out of respect. I lost some pretty good
buddies of mine on the beach. ✮
WWII cont.
June 7, 1942. Battle of Midway ends
in a U.S. victory, blocking Japanese
eastward expansion in the Pacific.
Early 1942. Chrysler switches to war production, including tanks,
engines for B-29 Superfortress aircraft, marine engines, ammunition,
and boats and trucks for military use. Chrysler also makes
nickel-plated diffusers for the Oak Ridge atomic laboratory.
June 25, 1942. General Dwight
D. Eisenhower assumes command
of U.S. forces in Europe
Aug. 7, 1942. U.S. 1st
Marine Division lands
on Guadacanal.
1942 1943
March 31, 1942. UAW President Walter
Reuther pushes his plan to increase production
of military aircraft to 100 planes a day.
He serves on several national wartime boards.
November 1942. The
UAW opens an office in
Washington, D.C.
Feb. 2, 1943. German
troops accept defeat
at Stalingrad.
8 www.uawdcx.com