October 3, 2025 • 42 mins
A century of memory folds into a single living room as we sit with Gino D’Ambrosio—paratrooper, POW, Detroiter—to hear how a glider drop before dawn and a quiet morning in Berlin shaped everything that came after. He takes us from St. Vincent’s orphanage to Cooley High to a blacked‑out sky over Normandy, where the plan fell apart and survival began. The Battle of the Bulge crashes in with an artillery roar he still can’t quite translate into words, foxholes carved from frozen ground, and the blunt, mechanical rhythm of doing your job when thinking too much could get you killed.
The story turns on human details that don’t make the history books: a German Red Cross man in a red hat, a marble church floor covered with straw, a train car so packed you pass a tin can down the line to the only window, and the shock of a Mongolian woman behind a machine gun on a Russian tank. In the camps, lice and hunger grind everything down, yet small mercies endure—a doctor’s warning, a shared ward with wounded on both sides, and the strange relief of sirens that usher prisoners and guards into the same bunker. When the gates stand open and the guards are gone, the silence feels louder than the bombs.
We follow Gino back across the channel to New York’s bright headlights, to a bath, a uniform, and a neighbor’s scream that announces he’s alive. He remembers turning down a dangerous spy mission because he wanted a week of leave to see his parents—a simple decision that might have saved his life. He names friends lost and mentors who pulled him forward, then says the true lesson came after the noise: war is a waste, revenge burns everything, and the only way to live long is to be good to the people in front of you. If you’re looking for real WWII oral history—D‑Day paratrooper accounts, Battle of the Bulge memories, POW survival, Russian liberation—you’ll find it here, unvarnished and deeply human.
If this story moved you, follow the show, share it with someone who loves history, and leave a review with the moment that stayed with you most. Your notes help preserve voices like Gino’s for those still searching.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_04 (01:00):
Uh this entire interview is with my good friend
Reno D'Ambrosio.
He's a hundred years old and hewill be a hundred and one just a
few months after we shot the uhvideo and audio.
Uh you know, we did this at hishome with his family there.
And then his family alsocontributed some video that they
had shot over the years, andit's just amazing.
(01:20):
We were able to kind of pieceeverything together and put as
much of his story together as wecould uh with his memory.
But uh Gino, just an amazingguy.
I really hope that you enjoythis interview.
And then stick around because atthe end there's a couple of
clips from some birthdayparties, and I think you'll
enjoy that too.
So uh really enjoy this.
Today is Monday, September 29th,2025.
(01:42):
We're talking with GinoD'Ambrogio, who served in the
United States Army.
So good afternoon, sir.
How are you?
SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
Hi, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_04 (01:51):
Good.
So we're gonna start out realsimple.
Um, when and where were youborn?
SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
Um Detroit, Michigan.
SPEAKER_04 (01:59):
Okay.
About a hundred years ago,maybe?
SPEAKER_01 (02:03):
Close.
SPEAKER_04 (02:03):
Yeah, yeah.
So did you grow up in Detroit?
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
In Detroit.
Okay.
I was adopted in the what wasthe name of that place, you
know?
SPEAKER_02 (02:12):
St.
Vincent's the the orphanage?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:17):
Okay.
I was put in the uh what do youcall it?
Orphanage.
Yeah.
All right.
And adopted.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (02:26):
So were you adopted as a baby?
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
Uh yes, I was.
Okay.
Did you have a let's see?
I was trying to tell them all.
SPEAKER_02 (02:33):
Tell them the story about when your parents came to
get you at the orphanage.
Remember that day?
SPEAKER_01 (02:39):
Yeah.
It's the apples in uh Detroit.
It's still there today.
What's the uh kind of convent?
Yeah.
It's adopted as athree-year-old.
Uh-huh.
And uh the people that came werenot Dan Rose all.
They came and gave me.
And uh who did most of that wasmy uh Calderita, who I thought
(03:04):
would be my So do you want me tofill in the Yeah, you can hope.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (03:12):
I I knew he was having a hard time.
So his siblings were all born inItaly.
They came over on the ship.
Um his mom had a a child afterhim.
SPEAKER_03 (03:21):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02 (03:22):
She died in childbirth.
And then my grandfather diedshortly thereafter, and all the
kids were placed in theorphanages from different
families from Italy that my AuntCatherine had them all uh put in
with families from the city theywere in in Italy.
Okay.
He actually didn't know he hadsiblings until he was 14.
He just thought they werefriends.
SPEAKER_04 (03:41):
Oh, all right.
SPEAKER_02 (03:43):
Till he had a crush on his sister at the wedding,
and then they had to tell himGio.
SPEAKER_04 (03:46):
They had to fix it.
Got it.
So do you do you have any uh doyou have uh memories of of
growing up or what you did inschool or anything like that?
You went to Cooley High?
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
Yes.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (03:58):
All right.
Did you play any sports in in inschool?
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
Uh football and baseball.
Cooley high school.
Uh-huh.
And uh college, I went to Wayne.
Play football there.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (04:12):
So And then when did you join the Army?
SPEAKER_01 (04:15):
Uh Army?
Try to stay alive.
unknown (04:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:21):
Do you remember how old you were?
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
I went in the be in the USA and uh the uh what do
you call it?
SPEAKER_04 (04:31):
Gunner?
Paratrooper.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
Oh that yeah.
That's that was my story.
Uh huh.
So I was in there over in thearmy down south, and of course I
got stuck in the war.
I went over to Europe.
It was a World War II.
SPEAKER_02 (04:47):
So where were you on D-Day?
SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
Uh in behind.
In behind the lines?
Yeah, we took the glibers andthey hunted first, pulled us in.
Right.
And I was like there's six orseven miles in.
We were what we call adisruptive force.
Right.
Our job was to cut lines, float,you know, create havocs to screw
everything up.
That's what we did.
SPEAKER_02 (05:11):
So that was before the invasion, like a couple
hours before.
A couple hours before.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (05:17):
Yeah.
And we went on those gliders.
Cut us loose and down we wentwith off the gliders.
Yeah.
The Camera got killed on ourfirst day.
Yeah.
Well, a lot of guys got killedall the way down there on the
ground, me.
Some of the guys didn't lastthem in it in combat.
We're lucky.
You know, I landed toward it,got woods.
(05:38):
We were all panicking.
We don't know the hell's goingon.
You know, we didn't land wherewe were supposed to.
Oh.
You know, it's crazy.
Pedlum.
Panic, you know.
So hard enough.
unknown (05:51):
Uh we've got this week.
SPEAKER_01 (05:54):
Oh, I know, can't forget someone who used the word
defecate and excrete.
That's what it was porn.
And he was an old man at 30.
Right.
Yeah, the old man.
He's three years old, man.
That amazing.
And he was all all worse porn.
And he played it by the rules.
(06:16):
Yeah.
Defecate, excrete.
That's what you want us to say.
I'll always remember that.
That one out of six, huh?
Yeah.
Why would you remember thatabout that poor guy?
I don't know.
Yeah.
But you could tell he wasmilitary training.
You can tell the difference.
He was oh, what's point?
SPEAKER_00 (06:38):
Probably hundreds of number.
But when it hung regular visit,you know, my ten year old is
doing through the whole.
SPEAKER_02 (06:48):
It is.
And then what happened afterD-Day?
Where did you go?
Or how long were you?
Were you at Omaha or behind?
SPEAKER_01 (06:57):
I was in that area, behind Omaha.
We were like our right anywherefrom four to seven miles behind
the lines.
We had three battles going.
You know, 501st, uh 422nd, 4.
Those were our regiments, Ishould say.
422nd.
422nd, 43rd, and 23rd.
I was a 422nd regiment, yeah.
(07:17):
Something, yeah.
Amazing.
Skylights, you know, you knowwhat the hell's going on.
Panic.
SPEAKER_02 (07:25):
Oh my God.
I can't imagine.
I can't imagine.
SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
It's scary, yeah.
Or you can't think about it.
You know, you gotta do your joband try to do what you can, and
for you know.
Well, the one I can't get overis D.
I mean, uh the bulge.
You know, we thought we'reburied.
We dug us stu uh uh fox holesbecause it was so damn cold.
Right.
Like two people, like you andour partners, buddies.
(07:50):
Yeah, and we're down skippingover the freezing land survived.
And that morning it started the16th.
I mean, I thought it was the endof the earth that day.
They opened up a like uh bingspectacular war.
All these shot booms, what thehell was going on?
Honey, it was so much artilleryand noise and bombs going on.
Next thing I know, boom, bum,boom.
(08:13):
It was scary.
What the hell?
It was scary.
What the you can't I can't, Iwish I could interpret that
noise and that noise.
I mean, they just they didn'teverything go to it's for the
last chance to try and get backat us.
Right.
That morning, when nobodyexpected it.
We thought we're gonna be heretill springtime, weather break,
we'll get our outfit gone, we'llgo all the way to Berlin.
(08:35):
It never happened, man.
And then wake up and see thatguy with that hat on his red
hat, guy with his big blackhorns.
I still remember Red Cross,German Red Cross.
SPEAKER_02 (08:47):
Yeah, yeah.
And then he took you where?
That time I crum.
That's the one I want to lookup.
The little church, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (08:56):
I always remember a little church sleeping on a
marble with straw, churning tothe Americans together, like
bunnies.
And the doctor is real nice.
He said, You'd be okay here, buthe says, When you get over
there, you're big death.
He said, especially the SS.
He called it.
(09:17):
And that first night they weredon't even stand up.
They told you, stand up, we gotmachine guns sit.
And it was so damn cold.
Yeah, boy, we got up, we gotthey put us in that damn train.
I still to that day, may foreternity.
They opened us up and let us onthose guys.
They straffed us on New Year'sEve.
(09:39):
Well, they didn't know wherethey break.
I told you the Americans bombedduring the day.
Yeah, and the British at night.
And our British we were thereall standing like I toy, you
couldn't take a poop.
Right.
And the sirens were off androaring and roar.
Next thing we know, they pullthe doors on the Germans.
They're out.
We jumped, and maybe from hereto the the wires over there.
(10:02):
Where the wires are they hadsome they had the what do you
call it?
Uh uh to go in the uh bunkers.
Oh yeah.
And they let us run in therewith the uh German.
I'll always remember that lady,think of that German broken
English.
This is so sad, huh?
German lady, I can barelyremember what you said, but then
(10:23):
it was uh derated or sirens wentoff, shut the sirens down, and
they can brought us all them,put us back in that fucking tree
like that.
I saw it be so cruel.
I mean, we couldn't sit down.
That's how they jammed us inthere.
That toy passed my hand now.
You gotta take a pass it down tothe window.
SPEAKER_02 (10:44):
Oh my god, I can't even imagine that.
SPEAKER_01 (10:49):
You human race, do that.
In spite, ah shit.
I love you.
You gotta have a young and betough survivor.
Oh my god.
Horrible.
Yeah.
Yeah, like you take one nextweek, you hand in hand, we pass
around down, there's one side.
I'm glad you can laugh about it.
(11:10):
It's awful.
You laugh now, but you acceptingit.
You know, you're 18, 19 yearsold.
You you you dealt with it.
It's terrible.
All the people I watched themthrowing on trenches, the jury.
How could he be so cruel?
And ladies whipping them.
I could see them ladies puttinguh uh traps out there for the
(11:33):
tanks.
They had women, women, Germanladies with a black outfit, and
whipping them.
They went they're anotherculture, they were brainwashed,
you know.
And these eyes seen them, and Isaw them until he turned.
I don't care.
Can't make that up, man.
No, it's there.
It's hard to believe.
(11:56):
But I tell you, I felt that onemoment uh when I spent that time
with Berlin and the Russiansovercame, we were waiting for
the Americans to catch up.
And they they're marching thoseGermans, so I actually had a
tinge of compassion for it.
Yeah because I knew we were freeand we were going home.
Look at what they're goingthrough now.
(12:16):
The Russians are moving themback, what they did to them.
And now them Germans are gonnaget treated well.
I mean, they ended up marchingthem, they're taking them onto
their trains and taking themback to Russia.
Yeah, God forget what they were.
They were starting your agony.
Poor sons of bitches.
Yeah.
Shit happens, you can't believe,you know.
(12:38):
You're screaming, yelling,raping going on.
It's just terrible.
Russians were mean, man.
They wanted clear you wereAmerican.
They saw that America, theytreated us different.
Right.
Thank God.
And that German, that Russianprince, uh, he said it.
He said, Sergeant, he said,Well, you'll see, and they're
(12:59):
just retaliating.
You can't believe.
We welcomed them, and theyburned them and looted and raked
their legs.
Yeah, a lot of these guys gotlost people.
We're gonna get revenge.
It's amazing what the humanbeing can turn into and Allen.
And he can.
But they treated us so good,man.
(13:21):
That pants with that eagle andthat American flag.
Ah, Bedakotsky! Go, go!Americans, they treat all the
other guys like shit, man.
Yeah, they don't use for it.
Yeah, boy, they have something.
But that little stick about thequiet morning, the April 16th.
(13:44):
You know, and on the on the onthe floor like this with straw.
And hey, Vince, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (13:51):
It's quiet.
Yeah, look at that.
SPEAKER_01 (13:56):
Open up.
Hey, they're gone.
The trunk's gone.
Pretty soon about that.
You trump Russian tank's comingup with soldiers.
And that damn truck, there'sanother one.
The trunk opened up in the tank.
She was in the front turret onthe front.
Oh, and I was a little um goldenlady manning the damn machine
(14:19):
gun in that tank.
I'd like to remember that one.
Never forget.
Melakotsky, oh, Runski! Oh mygod.
That's like my movie.
Where you want to go?
Free, guys.
And uh hell, I think uh the theuh batan headquarters were like
from here to cruise.
And we broke right in.
(14:40):
The pots are still wet.
Uh your breakfast rooms arestill hot.
You know, they ran.
And the guy was like, I neverheard that story.
Why?
We pulled it out like a moonfull of the drawer and full of
our pictures.
We pulled it out.
And I found my picture in there,I pulled it out.
(15:01):
Uh had that damn tag andeverything.
I lost it along with my otherones.
Oh, yeah.
I had the German tag that theyput on you, on your on your
chain.
But it was just like theydisappeared.
It was the strangest feelingthough.
Yeah, like, God, it's a quiet.
SPEAKER_02 (15:18):
I know because I think you told me before you
would hear like the bombings,like you would hear the war.
Nothing.
SPEAKER_01 (15:25):
This is so quiet.
It's a quiet this morning.
Those troops took off throughthe night.
It was so strange.
It said there was no guards.
So gone.
Hey, you opened up the gates, noguards.
That damn tank put stop, shutthe motor out.
That damn thing was that circlein front, and that thing popped
(15:47):
up, and then there, betterkatske, ah, rusky.
A lady, Mongolian manning thatmachine gun up front, that
little spot.
Wow.
A lady, a Mongolian on themachine gun.
That nuts.
But that guy told me, man, thatwas 16 days I spent there in
(16:08):
Berlin.
Oh my god.
Oh, it's a transition.
SPEAKER_02 (16:12):
And you were sleeping on the airfield all
that time?
SPEAKER_01 (16:16):
No, after we got liberated?
Yeah, we got a little, but yeah,we they took us on the airfield
and we slept right on theairport, out on the outside.
And the weather was nice.
Yeah.
The weather broke.
We had nice weather.
Day we took on was like this.
We're flying right back toFrance.
It was like a movie, youcouldn't find it any better.
Right.
Yeah.
But that the Russian doctor wasso nice.
(16:37):
He sergeant, he said, You can'tbelieve this.
You know, because I said after acouple days we got to know each
other.
I couldn't be so cruel.
He said, Sergeant, we're annoyedyou.
He said, we welcomed these guys.
We had open hands.
And they they retaliated, theydidn't accept us.
They strafed us, they baronatedus.
(16:59):
Revenge.
They're taking revenge.
What are you gonna do?
Spent all that time.
But boys like the whole episodeof my life changed them.
The war stopped, the bombing wasall gone.
But the best thing is every daythe war morning.
The morning all day long, we hadcommanded ear.
We had bombers flying all daylong, bombing the ground shit,
(17:22):
boom, boom, boom.
And at night, the English.
They bombed a night the mosquitobombers.
SPEAKER_02 (17:27):
They had none, no poor jerk.
SPEAKER_01 (17:29):
They got bombed day and night, man.
SPEAKER_02 (17:31):
You mean that's when you were in prison you could
hear ear talking?
Yeah.
I told you every day when theybrought in prisoners and got
shot down or something.
SPEAKER_01 (17:39):
Yeah.
If you wait within three or fourhours, you could bet your house
on it.
The gates won't get some guysthat's get bailed out, never got
shot, and got caught on theground.
And they made through.
You look at a guy nice and cleanlike you.
He's three hours before he wasin England in a plane.
We get all our news from them.
They tell him, it's gonna beover sooner boys, don't worry
(18:01):
about it.
British and America got shotdown.
Lucky guys.
Here they come.
Oh yeah.
How many guys shot down today?
Crazy.
Why do people do that?
SPEAKER_02 (18:19):
I don't know.
It makes no sense to me.
I do not understand war at all.
Fighting that level of hate forwhat?
For power, for money?
I don't know.
In the name of God?
Who know?
I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (18:33):
It's just and they're why that's for a hundred
years.
The English and French killedeach other.
Right.
They're in more letters.
That's why I stay, that's why ifI talk to Pet, my kids will
never go to war and rest on it.
It's a waste of time.
(18:54):
You're gonna rebuild up, butyou're gonna be friends in that
and friends in this way.
Just 20 years ago, you'rekilling each other like animals.
Yeah, now this one year we'regonna be buddies.
Try to explain that one.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
France and Spain, Spain andEngland were big war, they were
enemies for years.
You know, the old history times.
(19:17):
That's when you gotta put twotogether.
The war's a waste of time.
I guess the only good thing itstimulates the uh what's the
word?
Economy.
Yeah, God.
You look at Berlin today inthose cities.
Number one, we'd help rebuildAmerican money.
Right.
You'd never know it was warthere.
(19:46):
That's not a good thing.
Then later on, our our Americansgot so bad in the French key
started hating us because youknow our guys act like pigs
after a while.
You know, they welcome all ourguys, and after that it changes
all the time, yeah.
You know, they're kissing up,hugging it, giving by and
(20:08):
everything.
And after all, they startedhating us because a damn
American, you know, acting likepigs.
We waited at that airport for aweek, but it happened.
But the weather turned like Godwas on our side.
Oh, so we had food, guys aregetting sick, they're eating too
fast, you know.
Oh, yeah.
So yeah, they yeah, one theywarned it the easy, easy.
Take it easy, because they getyou know, the doctor don't eat
(20:31):
like that.
Yeah.
Blah blah blah, but I wish Icould remember that doctor.
But he told all to you.
We got to be pretty good friendsfrom that time.
We talked every day, and he wasa fluent Russian.
What I'm believing, these poorbastards are going, and imagine
what they're gonna see if theyget to see it about Russians.
(20:54):
I actually had a tinge of uhsympathy.
Sad.
Why?
Why are we doing this?
SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
Oh well and then I'm just glad you got made it home.
I'm just glad you made it home.
SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
Yeah.
Okay, we have some excitingthings.
And then that first day wepulled up the all the lights on,
you know, no like the year,yeah, it was all blacked out.
Right.
We pulled off to New York, thatpark that night.
There's no stopped room there,and we unload you in the
morning.
And we were like from here tomaybe the other side of the
(21:29):
field, watching American carlights all on America.
Stand out of there, JesusChrist, look at that.
Nice to see.
We made it home.
SPEAKER_02 (21:39):
And you stayed on the ship that night?
Were you still on the ship?
SPEAKER_01 (21:42):
Yeah.
Next day he put us on thejersey.
Yeah, they washed us down, theygive us the fresh outfits, he
gives us army uniforms, he gotout of the fatigues.
They give us army stuff.
And we got on a train and wentto Chicago.
Then we spent a night inChicago.
Yeah.
People coming out putting in onyou.
And when we told our prison ofwar, there was joke coming
(22:03):
around us.
Yeah, this group here wrought.
Yeah.
unknown (22:09):
Yeah, I was thinking.
SPEAKER_01 (22:10):
They did down the evening when I got in that bus
and there, I took camp home.
They were just so far guy.
Walking the house and crankingit.
Got an American flag toy.
He plays every Star Brankleplayer.
I love that story.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(22:31):
They were so good.
They didn't know I was coming,you know.
SPEAKER_02 (22:33):
Right.
Oh, yeah, because they thoughtyou were dead, or they didn't
know, or well, I think they knewI was alive with it, but they
knew I was coming home that day.
SPEAKER_01 (22:41):
Oh, okay.
Yeah, see, I took her can fromMichigan that took her can from
there.
Okay, correct that.
They they put the head the flag.
That's before metal shitstarted, went on.
SPEAKER_02 (22:58):
Yeah.
But that's for a time though,didn't your family think you
were they didn't know if youwere dead or alive for a while?
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
She said prisoner assumed, missing in action.
Yeah.
Then they thought that assumedkilled in action.
Yeah.
Then they changed back.
Prison of war.
Yeah.
So they knew I was going, butthey didn't know when.
SPEAKER_02 (23:18):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (23:19):
You know, the war and I showed didn't expect me.
They all walked out and gotannounced.
You know, I had to train fromChicago to here, Texas to
Chicago.
I mean, from Chicago, Detroit.
They took a cab right in frontof my house, opened the door,
one of them sent me.
He saw me.
Scream.
(23:39):
He went cranking that generally.
Can you believe that's true?
I can't believe he did that tome.
I guess bad as it was, you know,having her own son.
SPEAKER_00 (23:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (23:55):
You know.
To me, I was her son.
Oh, well.
They showed me the things theyhad to pay for business and acts
and all that.
SPEAKER_02 (24:05):
Oh God, I wish we had that stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (24:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (24:09):
Well, what about uh you know what story I love?
The one about they wanted torecruit you because you could
speak Italian or something.
SPEAKER_01 (24:17):
Talk about a major choice.
I was an acting sergeant then.
That's why I tried, not to brag,but it's so damn good that it
that they made me and it wasovercreated.
Sergeant Damrozville report thebattalion headquarters.
I take over, go to the guy,Damn.
(24:37):
He came from uh Washington.
You know, he saw what the SSS orwhatever you call it.
SPEAKER_02 (24:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (24:43):
So give me a sense of speaker, write a tank, and I
could you take this from me.
And I did feel that back.
Sorry, could I ask you rightnow?
Sense of uh doing somethingbeyond your duty.
Special.
Well, based on what I see here,you think you could uh pass
(25:08):
through the tan?
You know, we dropped in behindthe lines, you know.
What do you mean?
He said, Well, based on that,she really like put you in drop
you needly behind the lines,you're dropping as a civilian.
Yeah, of course you know if thedeal is there, you get caught.
Yeah, you get executed.
Right.
But you know what stopped it,Gina?
(25:29):
I says, Well, I ain't had myfurrow yet.
I said, Can't get my week.
Can I go home and see my mom anddad?
No, if you accept, you gottacome with me now, right to
Washington.
Two months training, and thenafter that, you'll be in your
source.
You mean I can't leave?
No, you leave here with me, it'syou gotta come with me.
(25:51):
You come in retraining and whoknows what happens in there.
You'll be a spy X one.
Oh no, I can't go for that.
So Catholic, I gotta put thatdown.
I wanna I gotta go home.
That's how it happened.
SPEAKER_02 (26:08):
I can't believe they let you say no.
Thank God they did.
SPEAKER_01 (26:12):
That's an option.
You know, you know theconsequence you get caught,
you're gonna get executed.
Yeah, you know, being a spy.
Yeah.
You know, you're done.
Right.
He pointed it out too.
You know, the I I forgot how hephrased it, but he said the
concept was not going to use it.
But you're caught in the city.
(26:35):
But I said, Well, go see a week.
I'll I'll try it, you know.
But no, best thing you everhappen.
Yeah, oh my God.
Isn't that funny?
Yeah.
But they hear it like it's stillin speakers.
You know that we're right in theearly part of the morning, a
little after 10 o'clock in themorning.
I'm doing jump and jack.
Got up a tad, you know, doingall that shit.
(26:56):
It's hard for them, bro.
Report to them, timeheadquarters.
The last time I came by homedriving by Beaver, I went right
by the front of it.
I didn't have the guts to go.
I was gonna go back into my lasttraining camp.
(27:18):
Yeah, one of my stops was FortJackson.
Oh.
And I looked at it, I was rightin front of it.
Look at that, uh forget whathappened in the past.
So this was the early part of mycareer.
Uh as well, I was just a rookie.
I can't.
But by accident, I didn't getthere by point.
I was a highway when it came up,and there's fortune.
What the hell?
(27:38):
That's why I started as arecruit.
Isn't that funny how that workedout?
Yeah.
Life is strange.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (27:49):
Oh, well.
Yeah, but she does what she canto do.
SPEAKER_01 (27:57):
My two best friends, Lacone and uh and uh Frankie
Dorano.
Frankie took me home on athree-day leave, took me to his
little apartment he lived in NewYork City, right now in the
city.
Yeah, come on, you stay at myhouse on your break.
Frankie Dorano, D-O-R-T-O.
He was a guy who's hooted nextto me.
(28:19):
Never saw again after theGermans picked me up, yeah.
Frankie Dorotho, D-O-R-T.
And he took me to New York City.
That's how I got to see it.
Spawn meant spaghetti.
Yeah, a little small apartment,little table like this, she made
spaghetti for us.
It was a three-day break, that'sall it was.
Frankie Dorado, you know.
(28:41):
And Jimmy Lacole, those are mytwo running guys.
But the funniest part is thosethree sergeants taking me,
embracing me.
You're going with us, man.
Badass.
That was in the States or that'straining stats.
We're training me.
Oh.
And right away I was still,we'll still take a basic.
(29:03):
Not the brain, I'm so damn goodat it and all that.
The backlog.
He said, You're gonna need thisuh battalion here.
And that's something.
Then he goes, You're going withus, kid, in town.
They're 242, they're like mydad, you know.
Right.
They wanted me to help back themoff, giving me any props.
Sergeant Brown, Sergeant Light,Sergeant Fitley, three, three,
(29:27):
why three sergeants, that'ssomething.
18 and 25, you know, they'relike older guys.
Right.
But then I thought that wasreally pretty damn good.
Yeah.
I heard my stripes, man.
I tell your dad was a badass,man.
I'd punched those guys out andserved.
(29:47):
It was amazing.
I don't know.
I missed my calling, man.
SPEAKER_04 (29:56):
Did you end up in a church somewhere?
SPEAKER_01 (29:58):
Yeah, the church was uh we were both wounded and
we're taken down the well thenice thing was the German
doctor, and uh when he's takingus to the doctor, he says you'll
be with German and together.
(30:53):
Uh in Belgium.
And that's we're taking in theuh German wounded cave.
Taken in a hospital, and we werelaid in there with uh Germans
and Americans.
And the German marriages werepretty good with them.
Damn nice guys.
Yeah, and the captain I had wasa very nice guy.
(31:13):
And I got taken there, and theytold me he says, you'll be in
that hospital from Belgium.
And he said, You'll be in withGerman and yourselves.
Okay.
And with the church at the camein that city on the ground with
the name.
And we stuck with him until thefive.
At the last camp was a 3A, andit was like three months.
(31:35):
One place, all over the field.
What do you call?
The lice.
Lice.
Oh, yeah.
Terrible.
All over the damn place.
And stayed in there, hardly nofood.
SPEAKER_04 (31:49):
So how did do you do you recall how the how the how
the Russians got you back to theAmericans?
SPEAKER_01 (31:54):
Yeah, they put us and we took the uh we there we
got flown outside of Berlin.
Uh-huh.
All them back to where theactually come in.
Flew right back over from thewar was.
SPEAKER_04 (32:08):
Right back into French.
SPEAKER_01 (32:11):
I can remember where the war was all the way back.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Taken back from camp like astrike.
SPEAKER_04 (32:18):
Was that named after the cigarette?
SPEAKER_01 (32:20):
Maybe they want to see.
There's so many guys.
All you know ontacked.
We looked pretty bad.
Yeah.
But uh that's where we were thenbasically.
Got us back to the hospital.
SPEAKER_04 (32:39):
Oh, get all the license.
SPEAKER_01 (32:40):
Oh, took off.
All over us.
Crawling over thousands of them.
SPEAKER_04 (32:45):
That's awful.
SPEAKER_01 (32:46):
That was a mess.
SPEAKER_04 (32:47):
Did you used to sneak out though and get food?
SPEAKER_01 (32:49):
Yeah, that was the last, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (32:51):
Yeah, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (32:51):
I was the king.
Tell me about that.
Oh, that was it.
I wasn't there with the Italian.
And uh I'd go meet the dick, Icould swing and flew it away.
And they let me go over to theItalians.
Uh-huh.
And uh well, they could breaklike this.
I don't mind bring them over toTan.
I became great friends with theuh Russians and and the
(33:14):
Italians.
SPEAKER_04 (33:15):
Well let me ask you, you um I you know, I see that
you've heard you've you've beenawarded the Purple Heart twice.
Yeah.
Do you do you recall how thathappened?
SPEAKER_01 (33:25):
Well, I was off the uh bounce off the from Launter.
Yeah, you got the uh some of thethe uh planes and the uh mature
stuff, got rooted by some of it.
And a lot of us got on a waydown, uh got shot, killed a lot
of way down.
Like first American to go back,got freed, cleaned up and all,
(33:47):
and was a French guy andAmerican.
And he said, See you at thatboat with the guy says, tomorrow
you're lucky, man.
Face it that way, that boat doesgo back.
I was the first guy to go backwith the Americans uh all the
way back, and to leave, uh comeback to where we were started,
(34:07):
and to go back to uh America.
SPEAKER_03 (34:10):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (34:10):
And to see the uh America all lit it up and it
just it was just crazy.
It was just not so nice.
You know, clean with water,America all lighted up.
And they took us right back.
I went back to the nice as couldbe, as worse as was going in.
Going there was so damn roughgoing over there.
(34:32):
Yeah, it was nuts bad.
The war part was ridiculous, butthe inner part was I was very
lucky.
One day in Paris, it was likeabout an hour drive where I was
at.
So they had a couple of blackguys too that they used a truck.
They take them in in Paris andlet them walk and drive around.
(34:54):
So I spent a date in Paris.
That was pretty nice.
They were part of the army, uh,washing what do you call that?
Clothing gone, washing in Quim.
They all dressed up nice, uhhuh.
(35:14):
But they're in front.
Civilians?
Yeah.
They're telling where we weretaking you.
And where you go.
First one of the I always tellher this day, because I was in I
was in Paris that day.
I know what the hell I looked, Iwas just there was one of those
girl at a corner.
Sat, she's talking to look atus.
(35:35):
I can't wonder I wonder if she'sa hooker or a real girl.
I lost it with that girl inFrance.
She looked at us, she's bottom.
But uh it's not the same realworld you're there.
But uh being free and see thereal the France, it's it's not
(35:57):
pretty.
A lot of good things, but a lotof bad things.
Yeah, just it is what it is.
SPEAKER_04 (36:04):
So I just want to ask you one more question um
before we uh wrap up theinterview, and that is, you
know, for people who listen tothis story and watch this um,
you know, years from now, isthere some sort of message you'd
like to leave for people or somesort of advice that you'd like
them to take from you?
SPEAKER_01 (36:23):
I thought it was nice for you to take some back
with, I'm telling you, some ofthe good stuff from uh what what
it was really like.
SPEAKER_03 (36:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:32):
Yeah, with the real army and being off and be so
skinny and wait when I got tocome off that door.
My mother and dad.
They screamed when he saw me.
I was so skinny.
So what's you what should be.
I'd only been out of a cat thatcame about three months.
Why did you know?
Oh tell you, they couldn'tspeak.
(36:55):
Pop it all the time, all thetime.
My dad and sister were not verygood speak uh English.
All right, you heard you're notbig shooters, my mother and dad.
Well you're you strick your dadmotors for it and my dad.
SPEAKER_04 (37:12):
So you're a hundred years old.
What do you think the secret isto to such a long life?
What do you think your secretis?
SPEAKER_01 (37:22):
Be nice to the people.
I mean be nice to the people,yeah.
I thought, yeah.
And uh get along with yourneighbor, your your your
companion.
Yeah, be good to those people.
If you were good, they were goodto you.
I can't believe that guy put meon that plane.
I mean you're going home.
SPEAKER_03 (37:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:44):
Frenchman.
First truck uh from where like atrain ramp.
Bone the light was winning,going back.
First one, I got it today.
I had the first guy on.
Silent Ambroso?
Yes what?
You're the first guy to go tothat place facing that bag.
That was four.
SPEAKER_04 (38:03):
I'd like I'd like to thank you for taking this
afternoon and talking with me.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01 (38:09):
Well, you know some words away.
You know that.
Nope.
Yeah.
96?
That's pretty good, man.
You're 98.
98?
Yeah.
You see how good you are.
Is it 98?
You're 98, Sheme.
Oh my God.
(38:30):
Well, good for you though.
Really?
Yeah.
I had myself 96, so boy.
You're always shaving a coupleyears off all your life.
SPEAKER_00 (38:41):
That's what I want.
Gina's still 32.
I'm 35.
I'm gonna five only for 90years.
SPEAKER_01 (38:53):
Yeah, I still remember when I was 96.
SPEAKER_02 (38:55):
We did the math yesterday.
What year were you born?
SPEAKER_01 (38:58):
The bind is flipping.
SPEAKER_02 (39:00):
What year were you born?
SPEAKER_01 (39:01):
1924.
Oh yeah.
You want to tell me your Iannounced swine swanson.
What?
I don't know who's my mamabeats.
(39:29):
Oh, good school.
Thanks for calling.
I appreciate it.
I got just my my kids here.
And with their uh husbands orwives, and that's it.
That's it.
At least we're having a littleparty.
Oh well, thanks for calling.
(39:50):
We're gonna enjoy and make ahunter.
If I make a hunter, we're gonnahave a party.
Okay?
If I hunter, we're gonna have tohave a party.
I mean next year.
Going to Vegas.
He's 99.
I'm 99 right now, guys.
You said go first?
And in German if I don't hook.
(40:11):
That's in German.
Put it in.
Okay.
Thanks to guys, we look aforethe two.
Yeah, who's it?
Nobody else could have movedoff.
Uh this entire interview is with my good friend
Reno D'Ambrosio.
He's a hundred years old and hewill be a hundred and one just a
few months after we shot the uhvideo and audio.
Uh you know, we did this at hishome with his family there.
And then his family alsocontributed some video that they
had shot over the years, andit's just amazing.
(01:20):
We were able to kind of pieceeverything together and put as
much of his story together as wecould uh with his memory.
But uh Gino, just an amazingguy.
I really hope that you enjoythis interview.
And then stick around because atthe end there's a couple of
clips from some birthdayparties, and I think you'll
enjoy that too.
So uh really enjoy this.
Today is Monday, September 29th,2025.
(01:42):
We're talking with GinoD'Ambrogio, who served in the
United States Army.
So good afternoon, sir.
How are you?
SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
Hi, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_04 (01:51):
Good.
So we're gonna start out realsimple.
Um, when and where were youborn?
SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
Um Detroit, Michigan.
SPEAKER_04 (01:59):
Okay.
About a hundred years ago,maybe?
SPEAKER_01 (02:03):
Close.
SPEAKER_04 (02:03):
Yeah, yeah.
So did you grow up in Detroit?
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
In Detroit.
Okay.
I was adopted in the what wasthe name of that place, you
know?
SPEAKER_02 (02:12):
St.
Vincent's the the orphanage?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:17):
Okay.
I was put in the uh what do youcall it?
Orphanage.
Yeah.
All right.
And adopted.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (02:26):
So were you adopted as a baby?
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
Uh yes, I was.
Okay.
Did you have a let's see?
I was trying to tell them all.
SPEAKER_02 (02:33):
Tell them the story about when your parents came to
get you at the orphanage.
Remember that day?
SPEAKER_01 (02:39):
Yeah.
It's the apples in uh Detroit.
It's still there today.
What's the uh kind of convent?
Yeah.
It's adopted as athree-year-old.
Uh-huh.
And uh the people that came werenot Dan Rose all.
They came and gave me.
And uh who did most of that wasmy uh Calderita, who I thought
(03:04):
would be my So do you want me tofill in the Yeah, you can hope.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (03:12):
I I knew he was having a hard time.
So his siblings were all born inItaly.
They came over on the ship.
Um his mom had a a child afterhim.
SPEAKER_03 (03:21):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02 (03:22):
She died in childbirth.
And then my grandfather diedshortly thereafter, and all the
kids were placed in theorphanages from different
families from Italy that my AuntCatherine had them all uh put in
with families from the city theywere in in Italy.
Okay.
He actually didn't know he hadsiblings until he was 14.
He just thought they werefriends.
SPEAKER_04 (03:41):
Oh, all right.
SPEAKER_02 (03:43):
Till he had a crush on his sister at the wedding,
and then they had to tell himGio.
SPEAKER_04 (03:46):
They had to fix it.
Got it.
So do you do you have any uh doyou have uh memories of of
growing up or what you did inschool or anything like that?
You went to Cooley High?
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
Yes.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (03:58):
All right.
Did you play any sports in in inschool?
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
Uh football and baseball.
Cooley high school.
Uh-huh.
And uh college, I went to Wayne.
Play football there.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (04:12):
So And then when did you join the Army?
SPEAKER_01 (04:15):
Uh Army?
Try to stay alive.
unknown (04:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:21):
Do you remember how old you were?
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
I went in the be in the USA and uh the uh what do
you call it?
SPEAKER_04 (04:31):
Gunner?
Paratrooper.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
Oh that yeah.
That's that was my story.
Uh huh.
So I was in there over in thearmy down south, and of course I
got stuck in the war.
I went over to Europe.
It was a World War II.
SPEAKER_02 (04:47):
So where were you on D-Day?
SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
Uh in behind.
In behind the lines?
Yeah, we took the glibers andthey hunted first, pulled us in.
Right.
And I was like there's six orseven miles in.
We were what we call adisruptive force.
Right.
Our job was to cut lines, float,you know, create havocs to screw
everything up.
That's what we did.
SPEAKER_02 (05:11):
So that was before the invasion, like a couple
hours before.
A couple hours before.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (05:17):
Yeah.
And we went on those gliders.
Cut us loose and down we wentwith off the gliders.
Yeah.
The Camera got killed on ourfirst day.
Yeah.
Well, a lot of guys got killedall the way down there on the
ground, me.
Some of the guys didn't lastthem in it in combat.
We're lucky.
You know, I landed toward it,got woods.
(05:38):
We were all panicking.
We don't know the hell's goingon.
You know, we didn't land wherewe were supposed to.
Oh.
You know, it's crazy.
Pedlum.
Panic, you know.
So hard enough.
unknown (05:51):
Uh we've got this week.
SPEAKER_01 (05:54):
Oh, I know, can't forget someone who used the word
defecate and excrete.
That's what it was porn.
And he was an old man at 30.
Right.
Yeah, the old man.
He's three years old, man.
That amazing.
And he was all all worse porn.
And he played it by the rules.
(06:16):
Yeah.
Defecate, excrete.
That's what you want us to say.
I'll always remember that.
That one out of six, huh?
Yeah.
Why would you remember thatabout that poor guy?
I don't know.
Yeah.
But you could tell he wasmilitary training.
You can tell the difference.
He was oh, what's point?
SPEAKER_00 (06:38):
Probably hundreds of number.
But when it hung regular visit,you know, my ten year old is
doing through the whole.
SPEAKER_02 (06:48):
It is.
And then what happened afterD-Day?
Where did you go?
Or how long were you?
Were you at Omaha or behind?
SPEAKER_01 (06:57):
I was in that area, behind Omaha.
We were like our right anywherefrom four to seven miles behind
the lines.
We had three battles going.
You know, 501st, uh 422nd, 4.
Those were our regiments, Ishould say.
422nd.
422nd, 43rd, and 23rd.
I was a 422nd regiment, yeah.
(07:17):
Something, yeah.
Amazing.
Skylights, you know, you knowwhat the hell's going on.
Panic.
SPEAKER_02 (07:25):
Oh my God.
I can't imagine.
I can't imagine.
SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
It's scary, yeah.
Or you can't think about it.
You know, you gotta do your joband try to do what you can, and
for you know.
Well, the one I can't get overis D.
I mean, uh the bulge.
You know, we thought we'reburied.
We dug us stu uh uh fox holesbecause it was so damn cold.
Right.
Like two people, like you andour partners, buddies.
(07:50):
Yeah, and we're down skippingover the freezing land survived.
And that morning it started the16th.
I mean, I thought it was the endof the earth that day.
They opened up a like uh bingspectacular war.
All these shot booms, what thehell was going on?
Honey, it was so much artilleryand noise and bombs going on.
Next thing I know, boom, bum,boom.
(08:13):
It was scary.
What the hell?
It was scary.
What the you can't I can't, Iwish I could interpret that
noise and that noise.
I mean, they just they didn'teverything go to it's for the
last chance to try and get backat us.
Right.
That morning, when nobodyexpected it.
We thought we're gonna be heretill springtime, weather break,
we'll get our outfit gone, we'llgo all the way to Berlin.
(08:35):
It never happened, man.
And then wake up and see thatguy with that hat on his red
hat, guy with his big blackhorns.
I still remember Red Cross,German Red Cross.
SPEAKER_02 (08:47):
Yeah, yeah.
And then he took you where?
That time I crum.
That's the one I want to lookup.
The little church, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (08:56):
I always remember a little church sleeping on a
marble with straw, churning tothe Americans together, like
bunnies.
And the doctor is real nice.
He said, You'd be okay here, buthe says, When you get over
there, you're big death.
He said, especially the SS.
He called it.
(09:17):
And that first night they weredon't even stand up.
They told you, stand up, we gotmachine guns sit.
And it was so damn cold.
Yeah, boy, we got up, we gotthey put us in that damn train.
I still to that day, may foreternity.
They opened us up and let us onthose guys.
They straffed us on New Year'sEve.
(09:39):
Well, they didn't know wherethey break.
I told you the Americans bombedduring the day.
Yeah, and the British at night.
And our British we were thereall standing like I toy, you
couldn't take a poop.
Right.
And the sirens were off androaring and roar.
Next thing we know, they pullthe doors on the Germans.
They're out.
We jumped, and maybe from hereto the the wires over there.
(10:02):
Where the wires are they hadsome they had the what do you
call it?
Uh uh to go in the uh bunkers.
Oh yeah.
And they let us run in therewith the uh German.
I'll always remember that lady,think of that German broken
English.
This is so sad, huh?
German lady, I can barelyremember what you said, but then
(10:23):
it was uh derated or sirens wentoff, shut the sirens down, and
they can brought us all them,put us back in that fucking tree
like that.
I saw it be so cruel.
I mean, we couldn't sit down.
That's how they jammed us inthere.
That toy passed my hand now.
You gotta take a pass it down tothe window.
SPEAKER_02 (10:44):
Oh my god, I can't even imagine that.
SPEAKER_01 (10:49):
You human race, do that.
In spite, ah shit.
I love you.
You gotta have a young and betough survivor.
Oh my god.
Horrible.
Yeah.
Yeah, like you take one nextweek, you hand in hand, we pass
around down, there's one side.
I'm glad you can laugh about it.
(11:10):
It's awful.
You laugh now, but you acceptingit.
You know, you're 18, 19 yearsold.
You you you dealt with it.
It's terrible.
All the people I watched themthrowing on trenches, the jury.
How could he be so cruel?
And ladies whipping them.
I could see them ladies puttinguh uh traps out there for the
(11:33):
tanks.
They had women, women, Germanladies with a black outfit, and
whipping them.
They went they're anotherculture, they were brainwashed,
you know.
And these eyes seen them, and Isaw them until he turned.
I don't care.
Can't make that up, man.
No, it's there.
It's hard to believe.
(11:56):
But I tell you, I felt that onemoment uh when I spent that time
with Berlin and the Russiansovercame, we were waiting for
the Americans to catch up.
And they they're marching thoseGermans, so I actually had a
tinge of compassion for it.
Yeah because I knew we were freeand we were going home.
Look at what they're goingthrough now.
(12:16):
The Russians are moving themback, what they did to them.
And now them Germans are gonnaget treated well.
I mean, they ended up marchingthem, they're taking them onto
their trains and taking themback to Russia.
Yeah, God forget what they were.
They were starting your agony.
Poor sons of bitches.
Yeah.
Shit happens, you can't believe,you know.
(12:38):
You're screaming, yelling,raping going on.
It's just terrible.
Russians were mean, man.
They wanted clear you wereAmerican.
They saw that America, theytreated us different.
Right.
Thank God.
And that German, that Russianprince, uh, he said it.
He said, Sergeant, he said,Well, you'll see, and they're
(12:59):
just retaliating.
You can't believe.
We welcomed them, and theyburned them and looted and raked
their legs.
Yeah, a lot of these guys gotlost people.
We're gonna get revenge.
It's amazing what the humanbeing can turn into and Allen.
And he can.
But they treated us so good,man.
(13:21):
That pants with that eagle andthat American flag.
Ah, Bedakotsky! Go, go!Americans, they treat all the
other guys like shit, man.
Yeah, they don't use for it.
Yeah, boy, they have something.
But that little stick about thequiet morning, the April 16th.
(13:44):
You know, and on the on the onthe floor like this with straw.
And hey, Vince, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (13:51):
It's quiet.
Yeah, look at that.
SPEAKER_01 (13:56):
Open up.
Hey, they're gone.
The trunk's gone.
Pretty soon about that.
You trump Russian tank's comingup with soldiers.
And that damn truck, there'sanother one.
The trunk opened up in the tank.
She was in the front turret onthe front.
Oh, and I was a little um goldenlady manning the damn machine
(14:19):
gun in that tank.
I'd like to remember that one.
Never forget.
Melakotsky, oh, Runski! Oh mygod.
That's like my movie.
Where you want to go?
Free, guys.
And uh hell, I think uh the theuh batan headquarters were like
from here to cruise.
And we broke right in.
(14:40):
The pots are still wet.
Uh your breakfast rooms arestill hot.
You know, they ran.
And the guy was like, I neverheard that story.
Why?
We pulled it out like a moonfull of the drawer and full of
our pictures.
We pulled it out.
And I found my picture in there,I pulled it out.
(15:01):
Uh had that damn tag andeverything.
I lost it along with my otherones.
Oh, yeah.
I had the German tag that theyput on you, on your on your
chain.
But it was just like theydisappeared.
It was the strangest feelingthough.
Yeah, like, God, it's a quiet.
SPEAKER_02 (15:18):
I know because I think you told me before you
would hear like the bombings,like you would hear the war.
Nothing.
SPEAKER_01 (15:25):
This is so quiet.
It's a quiet this morning.
Those troops took off throughthe night.
It was so strange.
It said there was no guards.
So gone.
Hey, you opened up the gates, noguards.
That damn tank put stop, shutthe motor out.
That damn thing was that circlein front, and that thing popped
(15:47):
up, and then there, betterkatske, ah, rusky.
A lady, Mongolian manning thatmachine gun up front, that
little spot.
Wow.
A lady, a Mongolian on themachine gun.
That nuts.
But that guy told me, man, thatwas 16 days I spent there in
(16:08):
Berlin.
Oh my god.
Oh, it's a transition.
SPEAKER_02 (16:12):
And you were sleeping on the airfield all
that time?
SPEAKER_01 (16:16):
No, after we got liberated?
Yeah, we got a little, but yeah,we they took us on the airfield
and we slept right on theairport, out on the outside.
And the weather was nice.
Yeah.
The weather broke.
We had nice weather.
Day we took on was like this.
We're flying right back toFrance.
It was like a movie, youcouldn't find it any better.
Right.
Yeah.
But that the Russian doctor wasso nice.
(16:37):
He sergeant, he said, You can'tbelieve this.
You know, because I said after acouple days we got to know each
other.
I couldn't be so cruel.
He said, Sergeant, we're annoyedyou.
He said, we welcomed these guys.
We had open hands.
And they they retaliated, theydidn't accept us.
They strafed us, they baronatedus.
(16:59):
Revenge.
They're taking revenge.
What are you gonna do?
Spent all that time.
But boys like the whole episodeof my life changed them.
The war stopped, the bombing wasall gone.
But the best thing is every daythe war morning.
The morning all day long, we hadcommanded ear.
We had bombers flying all daylong, bombing the ground shit,
(17:22):
boom, boom, boom.
And at night, the English.
They bombed a night the mosquitobombers.
SPEAKER_02 (17:27):
They had none, no poor jerk.
SPEAKER_01 (17:29):
They got bombed day and night, man.
SPEAKER_02 (17:31):
You mean that's when you were in prison you could
hear ear talking?
Yeah.
I told you every day when theybrought in prisoners and got
shot down or something.
SPEAKER_01 (17:39):
Yeah.
If you wait within three or fourhours, you could bet your house
on it.
The gates won't get some guysthat's get bailed out, never got
shot, and got caught on theground.
And they made through.
You look at a guy nice and cleanlike you.
He's three hours before he wasin England in a plane.
We get all our news from them.
They tell him, it's gonna beover sooner boys, don't worry
(18:01):
about it.
British and America got shotdown.
Lucky guys.
Here they come.
Oh yeah.
How many guys shot down today?
Crazy.
Why do people do that?
SPEAKER_02 (18:19):
I don't know.
It makes no sense to me.
I do not understand war at all.
Fighting that level of hate forwhat?
For power, for money?
I don't know.
In the name of God?
Who know?
I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (18:33):
It's just and they're why that's for a hundred
years.
The English and French killedeach other.
Right.
They're in more letters.
That's why I stay, that's why ifI talk to Pet, my kids will
never go to war and rest on it.
It's a waste of time.
(18:54):
You're gonna rebuild up, butyou're gonna be friends in that
and friends in this way.
Just 20 years ago, you'rekilling each other like animals.
Yeah, now this one year we'regonna be buddies.
Try to explain that one.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
France and Spain, Spain andEngland were big war, they were
enemies for years.
You know, the old history times.
(19:17):
That's when you gotta put twotogether.
The war's a waste of time.
I guess the only good thing itstimulates the uh what's the
word?
Economy.
Yeah, God.
You look at Berlin today inthose cities.
Number one, we'd help rebuildAmerican money.
Right.
You'd never know it was warthere.
(19:46):
That's not a good thing.
Then later on, our our Americansgot so bad in the French key
started hating us because youknow our guys act like pigs
after a while.
You know, they welcome all ourguys, and after that it changes
all the time, yeah.
You know, they're kissing up,hugging it, giving by and
(20:08):
everything.
And after all, they startedhating us because a damn
American, you know, acting likepigs.
We waited at that airport for aweek, but it happened.
But the weather turned like Godwas on our side.
Oh, so we had food, guys aregetting sick, they're eating too
fast, you know.
Oh, yeah.
So yeah, they yeah, one theywarned it the easy, easy.
Take it easy, because they getyou know, the doctor don't eat
(20:31):
like that.
Yeah.
Blah blah blah, but I wish Icould remember that doctor.
But he told all to you.
We got to be pretty good friendsfrom that time.
We talked every day, and he wasa fluent Russian.
What I'm believing, these poorbastards are going, and imagine
what they're gonna see if theyget to see it about Russians.
(20:54):
I actually had a tinge of uhsympathy.
Sad.
Why?
Why are we doing this?
SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
Oh well and then I'm just glad you got made it home.
I'm just glad you made it home.
SPEAKER_01 (21:09):
Yeah.
Okay, we have some excitingthings.
And then that first day wepulled up the all the lights on,
you know, no like the year,yeah, it was all blacked out.
Right.
We pulled off to New York, thatpark that night.
There's no stopped room there,and we unload you in the
morning.
And we were like from here tomaybe the other side of the
(21:29):
field, watching American carlights all on America.
Stand out of there, JesusChrist, look at that.
Nice to see.
We made it home.
SPEAKER_02 (21:39):
And you stayed on the ship that night?
Were you still on the ship?
SPEAKER_01 (21:42):
Yeah.
Next day he put us on thejersey.
Yeah, they washed us down, theygive us the fresh outfits, he
gives us army uniforms, he gotout of the fatigues.
They give us army stuff.
And we got on a train and wentto Chicago.
Then we spent a night inChicago.
Yeah.
People coming out putting in onyou.
And when we told our prison ofwar, there was joke coming
(22:03):
around us.
Yeah, this group here wrought.
Yeah.
unknown (22:09):
Yeah, I was thinking.
SPEAKER_01 (22:10):
They did down the evening when I got in that bus
and there, I took camp home.
They were just so far guy.
Walking the house and crankingit.
Got an American flag toy.
He plays every Star Brankleplayer.
I love that story.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(22:31):
They were so good.
They didn't know I was coming,you know.
SPEAKER_02 (22:33):
Right.
Oh, yeah, because they thoughtyou were dead, or they didn't
know, or well, I think they knewI was alive with it, but they
knew I was coming home that day.
SPEAKER_01 (22:41):
Oh, okay.
Yeah, see, I took her can fromMichigan that took her can from
there.
Okay, correct that.
They they put the head the flag.
That's before metal shitstarted, went on.
SPEAKER_02 (22:58):
Yeah.
But that's for a time though,didn't your family think you
were they didn't know if youwere dead or alive for a while?
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
She said prisoner assumed, missing in action.
Yeah.
Then they thought that assumedkilled in action.
Yeah.
Then they changed back.
Prison of war.
Yeah.
So they knew I was going, butthey didn't know when.
SPEAKER_02 (23:18):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (23:19):
You know, the war and I showed didn't expect me.
They all walked out and gotannounced.
You know, I had to train fromChicago to here, Texas to
Chicago.
I mean, from Chicago, Detroit.
They took a cab right in frontof my house, opened the door,
one of them sent me.
He saw me.
Scream.
(23:39):
He went cranking that generally.
Can you believe that's true?
I can't believe he did that tome.
I guess bad as it was, you know,having her own son.
SPEAKER_00 (23:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (23:55):
You know.
To me, I was her son.
Oh, well.
They showed me the things theyhad to pay for business and acts
and all that.
SPEAKER_02 (24:05):
Oh God, I wish we had that stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (24:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (24:09):
Well, what about uh you know what story I love?
The one about they wanted torecruit you because you could
speak Italian or something.
SPEAKER_01 (24:17):
Talk about a major choice.
I was an acting sergeant then.
That's why I tried, not to brag,but it's so damn good that it
that they made me and it wasovercreated.
Sergeant Damrozville report thebattalion headquarters.
I take over, go to the guy,Damn.
(24:37):
He came from uh Washington.
You know, he saw what the SSS orwhatever you call it.
SPEAKER_02 (24:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (24:43):
So give me a sense of speaker, write a tank, and I
could you take this from me.
And I did feel that back.
Sorry, could I ask you rightnow?
Sense of uh doing somethingbeyond your duty.
Special.
Well, based on what I see here,you think you could uh pass
(25:08):
through the tan?
You know, we dropped in behindthe lines, you know.
What do you mean?
He said, Well, based on that,she really like put you in drop
you needly behind the lines,you're dropping as a civilian.
Yeah, of course you know if thedeal is there, you get caught.
Yeah, you get executed.
Right.
But you know what stopped it,Gina?
(25:29):
I says, Well, I ain't had myfurrow yet.
I said, Can't get my week.
Can I go home and see my mom anddad?
No, if you accept, you gottacome with me now, right to
Washington.
Two months training, and thenafter that, you'll be in your
source.
You mean I can't leave?
No, you leave here with me, it'syou gotta come with me.
(25:51):
You come in retraining and whoknows what happens in there.
You'll be a spy X one.
Oh no, I can't go for that.
So Catholic, I gotta put thatdown.
I wanna I gotta go home.
That's how it happened.
SPEAKER_02 (26:08):
I can't believe they let you say no.
Thank God they did.
SPEAKER_01 (26:12):
That's an option.
You know, you know theconsequence you get caught,
you're gonna get executed.
Yeah, you know, being a spy.
Yeah.
You know, you're done.
Right.
He pointed it out too.
You know, the I I forgot how hephrased it, but he said the
concept was not going to use it.
But you're caught in the city.
(26:35):
But I said, Well, go see a week.
I'll I'll try it, you know.
But no, best thing you everhappen.
Yeah, oh my God.
Isn't that funny?
Yeah.
But they hear it like it's stillin speakers.
You know that we're right in theearly part of the morning, a
little after 10 o'clock in themorning.
I'm doing jump and jack.
Got up a tad, you know, doingall that shit.
(26:56):
It's hard for them, bro.
Report to them, timeheadquarters.
The last time I came by homedriving by Beaver, I went right
by the front of it.
I didn't have the guts to go.
I was gonna go back into my lasttraining camp.
(27:18):
Yeah, one of my stops was FortJackson.
Oh.
And I looked at it, I was rightin front of it.
Look at that, uh forget whathappened in the past.
So this was the early part of mycareer.
Uh as well, I was just a rookie.
I can't.
But by accident, I didn't getthere by point.
I was a highway when it came up,and there's fortune.
What the hell?
(27:38):
That's why I started as arecruit.
Isn't that funny how that workedout?
Yeah.
Life is strange.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (27:49):
Oh, well.
Yeah, but she does what she canto do.
SPEAKER_01 (27:57):
My two best friends, Lacone and uh and uh Frankie
Dorano.
Frankie took me home on athree-day leave, took me to his
little apartment he lived in NewYork City, right now in the
city.
Yeah, come on, you stay at myhouse on your break.
Frankie Dorano, D-O-R-T-O.
He was a guy who's hooted nextto me.
(28:19):
Never saw again after theGermans picked me up, yeah.
Frankie Dorotho, D-O-R-T.
And he took me to New York City.
That's how I got to see it.
Spawn meant spaghetti.
Yeah, a little small apartment,little table like this, she made
spaghetti for us.
It was a three-day break, that'sall it was.
Frankie Dorado, you know.
(28:41):
And Jimmy Lacole, those are mytwo running guys.
But the funniest part is thosethree sergeants taking me,
embracing me.
You're going with us, man.
Badass.
That was in the States or that'straining stats.
We're training me.
Oh.
And right away I was still,we'll still take a basic.
(29:03):
Not the brain, I'm so damn goodat it and all that.
The backlog.
He said, You're gonna need thisuh battalion here.
And that's something.
Then he goes, You're going withus, kid, in town.
They're 242, they're like mydad, you know.
Right.
They wanted me to help back themoff, giving me any props.
Sergeant Brown, Sergeant Light,Sergeant Fitley, three, three,
(29:27):
why three sergeants, that'ssomething.
18 and 25, you know, they'relike older guys.
Right.
But then I thought that wasreally pretty damn good.
Yeah.
I heard my stripes, man.
I tell your dad was a badass,man.
I'd punched those guys out andserved.
(29:47):
It was amazing.
I don't know.
I missed my calling, man.
SPEAKER_04 (29:56):
Did you end up in a church somewhere?
SPEAKER_01 (29:58):
Yeah, the church was uh we were both wounded and
we're taken down the well thenice thing was the German
doctor, and uh when he's takingus to the doctor, he says you'll
be with German and together.
(30:53):
Uh in Belgium.
And that's we're taking in theuh German wounded cave.
Taken in a hospital, and we werelaid in there with uh Germans
and Americans.
And the German marriages werepretty good with them.
Damn nice guys.
Yeah, and the captain I had wasa very nice guy.
(31:13):
And I got taken there, and theytold me he says, you'll be in
that hospital from Belgium.
And he said, You'll be in withGerman and yourselves.
Okay.
And with the church at the camein that city on the ground with
the name.
And we stuck with him until thefive.
At the last camp was a 3A, andit was like three months.
(31:35):
One place, all over the field.
What do you call?
The lice.
Lice.
Oh, yeah.
Terrible.
All over the damn place.
And stayed in there, hardly nofood.
SPEAKER_04 (31:49):
So how did do you do you recall how the how the how
the Russians got you back to theAmericans?
SPEAKER_01 (31:54):
Yeah, they put us and we took the uh we there we
got flown outside of Berlin.
Uh-huh.
All them back to where theactually come in.
Flew right back over from thewar was.
SPEAKER_04 (32:08):
Right back into French.
SPEAKER_01 (32:11):
I can remember where the war was all the way back.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Taken back from camp like astrike.
SPEAKER_04 (32:18):
Was that named after the cigarette?
SPEAKER_01 (32:20):
Maybe they want to see.
There's so many guys.
All you know ontacked.
We looked pretty bad.
Yeah.
But uh that's where we were thenbasically.
Got us back to the hospital.
SPEAKER_04 (32:39):
Oh, get all the license.
SPEAKER_01 (32:40):
Oh, took off.
All over us.
Crawling over thousands of them.
SPEAKER_04 (32:45):
That's awful.
SPEAKER_01 (32:46):
That was a mess.
SPEAKER_04 (32:47):
Did you used to sneak out though and get food?
SPEAKER_01 (32:49):
Yeah, that was the last, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (32:51):
Yeah, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (32:51):
I was the king.
Tell me about that.
Oh, that was it.
I wasn't there with the Italian.
And uh I'd go meet the dick, Icould swing and flew it away.
And they let me go over to theItalians.
Uh-huh.
And uh well, they could breaklike this.
I don't mind bring them over toTan.
I became great friends with theuh Russians and and the
(33:14):
Italians.
SPEAKER_04 (33:15):
Well let me ask you, you um I you know, I see that
you've heard you've you've beenawarded the Purple Heart twice.
Yeah.
Do you do you recall how thathappened?
SPEAKER_01 (33:25):
Well, I was off the uh bounce off the from Launter.
Yeah, you got the uh some of thethe uh planes and the uh mature
stuff, got rooted by some of it.
And a lot of us got on a waydown, uh got shot, killed a lot
of way down.
Like first American to go back,got freed, cleaned up and all,
(33:47):
and was a French guy andAmerican.
And he said, See you at thatboat with the guy says, tomorrow
you're lucky, man.
Face it that way, that boat doesgo back.
I was the first guy to go backwith the Americans uh all the
way back, and to leave, uh comeback to where we were started,
(34:07):
and to go back to uh America.
SPEAKER_03 (34:10):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (34:10):
And to see the uh America all lit it up and it
just it was just crazy.
It was just not so nice.
You know, clean with water,America all lighted up.
And they took us right back.
I went back to the nice as couldbe, as worse as was going in.
Going there was so damn roughgoing over there.
(34:32):
Yeah, it was nuts bad.
The war part was ridiculous, butthe inner part was I was very
lucky.
One day in Paris, it was likeabout an hour drive where I was
at.
So they had a couple of blackguys too that they used a truck.
They take them in in Paris andlet them walk and drive around.
(34:54):
So I spent a date in Paris.
That was pretty nice.
They were part of the army, uh,washing what do you call that?
Clothing gone, washing in Quim.
They all dressed up nice, uhhuh.
(35:14):
But they're in front.
Civilians?
Yeah.
They're telling where we weretaking you.
And where you go.
First one of the I always tellher this day, because I was in I
was in Paris that day.
I know what the hell I looked, Iwas just there was one of those
girl at a corner.
Sat, she's talking to look atus.
(35:35):
I can't wonder I wonder if she'sa hooker or a real girl.
I lost it with that girl inFrance.
She looked at us, she's bottom.
But uh it's not the same realworld you're there.
But uh being free and see thereal the France, it's it's not
(35:57):
pretty.
A lot of good things, but a lotof bad things.
Yeah, just it is what it is.
SPEAKER_04 (36:04):
So I just want to ask you one more question um
before we uh wrap up theinterview, and that is, you
know, for people who listen tothis story and watch this um,
you know, years from now, isthere some sort of message you'd
like to leave for people or somesort of advice that you'd like
them to take from you?
SPEAKER_01 (36:23):
I thought it was nice for you to take some back
with, I'm telling you, some ofthe good stuff from uh what what
it was really like.
SPEAKER_03 (36:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:32):
Yeah, with the real army and being off and be so
skinny and wait when I got tocome off that door.
My mother and dad.
They screamed when he saw me.
I was so skinny.
So what's you what should be.
I'd only been out of a cat thatcame about three months.
Why did you know?
Oh tell you, they couldn'tspeak.
(36:55):
Pop it all the time, all thetime.
My dad and sister were not verygood speak uh English.
All right, you heard you're notbig shooters, my mother and dad.
Well you're you strick your dadmotors for it and my dad.
SPEAKER_04 (37:12):
So you're a hundred years old.
What do you think the secret isto to such a long life?
What do you think your secretis?
SPEAKER_01 (37:22):
Be nice to the people.
I mean be nice to the people,yeah.
I thought, yeah.
And uh get along with yourneighbor, your your your
companion.
Yeah, be good to those people.
If you were good, they were goodto you.
I can't believe that guy put meon that plane.
I mean you're going home.
SPEAKER_03 (37:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:44):
Frenchman.
First truck uh from where like atrain ramp.
Bone the light was winning,going back.
First one, I got it today.
I had the first guy on.
Silent Ambroso?
Yes what?
You're the first guy to go tothat place facing that bag.
That was four.
SPEAKER_04 (38:03):
I'd like I'd like to thank you for taking this
afternoon and talking with me.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01 (38:09):
Well, you know some words away.
You know that.
Nope.
Yeah.
96?
That's pretty good, man.
You're 98.
98?
Yeah.
You see how good you are.
Is it 98?
You're 98, Sheme.
Oh my God.
(38:30):
Well, good for you though.
Really?
Yeah.
I had myself 96, so boy.
You're always shaving a coupleyears off all your life.
SPEAKER_00 (38:41):
That's what I want.
Gina's still 32.
I'm 35.
I'm gonna five only for 90years.
SPEAKER_01 (38:53):
Yeah, I still remember when I was 96.
SPEAKER_02 (38:55):
We did the math yesterday.
What year were you born?
SPEAKER_01 (38:58):
The bind is flipping.
SPEAKER_02 (39:00):
What year were you born?
SPEAKER_01 (39:01):
1924.
Oh yeah.
You want to tell me your Iannounced swine swanson.
What?
I don't know who's my mamabeats.
(39:29):
Oh, good school.
Thanks for calling.
I appreciate it.
I got just my my kids here.
And with their uh husbands orwives, and that's it.
That's it.
At least we're having a littleparty.
Oh well, thanks for calling.
(39:50):
We're gonna enjoy and make ahunter.
If I make a hunter, we're gonnahave a party.
Okay?
If I hunter, we're gonna have tohave a party.
I mean next year.
Going to Vegas.
He's 99.
I'm 99 right now, guys.
You said go first?
And in German if I don't hook.
(40:11):
That's in German.
Put it in.
Okay.
Thanks to guys, we look aforethe two.
Yeah, who's it?
Nobody else could have movedoff.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.