HAPPY LANDING

About the Book

Born shortly after his parents’ immigration from Italy in 1920, Joseph D. Pace grew up in an Italian neighborhood in New York City. He was encouraged to learn English at an early age; and his parents learned right along with him. They loved this country and young Joseph learned this love and devotion to country as well. It seemed only natural for him to answer the call to defend the United States when World War II broke out. Enlisting in the Army and later transferring to the Army Air Corps, he hoped to become a fighter pilot. Washed out of pilot training, though, he looked for some other means to fulfill his dream of flying and managed to become a radio operator/gunner on a B-17. Stationed in England, he flew ten missions with his crew. Flying replacement with another crew on his eleventh mission, he had to bail out over a German mine field ending his participation in the war. He was awarded the Purple Heart, and following a long recovery period, was given an honorable discharge.

He never talked much about his World War II service until attending an 8th Air Force reunion in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1990. Mingling with others who shared his experiences he was encouraged to tell his story so that future generations could know more about this war. As he grew older he felt compelled to get the story in book form.

About the Author

This book relates a dramatic experience that I lived through during duty to my country in World War II. My parents came from Italy to the United States in 1920 while my mother was pregnant with her first child. They traveled from the Bari area of Italy to France where they boarded a ship to the United States traveling in steerage class. I was the child she was carrying and was born in New York City on November 1st, 1920, barely 2 months after their arrival in this country. They loved their new country and instilled this appreciation in their children. We lived through the Great Depression during which my father lost his produce business. Being the oldest of the children I went to work to help support the family and spent time with the WPA (Work Project Administration) and NYA (National Youth Administration). When war broke out, it was natural that I should enlist and do my part to protect this country. Having been injured during my tour of duty, I was returned to New York for recuperation and was discharged following the surrender of Japan. I worked various jobs in New York before moving to Ohio and eventually accepted employment with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. In turn, this resulted in moving to Arizona and finally California where I retired from the Prison Service in 1970. After retirement I took courses to become a real estate agent, then a real estate broker and worked in that field until the early 1990s. I met and married my current wife in Arizona in 1956. She also became a real estate agent and broker and we moved to La Mesa, California, near San Diego, in 1981. We currently are both retired and enjoy spending time with our children and grandchildren who live nearby. We also manage to travel to many of the reunions of the retired Federal Prison Service employees and veterans of the 8th Air Force.