Francesco (Frank) Venditto, my uncle, was born in Naples, Italy. He came to America with his mom and dad and two other siblings when he was a year old, in the year 1921 or 1922.
His parents, Luigi Venditto and Maria Carman (Tranquillo) Venditto were both born in Italy and after coming to America, they eventually had six more children. Unfortunately, one of the babies was involved in an accident, where the baby was being warmed by the fire and a spark came out and burned the child. Apparently, my grandmother stepped away for just a moment and he died due to the burns and trauma.
When I was young it was always in my heart to ask my uncle about his experiences in WWII. I was maybe 8-10 years old and I remember my mom used to get annoyed that I would ask him so many questions. I always wanted to sit and listen to what he had to say about his adventures.
Uncle Frankie with the rest of the crew
Now, to fast forward, Francesco finished high school and in 1941 he enlisted in the US army. My dad and his brother, (Francesco) Frank, were both under aged when they joined the service. Frank’s brother Michael, who both were fondly referred to as “Frankie and Mickie,” he also joined the army.
Uncle Mickie
Mickie was stationed in Hawaii, in a secret reserve unit that was never discovered until after the war. It was kept secret on purpose and he was on his way to Japan for the Japanese invasion when they dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He stayed in Japan for the remainder of the war until he was sent home state side.
Uncle Mickie, Nov. 17, 1945 Dedication Exercise Camp Mardin, Honshu, Japan
I remember sitting at Frankie’s feet in the old homestead living room, totally engaged, as I listened to him speak of the war. One funny account was when the question came up, if anyone knew how to drive a jeep, of course Frankie did not know, but he immediately said, “I do!” Which resulting in him taking on the job of the jeep driver for a full bird colonel.
Frankie with Colonel in Cannes
He would relay how he was in the European campaign and drove all over Africa and Europe for the US Army. He traveled in the North African campaign, Italy, France, Denmark and eventually Germany and Austria.
Frankie in the Swiss Alps and a pic of an 88 Tunis
If you have ever seen the movie, “Band of Brothers,” my uncle was in many of those battles. I remember he would tell the story of being in the “Battle of the Bulge.” He would be in an observation position on high ground with the colonel watching the battle. He would give account of how he would sleep under the jeep at night and the ground would shake with bombs and of the battle raging in full force. He certainly saw a lot and would not go into great detail, carefully expressing what he knew he was comfortable talking about.
Frankie with crew, he was later promoted to Sergeant
He also told the story, one time as they were driving the next day in the aftermath, he could hear someone swearing up a storm, and saying, “Get the blankety…blank out of the way!” He turned and there was General Patton standing up with his two pearl handled 45’s, swearing at him. Frankie said he proceeded to pull out of the way and let him pass. He said it was just like in the movie Patton, exclaiming that General Patton was one tough son of a B.
I remember another time when he told me about freeing prisoners at a concentration camp. He had to shoot the guard dogs to gain entry into the camp. He remembered seeing a naked Jewish man who was just skin and bones and Frankie tried to talk to him. The man ran past him and Frankie kept calling after him, “Hey, hey,” and all he could see was the man’s naked behind running over the hill until he could not see him anymore. Frankie told me, that image never left him.
On many occasions, my Mom would get mad at me for asking so many questions, and she would tell me to leave Frankie along. Well, I did not listen to her, because I was so engaged in the stories and I knew I would receive new little bits and pieces each time I asked.
Frankie told me he went to Hitler’s Eagles nest. If you know what this was, it was his retreat and where all the spoils were kept. There was gold, silver, paintings and all kinds of stuff that Hitler collected. My uncle used to say, he remembered seeing the paintings, but if he knew they were Rembrandt’s he would have had one today; he knew nothing about the paintings. Then the generals arrived and they were told to clear out, as the generals sent trucks in to collect all of the spoils.
Frankie brought back all kinds of things from the war, German Lugers, medals, rings, and he also had pearl handled officer staff daggers. He would bring these items to our house and let us look over them all. He also acquired German currency that was worthless but a large amount of German dollar currency and coins. I still have one coin that is very valuable. Frankie bought the same staff car that Hitler used to use, but the army would not let him ship it state side so he left it there. He ended up donating all of this to the local VFW (Veterans of foreign wars).
Concerning Frankie’s personal life, he was engaged once, but it did not work out for whatever reason, so he remained unmarried throughout his life. He was a very kind, yet strong man, and was just plain pleasant to be around; but when he got mad it was just best to get out of his way. Uncle Frankie was a very generous man and he was also born again. After the war, he worked as a skilled carpenter as well as a farmer with his brother. He built the house I grew up in, and also many of the houses in my neighborhood. Frankie also had a foundation company where he would pour foundations for homes, and later in life he mainly worked as a farmer. He used to say, “You kids, what do you need all this stuff for, when you have the open air and work like I do as a farmer, and enjoy what God had made?” My uncle lived a very simple life and when he passed away he left a good fortune for his sisters. He literally had new clothes still in the packaging that he never wore. His standard outfit was a white or blue shirt, Khaki pants with boots for farming. I believe that he owned one or two sport jackets and one suit for church, and that was it.
It occurred to me while putting this testimony together, that God chose members of my family to be involved in a war that ultimately freed the Jewish people. Jesus in me is the same today, as he came to set the captives free both Jew and Gentile.
Luke 4:18-19 says,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised (v. 18),
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord (v. 19).
God bless,
Keith
