Joseph C. Paruti

While a freshman at Boston College, Joseph C. Paruti, along with many of his classmates, enlisted in the Air Force, and he and his crew, part of the 39th Bomb Group, were stationed in Guam. As a gunner on a B29 his tight-knit crew flew 27 missions, many over the industrial areas of Japan. He speaks fondly of his pilot, 1st Lt. William Brooks and the rapport they had with the ground crew. He also speaks of a crew member, Milt Jacobs, who was killed while on another mission. This made Brooks and his crew decide to fly together, and with no other crew. Joe recalls the fire bomb missions and the POW missions they flew, dropping pallets of food and supplies to the US and British POWs in Japan.