Two old guys

Couple of folks you may want to meet.

First up is Joe  “Bazooka Joe” Pietroforte. Joe clocks in at 107.

At 22, he was drafted, finished basic training and was shipped overseas to fight in the European theater.

“I went over on the Queen Mary,” Pietroforte told CBS News, Los Angeles. “They shipped us up to an area outside of Aachen, Germany and Belgium.”

22 was a few years back for the sprightly 107 year old.

An infantryman, it didn’t take long for “Bazooka” Joe to earn his nickname. He was one of thousands of Allied soldiers called upon for the pivotal Battle of the Bulge in the bitterly cold winter of 1944-45.

“At that time, they had me using a rocket launcher, which is 53 inches long, and the rocket was about two feet long, almost,” Pietroforte said. “I would carry three rockets, with about 40 pounds on my back … and I weighed at the time about 114 pounds.”

Facing heavy fire, Pietroforte made good use of his rocket launcher, eliminating two German tanks and saving his unit from extensive casualties.

Joe received not one, but two, Silver Stars during the war – one for the tank incident above, another outside of Frankfurt for similar reasons. He was obviously a ‘go-to’ guy for his unit.

Joe has been largely inactive since then (sarcasm!) He founded a successful line of drive-in movie theaters, restores classic cars, and dances.

On March 26, “Bazooka” Joe received quite an honor with a standing ovation before the L.A. Dodgers faced the Arizona Diamondbacks on Opening Day at Dodger Stadium.

While he enjoys baseball, Pietroforte’s real passion is swing dancing. He’s often accompanied by a close female friend who keeps him moving even at age 107.

“She’s a terrific dancer and very smart,” Pietroforte said. “A very smart girl.”

Pietroforte credits his devoted dance partner for keeping him active and still rolling well past age 100. Military.com

Swing dancing at 107… didn’t they make a movie called “Cocoon” about him?

Next up, Al Duran, a comparative sprout at only 96, was recently taken on an Honor Flight to see the memorials in Washington, DC.

At the ripe age of 16, he lied about how young he was and enlisted in the Marine Corps. One of his older brothers had just been killed fighting in Germany and Duran was eager to join the war effort.

Duran grew up in Pueblo, Colorado in a large family with seven brothers, of which six of the Duran clan served in the military, with a record that extends from World War II to the Korean War to Vietnam.

Al was one who stayed in, serving after WWII in Korea and Vietnam.

Using a backdated baptism certificate and with some editing help from his sister, the pair altered Duran’s date of birth to appear older.

“I got in the Marine Corps by presenting my baptism certificate, which my older sister backdated,” he said. “The guy looked at me and said, ‘Your hard luck.’”

While he’s a decorated veteran, even close friends know little about his service time.

“He’s a really humble guy,” said his son, Michael Duran. “He doesn’t talk a whole lot about what he did and how he did it.”

And he’s still quite active, even handling some of the annual landscaping work in his yard. Not bad for a 96-year-old guy.

“You can’t imagine the leaves that this place gathers,” Duran said.  Military.com II

Puts him one up on me, I cut the leaves up with the lawnmower. Probably safe to say his uniform proves how self-effacing he is – note the lack of medals. I for one would love to see the sergeant’s full rack after three wars.

Category: Army, Marines, WWII