Honoring heroes

EAST COUNTY — When William “Bill” Passarelli was 19 years old, he wasn’t living the college lifestyle.
His daughter, Susan, was six months old. He was both a new father and a newlywed when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942, just months after the attacks at Pearl Harbor.

“The United States was a very patriotic country back then,” Passarelli said. “Everyone wanted to do their part. I wanted to go (into the Navy).”

When Passarelli finished his three-year tour — from 1942 through 1945 — he focused on securing a full-time job to support his family. Then he put the war behind him, until months before his 92nd birthday.
Alongside 79 other World War II veterans, the East County resident took a one-day trip Sept. 10 to Washington, D.C. to see the National World War II Memorial, as part of the Honor Flight of West Central Florida program.

At 7:30 a.m., he kissed his wife, Teresa, goodbye and by 9:30 a.m., he was on the ground in Baltimore, where a bus waited to take the group on a site-seeing tour of the World War II, Vietnam and Korean wars memorials, along with the Lincoln Memorial.

Honor Flight offers an expense-free day trip for veterans to travel specifically to see the capital’s newest memorial, which opened to the public in 2004. Guardians, either volunteers or family members, accompany veterans, most of whom are in the 80- to 90- year-old age group, said Joan Consolo, Honor Flight volunteer.

Donations from volunteers and fundraising events help fund the free travel arrangements and meals for veterans throughout the day of their trip.

When he saw the $182 million memorial — which features the Field of Stars, a wall of 4,000 gold stars that honor the 400,000 soldiers who died in the war, and General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s D-Day quote, which is carved into granite at the memorial — Passarelli felt a range of emotions.

“I was sad at first,” Passarelli said. “We lost a lot of good men, men who never made it home. The troops made many sacrifices. But, I also felt proud — proud that we won the war. I just looked at the memorial and stood there in awe; it was impressive.”

When veterans return from the flight, typically between 7 and 9 p.m. that same day, their family and friends greet them at the airport. Passarelli remembers a sea of thousands of people waving signs and cheering for him and the other passengers when they arrived at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport last week.

Teresa Passarelli gave her husband another surprise upon his arrival — handwritten letters from his great-grandchildren, grandchildren, children and other family members. Honor Flight contacts local schools and the families and friends of traveling veterans to write letters to the Honor Flight participants.
Some letters used the word “hero.”

“You hear this word hero — people who give their lives — but being brave isn’t for the word; it’s doing what you have to do in split-second situations.”

Military service
Passarelli, one of six children, remembers his three older brothers — Anthony, Frank and Louis— being drafted.

“In those days, if you were drafted, you went into the army,” Passarelli said.

The then-19-year-old helped protect merchant ships that carried war supplies to the troops stationed in countries such as Italy.

He remembers the lingering feeling that just below his ship, a German submarine waited to send a torpedo to destroy the cargo and kill the more than 40 soldiers on board.

Today, Passarelli suffers from asbestosis, which he contracted while living on ships during World War II. He slept with blankets covered in asbestos and lived on a ship sprayed with it.

He has tubes under his nostrils and an oxygen tank to help him breathe more comfortably — a constant reminder of his tenure as a soldier.

His best memories of his time in the Navy can be found in the black-and-white photographs he keeps in his home in the Cascade community.

Passarelli now has more memories to add to his folder of photographs, along with new friends, such as his guardian on the Honor Flight, Mike Rich.

“It was an amazing experience,” Passarelli said.

Honor Flights
To date, Honor Flight of West Central Florida has offered 18 trips to the World War II memorial.

Top priority is given to the oldest veterans who fought in World War II and terminally ill veterans who have not yet visited the memorial. Korean veterans will visit their memorial structure in 2015, followed by Vietnam veterans and will continue in the chronological order of the wars that followed.

Veterans who want to participate in Honor Flight of West Central Florida can submit applications at honorflightwcf.org.

Did you know?
The U.S. Veterans Administration estimates there will be no living WWII veterans by 2036.

There are an estimated 96,967 WWII veterans alive in Florida today.

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].