“I spent my days catching flies for food and cigarettes. I would some times try to trick the guards and cut a fly in half and count it as one. They would beat me when I did that.  I would have to catch 100 flies for food and 35 flies for a cigarette. When I caught the flies I would have to count in Japanese.” Nick Cristiano

This is the story of my grandpa, Nick Cristiano born on July 4th, 1925. Before he joined the military he was living in the Bronx, NY.  He attended school in New York City.   He left his girlfriend Margret (my grandma) at home when he was 18 years old he enlisted into air force because he wanted to fly planes. Nick Cristiano served in World War II. Nick became a gunner in B17, B24, and B29 planes. From his first day in the military he felt homesick. He sent letters home and received some but he carried a wallet full of memories. Marge had given him a clover to carry and remember her.  One minute he was shooting from his plane, the next minute he was jumping off the plane to save his life. Once Nick got down he looked at the sky and saw 4 planes on fire and didn’t know which was his. (later he found out he was the only survivor from his plane.)  He was hit by ack ack (a form of bullets). Then, he was ambushed by the Japanese soldiers in the rice paddies and taken to Ofuna prison camp**. First the soldiers put him in isolation, and then he was moved to a place where he couldn’t talk to other prisoners but could see them. Finally, Nick was placed with other prisoners. With nothing to do all day but stay alive he found things to do. He improvised and made a game of every thing. He made up stories tricking the guards to play ping-pong against him, he used pictures of strangers in his wallet to negotiate with the guards, he caught flies for food and during cold nights slept on a straw mat with no blankets.  If he were lucky he would get a cup of barley and a cup of water three times a day. Most days he got no food. For no reason he was severely beaten by the guards.  Nick remembered a few of the guards, the Wiesel, Monkey and the Doctor.  After 6 terrible months the war was over and Nick was freed.  After seeing doctors Nick returned to his family in New York for a delicious Italian meal (before the war he weighed 130 lbs. After being a prisoner of war: POW he weighed 85lbs.).   He received a The Purple Heart for being wounded in war and other military citations.

Completing this project made me think of what my grandpa did. He made sacrifices, was beaten, jumped out of a burning plane and a survived as a prisoner with hardly any food, all for our country. I think if my grandpa wasn’t as humorous and brave as he is now he wouldn’t have made it. He tried to make a game out of things when he was bored and was really brave to go in to the war at age 18. He risked his life for our country. I am very proud of my grandpa for going through a lot.  He never gave up and showed me the meaning of determination and perseverance.  After I looked at the photos that he had I felt surprised that he was brave enough to be a gunner and to fly in a plane during a war like that. I couldn’t believe that the photos were of my grandpa in World War II. When I see my grandpa with a big smile on his face and see how he is excited about life. I think loves life and tries to cherish ever minute of life. If my grandpa weren’t here or didn’t make it home, my dad wouldn’t be here either so that would mean I wouldn’t be here right now writing this paper.

** For more information on Ofuna prison camp and the guards that beat my grandpa read Laura Hillenbrand’s, UnBroken.