Joe Sciarra was born December 21, 1924 in Los Angeles, California.  He grew up there with his five siblings against the backdrop of the Great Depression, attending school and going to the beach – all typical things from the time period.  Joe graduated high school in 1942, and he was quickly inducted into the army – he received a nice letter from President Roosevelt, as he recalls.  He was upset that the US had not done enough to deter the Axis nations’ aggressive actions, so he went into the army and went into training and ended up being assigned to MacArthur’s 25th Infantry Division in the Pacific (27th Regiment, M Company).  They boarded a Liberty ship and headed to New Caledonia, a voyage that took 30 days.  Additional training was completed there, after which Joe headed to Luzon and the liberation of the Philippines.  It proved to be intense jungle warfare, fighting in the dense, mountainous rainforest terrain for 165 days.  Joe was on an 81 mm mortar crew, supporting the infantrymen in the rifle brigades.  As such they were a target, and on one tragic occasion 3 of the 6 men on his crew were killed when they were shelled.  The loss of life was high, and many officers were lost as well, so Joe was promoted to platoon sergeant as the battle wore on.  When the fighting ended Joe was shipped to Japan, where he was part of the occupation force for 51/2 months, and during that time his bouts with malaria began.  In February 1946 he returned to Los Angeles:  waiting for him on the home front was a young woman named Lucille, and Joe credits her with saving him as he dealt with illness and the emotional aftereffects of the war.  The two of them went on to have 72 years together, raising a family and finding their place in postwar America.  Joe Sciarra was interviewed over zoom by Crestwood students in May 2025.