Local World War II Navy vet saw lots of action

PITTSFIELD – Armand Maffuccio, 91, can tell you a few things about democracy, war and the will to survive.

The lifelong Pittsfield resident was 21 years old when he joined the U.S. Navy to avoid being drafted into the Army.

It was a precarious time in history, and the United States was already embroiled in the agonies of World War II.

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and war was raging when Mr. Mafficcio enlisted in 1942.

After completing boot camp on the Great Lakes, the young sailor, in 1943, was sent to Bremerton, Wash., to serve on the U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6, which was to become the most decorated ship of the war.

Downed enemy planes

The ship’s planes and guns shot down 911 enemy planes during the war, and her bombers sank 71 enemy ships. They damaged or destroyed an additional 192 ships, according to the U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6’s website.

Mr. Maffuccio came on board as a baker as well as damage control worker.

The U.S.S. Enterprise was stationed primarily in the Pacific and the Philippine Islands area during his four years of active duty, except when it was sent to Hawaii for repairs from enemy damage.

The U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6 engaged in more than 20 major wartime actions during its years of service, which ended when a Kamikaze attack off of Kyushu, Japan, left the ship with a huge gaping hole in her flight deck, the ship’s website stated.

Mr. Maffuccio, whose mind is still as sharp as the end of a knife, recalled the duties of a person assigned to damage control during the war.

Helped avert disaster

“On deck damage control consisted of averting disaster during enemy attack, putting out fires, pushing burning planes into the ocean before they exploded after a crash landing or ignition from enemy bombs and whatever was needed,” he said.

His recollection of what it was like to be aboard a ship like the U.S. S. Enterprise during war is clear and chillingly focused.

While at battle stations during enemy attacks, the sailors had to lie flat on the deck so they would be available when needed. The noise was tremendous. Navy guns were shooting over their heads along with the guns of all the escort ships, destroyers and cruisers. Bombs and torpedoes were exploding nearby, there was enemy fire, and planes were taking off and landing.

“This is what damaged my hearing,” Mr. Maffuccio said.

To this day, he has a very difficult time hearing.

“War is bad,” he said. “A very bad thing.”

373 lives lost

“I consider all 373 men that died while serving on the Enterprise my friends, even if I did not know them personally,” Mr. Maffuccio said. “They were heroes.”

Mr. Maffuccio was born in Naples, Italy, and came to the United States in infancy with his family.

He served on the U.S.S. Enterprise from 1943-1945. He was sent home when his mother died. While on leave, he married his late wife, Grace (Polidoro), and was reassigned to a naval base in Florida for the rest of his enlistment.

After returning to Pittsfield for good, Mr. Maffuccio worked for many years as a baker in several establishments, including a stint at the former Wendell Hotel in Pittsfield and also earning $12 for a seven-day week at the Pittsfield Rye Bakery.

Eventually, he wanted to do something different, he said, and took a job as custodian at Pittsfield High School for 20 years.

Two children, five grandchildren

The Maffuccios raised a son, Richard, and a daughter, Carol Ann. They were married for 61 years and were gifted with five grandchildren. Then, Mrs. Maffuccio died in 2006.

When he became a widower, Mr. Maffuccio started going to the senior center twice a week. That’s where he met Sandy Fidler, several years his junior.

They discovered they both loved to travel and, at age 89, Ms. Fidler took her friend on a trip to Italy, the land of his parents. His father, he said, had been decorated by the King of Italy for bravery in the Italian Army.

Mr. Maffuccio and Ms. Fidler continued their travels by going on five cruises as well as to four U.S.S. Enterprise reunions in Salt Lake City, Utah; Tulsa, Okla.; Austin, Texas; and Rye, N.Y.

His 92nd birthday will be on Oct. 12. A week after his birthday, the couple will take their sixth cruise, this time to St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, St. Martin and the Dominican Republic.

Great sense of humor

He maintains his sense of humor which keeps friends, including Ms. Fidler, laughing.

“I came over [to the USA] with Columbus,” he joked.

Mr. Maffuccio, who has been making his home with his daughter and her husband, Lou Kuch, is getting ready to move to Melbourne Place. It’ll be the first time in his entire life to live alone in an apartment.

“I had a good life,” he said. “I can’t complain.”

Dreams about U.S.S. Enterprise

He said he thinks about the U.S.S. Enterprise frequently and even dreams about it.

“I never believed the ship would be one of the most famous in the world,” he said, adjusting a cap on his head. “It was not the ship so much, it was the men who made it strong. The reason the ship survived is everybody worked together. It was a great experience and I would go through it all again.”

Mr. Maffuccio is one of a handful of men from the Enterprise days to still be living. The youngest is now 87 years old.

Americans still patriotic

Mr. Maffuccio said he believes that most Americans are still patriotic.

“Wherever I go and wear my Enterprise cap or shirts, people come up to me and thank me for my service,” he said. “They tell me they are proud of the servicemen and what they did then and do now.”

So when the American flag flies this Fourth of July week, a proud 91-year-old survivor of World War II will feel in his heart the pride of having served his country well. He knows well that freedom has a hefty price.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on July 5, 2013. Filed under Community News,Featured,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry