THE MEMOIR OF JOHN CIPOLLA
101ST AIRBORNE 501ST

I had the honor of meeting John Cipolla this week at the Victor Library book signing for The Honor Flight.

We were a small group of Rochester authors with our books about WWII. I am always excited and very honored to meet our veterans who sacrificed to give us the freedoms that we enjoy today. Mr. Cipolla is a quiet man but has a powerful story to tell of his wartime experiences in WWII in the book, A LONG WAY FROM HOME.

In 1942, John saw a recruiting poster fro the airborne infantry outside of the recruiting office in his Rochester, New York neighborhood and signed up. After months of grueling training, he shipped out with the newly-formed 101st Airborne Division. That year he spent in Europe would be the most momentous and defining year of his life. Like my father, he too parachuted into Normandy the night before troops hit the beaches, and parachuted into Holland for Operation Market Garden. He was with the 101st at Bastogne, where they fought desperately to keep the Germans who surrounded them at bay.

Here is an excerpt:
The house was filled with Belgian civilians. There were people in every room. The fire in the hearth and warmth of bodies made the house luxuriously warm, at least compare to a cold foxhole. John dozed off as he listened to the quiet chatter… The shriek and thump of distant artillery suddenly broke the quiet. John knew the Germans were shelling Bastogne. Then a booming crash. The civilians cried out in fear. The house next door had taken a direct hit. John headed back to his foxhole that was safer than the warm house. The shelling continued all night, Christmas Eve. They were battling hypothermia as much as they were battling the Wehrmacht. December 27th rolled around just like any other day. But a dark shape became visible down the road. Tanks. They were Shermans. The lead tank stopped a hundred feet away. A man’s head popped out of the turret. “We’re 4th Armored. The road’s mined. We have to clear them.” John saw a soldier, clearly an officer, climb out of the third tank. “Soldier,” the officer barked, “What are you doing in that foxhole?” His face seemed familiar. John saw that he had an ivory-handled revolver on each hip. John’s comrade responded, “If you were here, sir, you’d be digging.” The officer spat in the snow and replied, “Bah! If you guys keep moving, you don’t have to dig holes.” He spun and walked off. John asked his comrade, “Do you know who that was? That was Patton!”

My father recalled one time when General Patton was standing while riding in an open jeep with those well known ivory-handled pistols. He couldn’t get over his disregard for open fire that surely could have hit him. But somehow they missed the daring General…

Please join Comes A Soldier’s Whisper honoring John Cippola and show your support by ordering a copy of his book, A LONG WAY FROM HOME by Matt Fox, available through amazonsmile.com/

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