Anthony Varuso grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana where his father had a food store. As a child, Varuso delivered groceries to the home of his future wife. Following their marriage, they were together for 65 years. His wife passed on about a year prior to the interview. Varuso worked for Quaglino Tobacco Company for 37 years after the war. With his work, he became familiar with the streets of New Orleans. He enjoyed his job. He was in the service for slightly over three years following his enlistment. He initially joined the Marines, but, after talking with his mailman, he changed to the Navy. Varuso was angry at the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term used to refer to Japanese] for bombing Pearl Harbor. Varuso and his brother joined the service together in January 1942 as a result of his negative feelings toward the Japanese.

Anthony Varuso left New Orleans for his basic training at Naval Station Great Lakes [Annotator’s Note: near North Chicago, Illinois]. It was a warm day when he departed home, but snow was on the ground when he arrived. Following issuance of uniforms, the recruits were made to march in the snow. Their shoes were muddy but the drill instructor told them to go into their barracks without cleaning the mud off the footwear. Then, the instructor told them to clean the mud from their barracks. It was a lesson in following orders. Varuso selected PT boats [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boats] to serve on because of his familiarity with them in New Orleans. PT boats were built there by Higgins Industries. Varuso's brother, Joe, had previously worked on PTs prior to his service. Joe rode the boats in Lake Pontchartrain to prove their seaworthiness. Varuso was assigned to an ELCO boat. It, like the Higgins built PT, was a good boat. The ELCO had ten men and two officers aboard. Varuso volunteered for PT boats even though a friend cautioned him that it was dangerous duty. Varuso was Gunner's Mate on the boat. He was in charge of all the weapons. The armament included .50 caliber machine guns, 20mm cannon, torpedoes and a smoke screen generator. His PT boat training was on the Great Lakes. Afterward, he was deployed to New Guinea.

Anthony Varuso thought highly of the natives on the island of New Guinea. Even though their clothing was minimal, they were good people. They helped the Americans in many ways. Varuso chastised a buddy who had showed anger toward them. The natives did far more good than bad while helping the Americans. The PT boat [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] that Varuso manned [Annotator's Note: PT-144, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 8 (MTBRon 8)] often did patrol duty along the coastline. The enemy had a difficult time hitting the small vessel because of its speed and the masking smoke that was provided by its smoke screen generator. One sailor, however, was killed right next to Varuso. That showed Varuso how our freedom had to be earned. Enemy aircraft attacked American ships in the harbor until friendly planes came and shot some of the enemy down. Souvenirs were collected from one of the downed planes. Varuso had a pair of Japanese ears handed to him. It was terrible, but the young sailors wanted to whip the bastards. [Annotator's Note: Varuso's words, he laughs]. Patrols usually consisted of six boats working together. They followed each other in shallow water in order not to generate excessive wakes. When his boat ran aground, it had to be destroyed with Varuso's souvenirs left aboard. The Niagara [Annotator's Note: USS Niagara (AGP-1)] was the tender for the PTs. The enemy bombed it and cut the ship in half. The six PTs picked up the 120 crewmen from the tender. The Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term used to refer to Japanese] were attempting to bomb any Allied ships or boats they could locate.

Anthony Varuso and the PT boats [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boats] in his squadron [Annotator’s Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 8 (MTBRon 8)] made attack runs on Japanese shipping. Some were successful and others not. A Japanese submarine was sunk by Varuso's boat [Annotator's Note: PT-144]. It fired a torpedo on the enemy boat to destroy it. There were four torpedoes on the PT boat. Each torpedo had 900 pounds of TNT in the warhead. It was quite an accomplishment for Varuso to fire the torpedo and hit the Japanese submarine. His boat was fast. It departed the scene of the submarine's destruction at about 40 miles an hour. That was with all the armament loaded aboard. Without the weaponry, the boat could make even faster speed as was proven in tests on Lake Pontchartrain. [Annotator's Note: Although assigned to an ELCO boat, Varuso's brother Joe had tested Higgins Industry built PT boats on Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, Louisiana before he entered the service.]

Anthony Varuso and his squadron of PT boats [Annotator's Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 8 (MTBRon 8)] tied their boats up along the Marobi River [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling] in New Guinea. He went on many patrols during his service. He moved to different places in New Guinea. He also passed through the Solomon Islands but did not patrol them. The worst situation he encountered was the death of his buddy right next to him. It could have been Varuso if the round had shifted a few inches. The ten men and two officers aboard the PT [Annotator's Note: PT-144] were just like brothers. Varuso enjoyed his time with them. The officers were nice to the crew. Varuso knew Kennedy [Annotator's Note: then Ensign John F. Kennedy was skipper of PT-109]. He was a nice guy and friendly with everyone. He saved his crewmen when his PT was sunk. Kennedy would go on to be president. He was assassinated while in a motorcade with his wife. Every PT boat had a crew which seemed bonded together. The bunks they slept in were adjacent to each other in the boat. Sometimes the bunk would get loose and the sleeper would fall out. [Annotator's Note: Varuso laughs.] There was enough berthing for the full crew. They had to observe dark-out conditions while on patrol. The PT fired on a submarine as well as against enemy troops ashore. [Annotator's Note: Varuso converses with an inaudible voice from someone other than the interviewer off-screen.]

Anthony Varuso served in the Navy for three years and eight months. He had rotated back to the United States by the time the war ended. He was stationed at a base on Lake Pontchartrain. He observed a telephone operator there and learned to operate the switchboard. That enabled him to return home every night after work. Transition back to stateside life was not difficult because Varuso was well supplied in the Pacific and had not experienced many hardships with food or ammunition. He experienced friendly support from troops he met. One pilot was going to give Varuso and ride in his plane, but he was shot down beforehand. All branches of the service were friendly in the Pacific. Varuso managed on one occasion to barter a couple of his sandwiches for liberty from two Marines. [Annotator's Note: Varuso laughs.] Varuso also met fine people when he went to Australia. Varuso saw lights on the beach during one patrol and thought it to be the enemy. When he fired on them, he discovered differently. It was another PT boat crew that shouted that he should cease fire. Varuso's time in the service taught him to obey the orders from his officers. They were good men. He was happy that the Japanese had been defeated. He was discharged soon after the war. Life in the service was good. Our nation's military is good. [Annotator's Note: Varuso's son talks off-screen.] The gunners on Varuso's boat [Annotator's Note: PT-144] shot down some enemy aircraft. During an enemy strafing run, Varuso could not make it to a foxhole so he successfully camouflaged himself with a sack pulled over his body. After so many missions, the crew received liberty. They met USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] ladies who were nice to them. Varuso spent time on Tulagi and Guadalcanal.

Anthony Varuso has visited The National WWII Museum and finds it a wonderful place to educate the populace about the Second World War. Varuso knows that our freedom did not come free. Varuso's squadron [Annotator's Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 8 (MTBRon 8)] received the Presidential Unit Citation. Varuso receives a pension from the Navy for the malaria he contracted while in service. He was assigned to Ron 8, PT-144. When it sank, he went to PT-147 and MTBRon 12. People he met were friendly. Some officers had fun racing their boats. The boats were painted for camouflage to hide them from the enemy. Varuso fished in a dingy with hand grenades. The cook discarded the poisonous fish and cooked the others. After the war, Varuso became a commander of an American Legion post. He was also president of a Lion's Club.