Frank Campisano was born in April 1926 in Louisville, Kentucky. He had a happy childhood and family. During the Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression] people had to sacrifice things, but he did not realize it at the time. His dad, an Italian immigrant, worked in a produce house, but his salary was cut, so he quit and started his own grocery. His mother was from western Pennsylvania. Campisano had a brother and sister. His neighborhood was full of food markets and was inhabited by Italians, Lebanese, and Germans. His father was discriminated against because he was Italian. His father's family came to the country [Annotator's Note: Unted States] in 1929. He was proud to show his parents how well he was doing. European politics were discussed in the household because they still had family in Italy. At the time, they did not discuss Mussolini [Annotator's Note: Italian fascist dictator Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini; also know as il Duce], but did discuss Germany. They were happy to hear about the prosperity Mussolini brought, but did not think it would lead to the Axis [Annotator's Note: the Axis Powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan]. Campisano remembers hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] after hunting with his uncle. They read about it in the newspaper. He was 15 years old and thought the war would be over before he would have to go over. He did not give it much thought, but he did have to register for the draft. He wanted to join and do his part. At age 16, he started college and was taking engineering courses. At the time, engineering courses gave students deferments from military service. He tried to join the Army Air Corps, but he was rejected due to color blindness. He was also rejected from the Navy Air Corps for the same reason. His mother was happy and refused to sign for him to join. In 1944, all school deferments were cancelled. After turning 18, he joined the Marine Corps and six months later he was on Saipan. He volunteered for the Marine Corps.

Thinking he would ship out the next day, Frank Campisano took the family car to be sworn into the Navy. But when he joined the Marine Corps instead, he had to immediately catch a train. His family rushed to the station to see him off and get the car back. It was his first time west of the Mississippi [Annotator's Note: Mississippi River]. After three days, he arrived at Parris Island, San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] for boot camp. His mother was devastated because she had five brothers in the service. All of them survived the war. Because of his education, he was put in charge of the other five Marine recruits during the train ride. He could not wait to get into battle with the Japanese. The whole country felt that way. He does not think the country could feel that again today. People were willing to sacrifice without complaint. Parris Island was a shock. He had to learn discipline and how to depend on the people next to him. There was a lot of camaraderie. He was offered a spot at Officers Candidate School twice but turned it down because he wanted to stay with the enlisted men. After boot camp, Campisano went to combat training camp. It was very rigorous. They would train for ten days then have two days off for several weeks. His leave was cancelled because a troop ship was ready to take them over. His mother managed to give him a leave pass, but his captain ripped up the pass. When she called again, his captain balked because he wanted Campisano to finish the training. Campisano managed to get the pass because he had never been on sick leave. He visited with his family and his mom was satisfied. After the visit, he returned and finished his training. He then went aboard his troop ship, went up to San Francisco, then set sail.

Frank Campisano was eager to do his part. He was told he would be put wherever the Marine Corps needed him, which was likely the infantry. Some of his instructors had combat experience in the Pacific. They had not been given the training they needed, so the instructors tried to prepare Campisano the best they could. He was taught how to shoot in a line, and then hand to hand combat when he arrived in the division [Annotator's Note: Campisano joined the 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division on Saipan]. The instructors did not speak kindly of the Japanese. They told the rookies that the Japanese did not take prisoners. Campisano was told about the terrible things the Japanese did to American bodies on Guadalcanal and Tarawa. Campisano served as a fire controlman in an artillery unit. He would be in contact with the forward observer, and would compute or readjust the guns fire. Having been in engineering school, he took to the job. He trained in all aspects of being in an artillery team. He was on a 105mm howitzer.

Frank Campisano's trip to the Pacific was uneventful. He joined the 2nd Marine Division on Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands]. He thinks it was fate that put him in the 2nd Division. He arrived on Saipan in November [Annotator's Note: November 1944], long after the battle had finished. He was brought to the suicide cliffs [Annotator's Note: Marpi Point, Saipan], and he could still see the remnants of the suicide victims. The veterans explained what happened. Campisano did not consider the Japanese human. While on patrol, he buried a dead Japanese soldier. He was surprised that he did not consider the dead Japanese a human. He was told not to chase live Japanese off the trail because of possible booby traps. The living conditions were normal. They had water and lived in tents. He lived near the airfield. Japanese planes coming from Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] would come in and try and bomb the island. While on Saipan, Campisano trained to kill the enemy. He was trained to fill any position on the gun [Annotator's Note: Campisano was a fire controlman on a 105mm howitzer]. On the firing range, an artillery team messed up its calculations and almost killed the island commander. He would go on patrol once a week. Everyone followed orders not to chase Japanese off of the trail. On the weekends he had off time, but in general it was boring on Saipan. Campisano followed the action in the Pacific more than Europe. He recieved more detail on the Pacific War. He was told he would be invading an island, but not which one.

Frank Campisano was told he would be invading an island and boarded a ship the Monday before Easter [Annotator's Note: 26 March 1945]. The following day, the Marines heard Tokyo Rose [Annotator's Note: nickname assigned to any female English speaking radio broadcaster of Japanese propaganda] announce that the 2nd Marine Division would be annihilated on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. He wrote a letter home telling his family to read the newspaper on 1 April to find out where he was. The Marines were gung-ho to get into a fight. Before he could arrive on the beach, he was supposed to serve food to the infantry. As he was walking to his duty station, Campisano felt an explosion on his ship. He made it to the mess hall, but the food was scattered everywhere. The power was off around the ship. He then went to his combat station to load onto his Higgins Boat [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP], which had to be lowered to the water by hand. He got into a boat and made it to a LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] where the rest of his unit [Annotator's Note: 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division] was. He slept under a truck on the tank deck for several weeks. Campisano and the division were a reserve unit and then was told he would be trained as the first unit to invade Japan. He ate twice a day and could shower twice a day. On his shower day, he found out he had been injured in the troop ship. On his 19th birthday, he was told about the death of Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States]. Everyone felt he had been doing a good job, but no one knew Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States]. Campisano considered Truman a hero. He thought kamikazes were stupid. He could not believe the Emperor [Annotator's Note: Japanese Emperor Hirohito] agreed to the kamikaze attacks. He saw the American pilots shoot down a lot of kamikazes. He never had a doubt of the outcome, but Campisano still has not forgiven the Japanese military. From his LST, Campisano could see the explosions on Okinawa. He never made it onto the island. When his troop ship was hit, his unit was being used as a decoy to make the Japanese split up their forces. The Japanese admiral thought he had repulsed the invasion when Capisano's ship was struck. The Japanese sent a lot of false reports of victories.

Frank Campisano was told he would be in the first wave for the invasion of Japan. He departed for his old camp on Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands] where he started training. He was told he would have to be prepared for civilians as well as military personnel. He trained on an island north of Saipan that had similar terrain to Japan. He trained with his gun [Annotator's Note: 105mm howitzer] and in amphibious landings. He was training when he heard about the atomic bombings. He did not think there would be another shot fired and that he would survive. He knew it would have been a tough fight. He underestimated the destruction of the bomb, but thought it would convince the Japanese to surrender. Campisano was disappointed when they did not surrender after the first bomb was dropped. He continued training after the Japanese surrendered on 14 August [Annotator's Note: 14 August 1945]. He did not know which rumors were true. Going home was not openly discussed. To celebrate V-J Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945], Campisano received an extra can of beer. Everyone was trying to figure out their points. [Annotator's Note: A system of points was used to decide when an dindividual would return home. Points were given for a variety of reasons ranging from time overseas to how many wounds an dindividual received in combat]. It was a disappointment when he found out he would be on occupation duty in Japan. He landed at Nagasaki. It was unbelievable to see the devastation. There was an arrow pointing out where the bomb had hit. The city was leveled. Occasionally he would see a part of a wall or some steps. People had been burned over a mile away. He thinks it was a decision that had to be done. The Marines were happy to have survived. Campisano was on occupation duty for six months. He slept in the Japanese Naval Academy building. It was the first time during the war that he slept on a real floor. In the mornings, Campisano taught Marines geometry. He had a lot of free time. The civilians were shy. The Japanese military was arrogant. To get out of less desirable duties, he picked up an afternoon job driving a doctor around. Campisano's original staff sergeant had enough points to go home early. A new gunnery sergeant, who had never been overseas, was the replacement. Campisano got in trouble for referring to the new sergeant as a "stateside bastard." Marines rarely received complimentary nicknames. Campisano was always in demand as a fighting partner because he was short.

Frank Campisano was happy to go back home. He was single while in the military and was having a good time. He went through the Panama Canal, which was not a happy time. He felt relieved when he got back to the States [Annotator's Note: United States]. There were celebrations, but he could not celebrate too much. While on Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands], he tried to join OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school]. After some back and forth, he received an interview. When asked if he wanted to make the Marine Corps a career, Campisano laughed, ending the interview. He wanted to be an engineer, not stay in the military. Campisano did not have a hard time adjusting back to civilian life. On Saipan, he was allowed one warm beer a week. He used the G.I. Bill to go back to school. He finished school in December 1948. Campisano thinks being on a ship in enemy waters without power was his most memorable moment. He does not remember how long he was in the life boat. His motivation to serve in World War 2 was to get back at the Japanese for the attack on Pearl Harbor. He thinks the internment of Japanese-Americans was the safest thing to do because of potential spies. He thinks the war was an interruption to his life, but not something that hurt him. Campisano is proud that he served, and wishes more people understood what the country went through at the time. Men went overseas for years, and communications were not as advanced as it is today. He believes The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] helps show the history and the sacrifice people went through. He thinks teaching about the war will help keep something like it from happening again.