Frederick Amore was born in 1924 in Bay Ridge, New York and lived there until age 17 when he moved to Rome, New York. His father worked as a surveyor for a construction company, and his mother worked as a seamstress. He had one brother who died young, so he grew up as an only child during the Great Depression. It was a difficult time, and his father didn't always have work, but he was an active child, and everyone around him was in the same economic situation, so he didn't know that his family wasn't well off. The family ethic was "be honest and earn it," a tenant he still holds. Amore was in high school when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He recalled being in the auditorium and hearing President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] on the radio speaking about "the day of infamy." Everyone was silent for what seemed like a long time, then filed out quietly. After graduating from high school, Amore was still 17 and not ready for college, so he signed up for federally paid tuition under the War Service Mechanic Programs. He was sent to the Casey Jones School of Aeronautics where he learned aircraft maintenance. After completing his training, Amore was sent to the Rome Air Depot [Annotator's Note: in Rome, New York] where he was employed until being drafted in May 1943. His father was an Italian veteran of World War 1, and had discouraged Amore from joining the armed forces until he was drafted. He returned to New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] for induction, and took exams at the Grand Central Palace. Amore was allowed to select the branch of service in which he would serve, and he chose the Army Air Forces.

Sent to Keesler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi, Frederick Amore spent two months in basic training before volunteering to teach illiterates to read and write, an assignment that carried with it the promise of achieving rank. Amore describes how he managed to instruct, without any training, an unruly group of recruits ranging in age from 19 to 38. He remained in that job for about four months, until he joined his fellow instructors in confronting the commanding officer about their promotions. Without fulfillment of the promise, they were sent to Chanute Field, Illinois for overseas training. They eventually shipped out of Newport News, Virginia on the Felix Grundy [Annotator's Note: USS Grundy (APA-111]. Amore said he had terrible quarters, and was seasick when he first boarded, but on the advice of one of the ship's crew, volunteered to be part of the ship's bombing crew, and enjoyed a better set up for the rest of the cruise. When the ship had mechanical problems, it dropped out of the convoy, and was stuck in Bermuda for two weeks. Amore recalled going to a restaurant while there, and having the actress Linda Darnell, who was in the place, pay for their meal. Once again underway, the ship encountered a surfaced Italian submarine, with the crew on deck, and a sailor atop playing an accordion. Amore was told it was a ship that had joined the Allies and patrolled the Atlantic with the United States Navy. The ship's next stop was Oran, Algeria, and there he was assigned to a "tent city," and had to make his mattress out of blankets and hay. They moved from there to Castel Benito airfield in Libya, and from there to Payne Field in Cairo, Egypt. Assigned to the ATC [Annotator's Note: Air Transport Command], Amore's group finally went to Abadan, Iran where he stayed for 11 months, working part-time in maintenance, and part-time as aircrew, delivering personnel, equipment and supplies as far as Karachi [Annotator's Note: Karachi, Pakistan], which was then part of India. He was part of a two-man team that had its own jeep and was on call 24 hours a day.

Frederick Amore was transferred to Payne Field in Cairo, Egypt and, because there were too many mechanics there, he did "absolutely nothing" for six months. When the points system [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] came up, Amore qualified to go home with 44 points. From the Suez Canal, he sailed on the Cristobal [Annotator's Note: USAT Cristobal], arrived at Fort Totten [Annotator's Note: Fort Totten, Queens, New York], and was discharged from Fort Dix, New Jersey. Returning to his service in Iran, Amore mentioned that he visited the Shaw's palace. While he was there, one of his friends was taking his turn as crewmember, died when the plane crashed. Amore escorted the body to Teheran [Annotator's Note: Teheran, Iran], where it was buried. He noted that the Americans were assembling planes in Iran that were transferred to the Russians, with the symbols on the aircraft changed from a white star to a red star. When he went to Cairo [Annotator's Note: Cairo, Egypt], Amore said they "did the usual" sightseeing, and killed time until they were sent home in February 1946. When he was in the Mediterranean, he saw sunken ships of all flags. Amore said that the soldiers in Cairo gave candies to the kids, because they felt "kind of sorry" for them, and they were thankful. Iran "wasn't quite that nice," according to Amore, and he was reminded that the poverty was unbelievable. He saw beggars in the streets of Abadan [Annotator's Note: Abadan, Iran] in clothes made from burlap sacks. When he came home, he realized just how well off Americans were. It was a "growing up" experience for him. He was 21 when he returned home, and he immediately applied for college under the G.I. Bill. After four years at NYU [Annotator's Note: New York University in New York City, New York], during which time he did practice teaching at Amityville, New York, and he ended up teaching there for over 30 years. He retired to Florida, and began substitute teaching at Boca Raton High School [Annotator's Note: in Boca Raton, Florida], and eventually took a full-time job that he stayed in for another ten years. He now lives in a retirement community and is active in a veteran's organization.

When he was overseas, Frederick Amore was servicing mostly C-46s [Annotator's Note: Curtiss C-46 Commando transport aircraft], but also C-47s [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft]; occasionally he worked on C-54s [Annotator's Note: Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport aircraft], and very occasionally, C-69s [Annotator's Note: Lockheed C-69 Constellation transport aircraft]. His job was to repair damage to the fuselage from "unfriendly fire," and damage from trucking or "backing into planes"; he did no engine work. When he was working as a crewmember, he took notes dictated by the pilot on what needed attention, and give them to a sergeant to have the work done. He liked that job, but couldn't "make it permanent." It was one way the administration at the base was cutting costs. Amore mentioned an incident that happened when the inspector general came to Abadan [Annotator's Note: Abadan, Iran], and one young man had the nerve to tell him that the food was terrible. Although the soldier "disappeared," the food improved. The security there was conducted by Indian troops, marching the perimeters dressed in turbans and carrying swords. He remembered a temporary assignment he had driving a jeep at the back of which was a sign that said "follow me" because there was no radio communication with the planes. Amore said the first thing he noticed on arrival in Iran was the heat. Next, he noticed the hostility of the German prisoners of war. One Italian prisoner, whom Amore called "Dapper Dan" was an arrogant pomaded officer, who walked away when Amore tried to speak with him. The most difficult thing Amore had to get used to in Africa was mixing in with the townspeople. Some had hostile attitudes; others were super-friendly. He found the women's clothing peculiar, and odd that the men would walk hand in hand. Of his locations, he most enjoyed Egypt, particularly Cairo and Alexandria, a city that had many Allied troops, French-influenced architecture, nice accommodations and beaches. There, he met a British girl whose job in their navy was to park battleships. The least agreeable of the foreign population were the British men, who took offence because the American men had more money to spend, and were more popular with the women because of it. The Americans got along "hand in glove" with the South Africans. The mix gave him an appreciation of the enormity of the war. Amore was appalled by the sanitation conditions on that continent. On a leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], Amore had a chance to go to Europe. The Italian side of his family came from the area around Turin, [Annotator's Note: Turin, Italy] and he wanted to meet his distant cousins. But when he was given the choice of going there or going home, Amore decided to go home. He did not enjoy anything about working in Africa. He resented the fact that he missed the chance to work in England.

Only one time did Frederick Amore come into a truly dangerous situation. He was not supposed to be in a "combat area," but somewhere over what is now Pakistan, something put a hole in the side of the plane. Amore looked out, and then asked the navigator, "What are all those white puffs?" The navigator told him somebody was shooting at them. They were flying low, so there was no problem with oxygen, but there was shrapnel in the plane, and Amore kept a piece. When he brought supplies to Karachi, the China-Burma-India group would take over the cargo. Amore didn't spend much time there, but walked into the town and found it very unfriendly. He said they were having their own political problems at the time. Soldiers couldn't venture out alone, and were warned against going down "dark alleys." Amore said the transports carried everything, including food, equipment, armament and personnel. Amore said it was so desperately hot, that sometimes they would take a truck into town and go to the swimming pool at the British base. Occasionally, the USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] would come through and perform at their outdoor theater. He remembers the actress Ann Sheridan came through. All in all, Amore said it was "an experience." At one point he had to deal with sand fly fever, which is an illness like malaria, and he was sick for 42 days. His living conditions were in barracks, and he slept on a cot under a mosquito net on a T-frame. All the windows were blocked shut because of the sand storms, but somebody invented a primitive air conditioning system that helped to relieve the heat a little. He also had a personal fan that his mother sent him. He lived with a good and trustworthy group. One of the older fellows introduced him to 3.2 beer [Annotator's Note: 3.2 percent content beer or low alcohol beer; the highest legally allowed in production for nine months during 1933] in an attempt to put a little weight on him, but it didn't work. The only problem that came up among the men had to do with religion; between the Protestants and the Catholics the differences could end up in fistfights. When President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] died, the only criticism he heard was that the United States had rushed to help England and left the Pacific in trouble. Amore was in Cairo [Annotator's Note: Cairo, Egypt]] when the Germans surrendered, and the reaction was mixed because some of the soldiers faced the possibility of having to fight in the Pacific. But a short time later, Japan surrendered and they celebrated quite a bit. Everybody was happy it was over.

The only negative thing Frederick Amore heard about the American warfare in the Pacific was when "they used that bomb." A lot of the guys said we killed a lot of civilians unnecessarily. Amore said it's interesting to see how the philosophy about weapons of mass destruction has changed. He returned to the United States six months after the war officially ended, in February 1946. Amore said the big difference after the war was that we were no longer shipping "heavy stuff," and we were moving people around more. The name of the Air Transport Command was changed, and when the Air Force was separated from the Army, even more things changed. They took the same people and changed their uniforms. Hap Arnold [Annotator's Note: United States General of the Army then General of the Air Force Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold] was in charge when it was part of the Army. The first thing he wanted to do when he returned to the United States was "go home." He said there wasn't much of a reception when he reached America. Today, he doesn't like being called a "hero"; when he was in the armed forces, he was doing his job. His discharge was soon after he returned, and he had to make only a little adjustment to return to civilian life. He was entering college at 21 years old, alongside younger people. He felt he missed an important part of his life by being in the military. Nevertheless, he is thankful that things worked out well in his later life.

Frederick Amore's most memorable experience from World War 2 was getting off the train at Biloxi [Annotator's Note: Biloxi, Mississippi], and realizing his military service was "for real." He also mentioned a similar reaction when he reached North Africa, and he saw the living conditions there. He thought, "Hey, we're wasting all this money on wars," when there are people who are struggling to survive, and "it's not right." He served during World War 2 because he was inducted. He wasn't thinking about the "political situations" or the "ramifications." He has since studied history and learned a lot about the conditions that brought the war about. Some of the benefits he personally enjoyed as a result of his service included mortgage reduction and tuition for college from the G.I. Bill, and he enjoyed some respect as an individual who served. Today he credits his service for maturing him, and teaching him to appreciate what he had. He thinks the world expected the United States to be a "policeman for the rest of the world" forever, and that is no longer possible. The unrest is "all over the place, and it's growing." Asked if it is important for there to be institutions like The National WWII Museum, Amore said that since the lessons are no longer being taught in the educational systems, museums fit in by telling young people that "this is what it was, and this is what they did, and this is what happened…it needs to be done."