Jerome Paul DiFulco was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in March 1921. He grew up there during the hard times of the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. The family was poor. He began work at age 14 selling newspapers. He graduated from high school, but there was no money to continue his education any further. DiFulco had four brothers and two sisters. His father worked for the Sewage and Water Board at a small salary. DiFulco went to work for Western Union [Annotator's Note: Western Union Company] after graduation. He was 20 years of age when the raid on Pearl Harbor was announced over the radio [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He tried to enlist in the Navy or Marines but was not accepted. He had difficulty registering for the draft after he turned 21 but was finally called for service in the Army in November 1942.

Jerome Paul DiFulco was sent to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri [Annotator's Note: Fort Leonard Wood in Pulaski County, Missouri] for his basic training. The weather was the coldest he had ever experienced. He could not stand the cold and volunteered for permanent KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police] in the kitchen. That duty kept him out of the harsh weather, and he could eat what he wanted. Some of the recruits fought over the food and milk. DiFulco reassured them that he could get more for them. DiFulco became a marksman on an M1 rifle [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. He also received training on the .30 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: he does not specify if it was the Browning M1919 .30 caliber air cooled light machine gun or the Browning M1917 .30 caliber water cooled heavy machine gun]. They wanted him to stay at Fort Leonard Wood as a corporal since he was so proficient with the weapon, but DiFulco chose to join in the fight against the enemy instead. He was sent to Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands], but the island had been secured by then. He had sailed on the USS Sea Witch [Annotator's Note: MS Sea Witch] from the United States via Pittsburg, California and the port of San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California]. The ship was unescorted with the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] all around. After a stop in Fiji, the vessel sailed on to Guadalcanal arriving in April 1943 after the island was secured. He was assigned to the 117th Engineer Combat Battalion, 37th Infantry Division [Annotator's Note: Company A, 117th Engineer Combat Battalion, 37th Infantry Division].

Jerome Paul DiFulco landed at Munda in New Georgia [Annotator's Note: New Georgia, Solomon Islands with Company A, 117th Engineer Combat Battalion, 37th Infantry Division] on the day after the Marines landed [Annotator's Note: in July 1943]. There were 22 men in DiFulco's unit that came ashore. The rest of the company landed the next day. The Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] were constantly firing on them but no one was hurt. A sniper did hit a man in the neck next to DiFulco. DiFulco was frightened that he might be next. He carried his M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] with its bayonet with him at all times. He was given C rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food] but they were not edible. He does not like to talk about the war. He had no extra clothing besides what he wore. Bathing was not possible. Mosquitos were bad. The combat engineers had to build structures to help the infantry move forward. He was trapped for eight days by the Japs until his outfit could move up to work on the Munda airstrip. He followed the tanks and infantry and watched them pick up the dead. He landed on Bougainville [Annotator's Note: Bougainville, Papua New Guinea] in November [Annotator's Note: November 1943] behind the Marines in Augusta Bay [Annotator's Note: Empress Augusta Bay in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea]. Though frightened, he felt he could make it after completing the first invasion. He saw an aircraft carrier get hit. It was possibly the Saratoga [Annotator's Note: USS Saratoga (CV-3)]. By March [Annotator's Note: March 1944], ground progress on the island was sufficient to construct an airstrip. The Japanese would assault the Americans with banzai attacks [Annotator's Note: Banzai charge; Japanese human wave attacks]. About 8,000 of them were killed and buried by bulldozers. K rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] were somewhat better food but still hard to eat. He had no hot water for two and a half years. The only bathing was either catching rainwater to use or bathing out of his helmet. The only thing to do was stay put and maybe play cards. Beer was sparse. The men were lucky to have enough to eat. While on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands], DiFulco transported an officer and then was allowed to go up in the hills and observe the local inhabitants. They were cannibals. Prior to the invasion of the Philippines, DiFulco and his outfit stayed on Bougainville for a total of 13 months. He slept in a foxhole every night since there were no tents. There was little danger. In the end, they did very little while awaiting the next invasion. There was no further training after the men were taken off the front line.

Jerome Paul DiFulco landed in the Philippines [Annotator's Note: with Company A, 117th Engineer Combat Battalion, 37th Infantry Division] in a Higgins boat [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat] after sailing on a limey [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for the British] ship where the food was worse than he had previously experienced. He survived on tea, toast and bacon for 30 days while on the ship. He sailed in an 800-ship convoy to the Philippines. About 50 kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft] hit the convoy. When the Higgins boat commander dropped the ramp, the water was deep. DiFulco was near Mr. MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] when he landed in Lingayen Gulf [Annotator's Note: Lingayen Gulf, Philippines]. He arrived by helicopter and did not land with the troops. DiFulco was asked by MacArthur to become part of the picture taken at the time, but he refused. The Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] were retreating and burning towns as they did. DiFulco initially had to guard a bulldozer but then walked 135 miles to Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines] to help capture it. They crossed Clark Field [Annotator's Note: now Clark Air Base in Luzon, Philippines] in the process. Most of the big buildings were burned. He had 74 points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] but could not return home for lack of ships for the voyage. That was despite 800 ships being in the convoy. Everyone was ready to return to the States. They had done their part. In November 1945, he departed the Philippines and arrived in the United States in December 1945. The fighting in Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] and Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] was completed before the end of the conflict in the Philippines. In the end, 40,000 to 50,000 Jap prisoners surrendered with the war's end. DiFulco oversaw some of the prisoners of war. When the atomic bombs were dropped [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945], everyone was happy. DiFulco's company was slated to hit the beaches between Tokyo [Annotator's Note: Tokyo, Japan] and Yokohama [Annotator's Note: Yokohama, Japan] on the first or second day of the invasion [Annotator's Note: Operation Downfall; proposed Allied plan for the invasion of Japan]. Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] was the best president ever. He gave DiFulco the Presidential Unit Citation [Annotator's Note: PUC, originally called Distinguished Unit Citation, awarded to military units for extraordinary heroism, on or after 7 December 1941]. Men were killed just before the armistice. DiFulco arrived at Frisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and was sent to Camp Fannin [Annotator's Note: Camp Fannin in Tyler, Texas] for discharge in December 1945. He never had a furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] the whole time he was in service.

After the war, Jerome Paul DiFulco simply carried on adjusting to civilian life. He had no troubles after the first week. He had married prior to entry into the service. He had no paper or pencil to write letters while in the war. After discharge, he was happy to be home. It was Christmas Eve [Annotator's Note: 24 December 1945] when he reached home. His job with the railroad was available for him after the war. He worked there for 39 years. He had a brother in the Navy, one at the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945], and another in the Philippines. He managed to meet up with his brother while there. They had four days together during his leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] in April [Annotator's Note: April 1945]. DiFulco had good officers during his time in the Army. DiFulco saw women, nuns, and children killed by the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] in the streets. [Annotator's Note: a video shot of DiFulco's shadow box containing medals and insignias closes out the interview.]