Nick Cristiano was born in July 1925. He grew up in the Bronx, New York. There were great schools. His father owned a barbershop and his brothers became barbers. Cristiano wanted to become an airplane pilot. He was not aware of the Depression. He liked to fly. As a young man, he shined shoes and he would use his earnings to pay for rides in airplanes. He could not afford flying lessons and he figured the best way to learn would be to join the Army Air Corps. He went to a trade school and studied aviation to help him get in. The exam for pilot training had nothing to do with what he learned, and he failed. He was given a choice of mechanic or gunner. He wanted to fly so he chose to go to gunnery school. One day, he heard a lot of people outside saying to turn on the radio. That is how he found out about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. It was instant patriotism. Cristiano lived in an Italian neighborhood and Mussolini [Annotator's Note: Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini] was a hero until he went with Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. In the end, they were Americans. His parents wanted him to learn to speak Italian. He went two or three times and stopped. He worked in a men's wear store. There were a lot of Italians and he did not understand Italian. There was an Italian club that had parties. He was only interested in America and wanting to be a pilot. His middle brother was on Guam and developed malaria. He came back and then was sent to Italy. While his brother was in Italy, he found out Cristiano was missing in action.

Nick Cristiano enlisted in the Army Air Corps because he wanted to be a pilot. He took the exams. He went to Greensboro, North Carolina and had more tests. He had studied about airplanes and the exams were not about them. He was given a choice to be an aircraft mechanic or gunner and he chose gunner because he wanted to fly. He went to gunnery school at Tyndall Field, Florida. His parents were not happy, but he told them if he waited to be drafted, he would not get what he wanted. He did not get to be a pilot, but he got to be in the air. He was training on B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] and he would go to the cockpit during flight. The pilots let him fly some. He had to learn how to take the aircraft's guns apart and fix jams while blindfolded. He wanted to be on B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] or B-26s [Annotator's Note: Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber] but he was assigned to B-17s for training. He then went to Clovis Field [Annotator's Note: Clovis Army Air Field, Clovis, New Mexico; now Cannon Air Force Base] to train on gunnery on B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber]. It was all remote-control. He never got a chance to use it. He did not even get ammunition. He was an observer and would have to call out what stages the landing gear was in. The tail gunner was the only one with ammunition. The reason was that there were no more fighter attacks. Cristiano wondered why he was even going along. It was mostly ack-ack [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] and that was what got him.

Nick Cristiano saw his first B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] in New Mexico and it was amazing. There were a lot of accidents. It had powerful engines and if the load was too heavy, they would catch fire. The plane was not perfected yet. Cristiano went overseas and on his fourth or fifth mission they were shot down. The first mission they went on, Cristiano was to watch the engines and the landing gear. They just got off the ground when he shouted that there was fire in number four [Annotator's Note: the number four engine]. They had 12 1,000 pound mines on board. The pilot feathered the engine and the fire went out. When they dropped the mines, one got stuck. The bombardier had to get it out of the plane. WHen they landed, right behind them was another guy with an engine out and he hit the coral. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks him how he got overseas.] Cristiano and his crew had gone to Kearney, Nebraska and picked up a brand new B-29. They then flew it to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California], to Hawaii, to Kwajalein [Annotator's Note: Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands], and then to Tinian [Annotator's Note: Tinian, Mariana Islands, arriving 28 December 1944]. Tinian had four runways. When you got back from a mission, the guys were happy to see you which made Cristiano feel like a million dollars. Another mission was a long one and his was the only plane not back. The ground crew waited until they arrived. Living conditions were good, cots with air mattresses, they were treated royally. There were still a few Japanese in the hills. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Cristiano if he knew a particular person who was also on Tinian. He did not]. The top turret gunner was in control of all of the guns.

Nick Cristiano says his crew were nice boys. He was anxious to go on his first mission [Annotator's Note: January 1945] but then he saw the fire in the engine. Cristiano did not think too highly of the pilot and copilot. In training, he would always have to try to land twice. It was scary for a while. Their missions were long, ten to 11 hours. He always worried about getting back. They had a lot of guys go in the drink [Annotator's Note: crash land in the ocean] due to running out of fuel on the return. Once we took Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] and Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands], that saved a lot of them. They could do repairs there. His first mission was mine-laying. The rest of them were incendiary bombs with 500 pound delayed bombs. It's quite a sight to see that fire. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks him how he felt about dropping those bombs on civilians.] That was industry too. They had to burn them out. It was easier and it worked. They flew at 8,500 feet. LeMay [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces then US Air Force General Curtis Emerson LeMay] kept having them come down [Annotator's Note: reduce their altitude] because the winds over Japan were terrible and planes kept missing the targets.

Most of Nick Cristiano's bombing missions started in the evening. He would call the meal before leaving "the last supper". The crews would be briefed on the target. When they came back, they were treated like kings. They would be asked what they wanted to eat. Some Japanese still on the island would make it into the lines for food. Some were caught and killed. That is how starved they were. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks him to return to the story of the mission during which he was shot down on 14 April 1945.] They were hit by searchlights. He called out there was a fire on number four [Annotator's Note: the number four engine]. The pilot dropped their load of incendiary bombs and then told the crew to prepare to bail out. Cristiano had to push one of the crew out as he froze at the door. Flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] hit Cristiano in the head and knocked him unconscious. He fell out of the plane. The fresh air woke him. He fell into a rice paddy. Civilians started beating him with clubs. Some men broke it up and took him away. One of the men was making a phone call and the other kept hitting Cristiano on the head with a cane and yelling "Tinian, Saipan". He was then taken to a holding area. He was blindfolded and put in solitary confinement. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks him what was going through his mind after he bailed out.] He was just trying not to land in the fires caused by the bombing. Once he hit the ground he knew the war was over for him.

When Nick Cristiano got to the prison camp, he was given a paper to fill out. He only would put name, rank, serial number and they were beating him. Another prisoner told him to give them what they wanted and to exaggerate. [Annotator's Note: Nick Cristiano references a movie, Unbroken, an American movie about the camp, 2014]. His camp was very clean. He was in a solitary room. He had two blankets, a straw floor, and every morning they would sweep the room and then bring him barley. He could not eat for a while. He was given a toothbrush and had to wash up every day. The Japanese were very clean. [Annotator's Note: Cristiano describes a brutal form of torture in detail.] Towards the end of the war they got a bath for some reason, it was the only time, and they got haircuts. The water in the tub was very hot.

Nick Cristiano was shot down on 15 April 1945. He was in prison for five and a half months [Annotator's Note: he was liberated on 21 August 1945]. He was put in solitary. It was clean and had a window. Prisoners would come by and ask if he needed anything. The Japanese were very clean people. It was cold there. He asked a guard for a jacket or something. The guard made him run until he collapsed. After that, if asked if he was cold, he would say he was warm. His family thought he was gone [Annotator's Note: dead]. Their neighbors told them to go to the theater because Cristiano was in the movie [Annotator's Note: newsreel] as a prisoner of war. That is how they knew he was alive. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer says that he understands that Cristiano became a con man to survive.] Cristiano would have to bang on the door to use the bathroom. He remembered the Japanese loved ping pong [Annotator's Note: table tennis]. He told the guard he was number one at ping pong in the United States. The guard took him out to a table and made him play. He would then say he could not play well because he was too hungry. They would give him food then. But the guard got smart and beat him. That was the end of ping pong. Cristiano never had any duty at Ofuna [Annotator's Note: Imperial Japanese Navy installation and prison camp, Kamakura, Japan]. A lot of the men got dysentery.

Nick Cristiano says the Japanese guards [Annotator's Note: at Ofuna prisoner of war camp, Kamakura, Japan] were bored and had to do something. If they did the slightest thing wrong, the guards would whack them. They would put them in what they called the Ofuna crouch. [Annotator's Note: Cristiano describes it in detail.] If anyone did anything wrong, they all got punished. One guard took one of their survival vests and started a fire with a flare. To show the Americans they were not being treated unfairly, the camp commander lined up the Japanese men and beat them for starting the fire. Then the prisoners were really beaten. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer brings him back to particular Japanese guards.] Monkey and Weasel would just pick on them [Annotator's Note: unable to locate actual names]. He never saw any prisoners killed. Cristiano was the last prisoner who got there. It was the only place he had ever been where nobody talked about girls. They only talked about food. They knew he was Italian, and he had to tell them how to make lasagna. Most of the prisoners were Navy pilots and gunners. A couple of Army guys, mostly B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] crews. He was interviewed after the war regarding his treatment. He explained the difference in how he was treated by the different guards. Some guards were just doing their jobs, but other guards enjoyed it. Monkey and Weasel were the worst. The guards would ask them what kind of plane they were on. Cristiano would say P-51s [Annotator's Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] because he knew the B-29s were the ones that killed so many of their people. There were a lot of flies in the camp. If they killed 100 flies they got a cigarette; if they killed 50, they ate for the day. [Annotator's Note: Cristiano tells a story of cigarettes that is hard to follow because he speaks a lot of Japanese while telling it.] The Japanese would beat them with bamboo canes filled with sand. The least little infraction got them all beaten. Cristiano knows Pappy Boyington [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington] had been in the camp before him. The Japanese respected Boyington and sent him to a registered camp so the government would know he was alive. After the war, Cristiano watched the television series based on Boyington and his crew [Annotator's Note: Baa Baa Black Sheep].

Nick Cristiano feels that his Japanese prison guards did not know the war was coming to an end. They were brainwashed. The Japanese would kill themselves not to be captured. He was not allowed to send any correspondence from the camp. The Japanese would play a radio all the time. One morning Cristiano heard a lot of talking instead of music and asked a guard what it was. The guard beat him. The next day, all new people came into the camp. The prisoners were all lined up and the camp commander told them the war was over. He said that his job now was to protect the prisoners from the civilians. One day, aircraft starting coming over and dropping cigarettes and bread. Then, the English came in and took care of them. A B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] came over dropping food. A drum of fruit cocktail hit the trees and split open. Cristiano says the prisoners were like monkeys climbing up after the fruit. They got new clothes. They were taken to an airport the next day and then they got on planes home. He got to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and got a great greeting. He lost around 50 pounds in the camp [Annotator's Note: Ofuna prisoner of war camp].

Nick Cristiano has no idea where his Japanese prison guards went when the war ended. A whole new crew came in. The new guards were there to protect the prisoners from the civilians. The British came in and stayed with them until the Americans came and got them [Annotator's Note: on 21 August 1945]. They went to the Philippines. In San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California], they got full physicals. His friends and family saw a newsreel in a theater that he was on. That is how they knew he was alive. His brother picked him up at the train station. His mother was crying. All the neighbors were waiting for him too. Cristiano had to give testimony to the government about the Japanese guards and how he was treated. The only two he said were bad were Monkey and Weasel and the doctor [Annotator's Note: unable to locate exact names]. Monkey and Weasel got 20 years and the doctor was hung. The doctor would beat them too. Cristiano was bitter towards the Japanese in the beginning, but time heals all wounds. They were brainwashed and it was like their religion. He feels his experience helped him in life. He learned not to be envious. There were a lot of things he would have liked to have had. He has a good wife and she deserves a lot. He was in the hospital for a while before getting discharged. He was not bitter because he was alive. He had no issues after the war. He always thought he would make it. He would tell soldiers today that you have to survive. If you have the will to live, you will survive. His camp [Annotator's Note: Ofuna prisoner of war camp] was a country club compared to others. He would get magazines to read. Stay alive. Do not give up. He feels the younger generations should learn about the war and museums are very important to show the good and the bad. He would tell future Americans to believe in their country.