Raymond “Ray” Parrotta was born in Rochester, New York in May 1927. His father worked with a railroad company, and operatied a service station and bowling alley during his childhood. His mother ran the restaurant in the bowling alley. He often helped his father in the service station, doing things like pumping gas, looking under the car hoods, and repairing tires. He was one of five children. Parrotta was not affected too much during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] because his father continued to work. Parrotta was unaware of the rising hostilities in Europe and Asia because he was too young. After Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] he was unsure of what would come next for the country. He was in his father’s bowling alley when he first heard the announcement. His eldest brother quit college to join the fight. When Parrotta was 17 in March 1945, he enlisted in the Navy and trained in Sampson, New York for about 10 weeks. He was given leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] for one week, and was then given orders to board a train headed to Providence, Rhode Island. Parrotta chose to join the Navy because most of his friends were already in service. He liked the Navy because he knew he would have a place to sleep. He was in the service during VE-Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945]. He was happy to hear that part of the war was over. When he joined the Navy, he had to get used to someone telling him what to do.

Raymond “Ray” Parrotta was assigned to LST-357 [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] in May [Annotator's Note: May 1945] and sailed through the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Parrotta worked in the ship’s laundry. He did not suffer from seasickness, but many of his fellow shipmates got sick. He was so happy to get off the LST when it reached Guam [Annotator’s Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. He was there when the Japanese announced their surrender [Annotator’s Note: 15 August 1945]. He was happy that the war was over and he did not see any combat. With the war over, Parrotta decided to extend his service and was reassigned to the Naval Air Station in Argentia, Newfoundland where he was put in charge of the photography dark room. He had returned to the United Stated before he had to report to his new station. Parrotta developed a skin condition and was admitted to a hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia for some time. He was discharged in October 1947 with the rating of Seaman First Class.

After his discharge from the Navy, Raymond “Ray” Parrotta received the 52-20 club benefits [Annotator's Note: a government-funded program that paid unemployed veterans 20 dollars per week for 52 weeks] from the government. He became a federal postman for eight years and then worked for a utility company. In 1962, he lost his job with the utility company and began working for the U.S. Postal Service. He retired in 1983. Parrotta’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was when it ended. He served in the Navy because he wanted to do his part in the war. He is unsure how World War 2 changed his life. He knows it made everyone’s life better because the economy became better. He believes he did his part and felt like he contributed to the war effort. He is unsure how Americans feel about World War 2 because the country “is all screwed up.” He believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because the young generations need to understand the sacrifice by those who fought and contributed to the war.