Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick was born in September 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family lived in a rural area outside of the city. He had a little rifle and often went out hunting for pheasants. All the neighbors knew each other and helped each other out 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]. His father fought in the infantry during World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918] and ran a meat and grocery store after the war. He also became a machinist to get by during the Depression. Fitzpatrick grew up with one older sister. He graduated high school in 1942. He was working in a soda shop when he first heard the news of the Pearl Harbor attack [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He thought the news was horrendous and knew there were going to be some big changes. There was a government laboratory where he worked before he was drafted into the military. This later prompted him to go into chemical research. Fitzpatrick and a friend went to Philadelphia and tested for the Air Corps. He passed the test with a 99 percent score. He was accepted into the Corps and was sent to Biloxi, Mississippi for four months of basic training. He was then transferred to northern Minnesota by train to attend school. He then went to Fargo, North Dakota to learn to fly. He had a delightful experience during this time. He had a great instructor. He took several tests to see what he was qualified for. He did not qualify for pilot or co-pilot, and chose to go to radio school in Scotts Field, Illinois where he became a proficient radio operator, learning Morse code. He then went to Arizona for gunnery school. He learned everything about a .50 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning ANM2 .50 caliber machine gun]. He took it apart and put it back together while blindfolded and wearing gloves.

Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick finished his training and was transferred to Florida to join the crew. He had a good group and they stayed together throughout the war. His pilot was a very mature man, but was only 24 years old. The co-pilot was a mild-mannered southerner. The bombardier was an alcoholic. Fitzpatrick was assigned as the radio navigator, but there was also a celestial navigator. After completing training flights, his crew flew night missions over water. While stationed in Florida, they won crew of the week and were given the prize of flying “The Memphis Bell” [Annotator’s Note: one of the first Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers to achieve 25 combat missions] to New York. They received orders to go overseas and received a “Mickey chip” that dispensed chaff [Annotator’s Note: a radar countermeasure generally made of aluminum that confused enemy radar] to throw the enemies gunners off target. His crew flew the plane to Bangor, Maine, to Newfoundland, and then to England. There was some malfunction with their aircraft and then bad weather which delayed them for a month in Newfoundland. He stayed in England for a few days before heading to Marrakech [Annotator’s Note: Marrakech, Morocco]. His crew finally reached their destination in Foggia, Italy. They shared an airbase with British airmen. The Americans flew during the day, while the British flew at night. During this time, he was able to go to a USO show [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.].

Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick was assigned as the radio navigator in the 96th Bombardment Squadron, 2nd Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force and was stationed in Foggia, Italy. His crew was assigned a tent that had previously been used by a crew that had been accidentally blown-up during takeoff. The tent was cozy with a little stove. The Air Force was not very strict. He got up when he wanted to and wore what he wanted. Then a West Point [Annotator's Note: United States Military Academy in West Point, New York] man came over and requested a reveille [Annotator's Note: reveille is a signal sounded on a bugle or drum to wake military personnel]. He wanted everyone in uniform for the ceremony. Only two new airmen went out for reveille. The West Point man asked for the unit to do it again, and the next day, no one showed up. He stopped asking after that. His crew flew a mission every three days. He was on the last mission to Ploesti [Annotator’s Note: Ploesti, Romania] which was a scary mission. On mission days, he got up at four in the morning and the planes were loaded with bombs. They took off in formation flying. Their targets were always military targets and never civilians. Most of his targets were oil refineries. [Annotator’s Note: Interviewer coughs in background at 0:36:54.000.] The worst mission was near Berlin [Annotator’s Note: Berlin, Germany] when a piece of flak cut the dry shaft of the engine. The plane began shaking and then caught on fire. The pilot rang the bailout bell, and everyone prepared to bailout over enemy territory. Then the co-pilot pulled the CO2 lever, and the fire did not go out. He pulled the second CO2 lever, and the fire went out. The pilot was able to fly the plane back to base on three engines. He had some R&R [Annotator's Note: rest and recuperation] in Rome [Annotator’s Note: Rome, Italy] and had a private audience with Pope Pius XII [Annotator’s Note: Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, Pope of the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958]. The Pope got a bad rap because Rome was occupied by the Germans. Pope Pius XII gave gold to the Germans to save the Jews in the city, but the Germans sent them to concentration camps anyway. Fitzpatrick’s squadron accidentally bombed Switzerland near the Italian boarder. Fitzpatrick also got to know Padre Pio [Annotator’s Note: Francesco Forgione, called Padre Pio or Saint Pius of Pietrelcina] while he was in Italy and went to mass with him. Padre Pio was a very uplifting person.

Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick was assigned as the radio navigator in the 96th Bombardment Squadron, 2nd Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force and was stationed in Foggia, Italy. He was raised as a devoted Roman Catholic and this played a major role during his time in war. He attended Catholic mass as much as he could while he was in Italy. He had an audience with the Pope [Annotator’s Note: Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, Pope of the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958] when he went to Rome [Annotator’s Note: Rome, Italy]. It was very unfortunate when the abbey at Monte Cassino [Annotator’s Note: Cassino, Italy] was bombarded. On Fitzpatrick’s thirteenth mission, the ball turret man was injured, and Fitzpatrick had to drag him out of his seat and treat his wound as much as he could. The crew was able to get back to the base and get him to the hospital, and he survived. Fitzpatrick became friends with a Scotsman who did not survive the war. When someone was killed, they never had any ceremony for the person because it was thought it would bring morale down.

Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick was assigned as the radio navigator in the 96th Bombardment Squadron, 2nd Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force and was stationed in Foggia, Italy. There was some difficulty with the local population in Foggia because the Americans had bombed the area before he arrived. Fitzpatrick never felt welcomed in the city and did not go except once or twice. They would hear Axis Sally [Annotator's Note: Rita Luisa Zucca] over the radio. Fitzpatrick got hit by a piece of flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] shrapnel on the head, but it was just a flesh wound. On a rainy day, his squad was on a practice mission and a new crew smashed into a mountain. No one survived. It was “pretty damn scary” when his plane was hit by flak. His plane always returned with holes everywhere. He appreciated the ground crew because they worked hard day and night to patch the planes and get them ready for combat. He had Tuskegee airmen [Annotator’s Note: primarily African-American pilots of the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group] guide his plane home twice when his plane had issues after a mission. He thought the Tuskegee airmen were great fighter pilots and the Germans feared them. He called them guardian angels. Fitzpatrick knew war was coming to an end because targets became fewer. In May 1945, the bombers carried red flares and stuck them on a hill and lit them to celebrate the end of the war. He was the first member of his crew to have enough points to go home [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. He had been awarded several decorations for his service. He went home on a victory ship [Annotator's Note: a class of quickly produced cargo ship] with an infantry division and docked at Newport News [Annotator’s Note: Newport News, Virginia]. He was discharged from the Air Corps.

After he returned to the United States, Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick was discharged from the military. He took advantage of the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] and enrolled in college. He graduated with a doctorate degree. He retired in his 50s and has been enjoying his retired life. He had to readjust to civilian life after three years in the service. When he left college, it helped him transition more easily than living with his parents. He fought in World War 2 because of his patriotism and the fact that his father had fought in World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918]. The war matured him because previously he was living a sheltered life. Fitzpatrick believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations, so they know the sacrifice it takes to keep the country free. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 1:24:40.000.] Fitzpatrick spoke about the Chetniks [Annotator’s Note: The Chetniks, formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist movement and guerrilla force in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia].