Vincent Losada was born in Cleveland, Ohio in May 1925. His parents were both immigrants from Spain. His father was a common laborer and dug tunnel and sewer lines. Their family lived in a predominantly Polish neighborhood. Growing up in the Great Depression was rough but they survived. His father made sure there was always a meal on the table. Losada graduated from high school in Cleveland. He recalled his parents discussing the civil war in Spain then the conflict brewing in Europe. He can recall he was sitting in a movie theater when he learned that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. They stopped the movie and had an impromptu news reel giving him minimal information about the attack. Losada and his friends would discuss the glory of war but he did not think it would affect him. After graduation, Losada and three of his buddies signed up with three different military branches. Vincent Losada enlisted in the Army with the goal of joining the Army Air Corps. His friends kept in touch during the war and far after. After passing tests at the recruiting office, Losada waited a month and then reported to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana for two weeks of induction training, then he was sent to Biloxi, Mississippi for basic training. Losada recalled the weather being very hot and they worked hard to get through the training. Once he completed basic training, he was sent to Toledo, Ohio to the University of Toledo for one semester of college. He specialized in math, English, physics, and personal hygiene. He was then sent to San Antonio, Texas to the Army Classification Center. He took many tests to see what role he would do well in. After a few months, it was determined that he would be a good bombardier. He was happy that he would be able to fly. Losada explained that a bombardier's duty is to find the target and drop the bombs on the target. He also had to know how to load and unload a bomb, and the makings of the bomb. He also managed a turret. He was sent to navigation school at Ellington Field in Galveston, Texas, then to Childress Army Air Force Base [Annotator's Note: Childress, Texas] for bombardier training in April 1944 on Easter Sunday. The weather was horrible that day. He recalled a rainstorm, sand storm, hail storm, and then another sand storm occurred in just a couple of hours. [Annotator's Note: At 0:13:35.000 a clock chimes in the background.] On the first night, a guy woke up screaming and everyone found out a rattlesnake was by his head.

Vincent Losada was commissioned as a flight officer after he received all his training. He was sent to Drew Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida where he was assigned to a crew of nine men. He began training specifically with his crew. Losada remarked that his crew became his family. He felt that all his crewmen were well trained and knew exactly what to do. For training they would bomb targets in the ocean or take a picture of the target. In late November 1944, his crew was sent to Mitchel Air Force Base outside of Savannah, Georgia [Annotator's Note: can hear noise in the background at 0:19:30.000] where they were assigned to a new B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. They were given orders to head overseas one week later. They stopped in Bangor, Maine and Goose Bay, Labrador to refuel. Losado recalls that they were stuck in Goose Bay for about a week to wait out a snowstorm. They flew to England with a cargo of Army blankets and mail. They were put on a train and sent to the 487th Bomb Group [Annotator's Note: 839th Bombardment Squadron, 487th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] in Lavenham, England in December 1944. Losada remarked they lived in a Quonset hut. He remembered that it was cold, but they had a pot belly stove. They had some more training to get used to flying in formation and weather. The weather was so bad that the Army Air Corps was grounded for two weeks. This was during the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. He recalled that the day after the weather broke, the 487th Bomb Group was sent over to relieve the infantry men. However, they were faced with strong resistance. [Annotator's Note: A bell rings in background at 0:28:41.000.]

Vincent Losada first mission was on 3 January 1945 to Pfarghium [Annotator's Note: Pforzheim, Germany]. He thought it was an experience taking off with a plane full of gasoline and bombs. He recalled getting into formation as the planes take off every 60 seconds. It would take an hour to an hour and a half to get all the planes in formation. [Annotator's Note: The interviewee asks to pause the interview so he can get a list of his missions 0:36:50.000 to 0:38:05.000.] His missions would require him to bomb airfields, factories, marshaling yards, submarine pens, any military targets. They always had flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] on his missions but did not think much of it. He did a mission about every other day depending on the weather. During downtime, they would practice pattern flying or get a pass to London [Annotator's Note: London, England] for a few days. [Annotator's Note: A bell rings in the background at 0:43:38.000.] He recalled that on his first night in London, they had blackouts in the city, so guys on the street were selling flashlights. He also recalled guys selling food and contraceptives and women soliciting themselves too. He remembered during the day he would go sightseeing. He saw buildings that had been bombed and people living in subways.

Vincent Losada remembered a mission on 16 January 1945 where they headed to the town of Esson [Annotator's Note: Esson, Germany]. They dropped their bombs on their target and could not make it back on time due to bad weather. They had to find a base to land at because they were low on fuel but could not get any communication over the radio. They finally saw a plane in front of them and stayed behind it. They landed at an English Royal Air Force Base. They stayed the night there and flew back to their base the next morning. On 17 February 1945, they flew to Frankfurt and then Giessen [Annotator's Note: both in Germany] and hit their targets. There was heavy flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] and a bomb they released was hit close to their plane. Their controls were damaged and they could only steer by engine power and fell out of formation. They hit the runway going 160mph [Annotator's Note: miles per hour] with no brakes. Their plane had been hit with over 200 holes. One large hole was on top and a photo was taken of Losada reaching his right arm through it [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview at 0:56:35.000.] Another mission Losada talks about was on 15 March 1945 where they dropped bombs on a marshaling yard in Oranienburg [Annotator's Note: Oranienburg, Germany]. Losada was closing the bomb bay when he was hit by antiaircraft fire which cleanly tore his right arm off. [Annotator's Note: Losada sobs.] The other crewmen who could help bandaged his arm, pumped him full of morphine and blasted the radio through the intercom. Losada was never in any pain during the long plane ride back to the base. He was immediately placed in medical care. The next thing he remembered is waking up in the hospital.

Vincent Losada woke up in the hospital and even though he was wounded, he considered himself lucky. He was put in a body cast and sent back to the United States. They landed in Roanoke, Virginia and had to stay in an insane asylum for one night because that was all the accommodations they could find. They flew to Texas the next day and he went into emergency surgery at McCloskey General Hospital [Annotator's Note: in San Antonio, Texas]. They found gangrene in his back and arm. At McCloskey Hospital his lunch tray always included one bottle of beer and one shot of whiskey. He made acquaintances that were also amputees. They went out on the weekends together. Losada met up with one of his high school friends when he was home on leave, and they went to a football game. Neither of them talked about their war experiences. He also met his wife-to-be during the visit. [Annotator's Note: A bell rings in the background at 1:13:02.000.]

Vincent Losada planed a reunion for his crew in the 1980s. Losada used the G.I. Bill to go to school for a year and a half then dropped out of college and went to work. He worked in insurance. Losada's most memorable experience of World War 2 was when he was injured, meeting his wife, and his friends. He does not recall having any nightmares or having phantom pains. He fought because he had no choice. He believes that the war gave him good experiences and some not so good experiences. He believes he was part of what they call the greatest generation. He believes that people finally understand the sacrifices that the servicemen made during the war and what the citizens had to sacrifice as well. He thinks that its important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana]. He believes the war should continue to be taught because of all the accomplishments that came out of that generation. [Annotator's Note: A bell rings in the background at 1:28:02.000.]