William Disanza was born on 120th Street in Manhattan and grew up in the Bronx. In 1950 he got married and moved to New Jersey. Disanza was a boxer growing up in the Bronx. He also participated in the Catholic Youth Organization. Disanza’s family consisted of three brothers and one sister. A couple of times they were separated because of financial problems. Disanza and his older brother used to pal around a lot. Disanza’s brother burned his face while trying to check out a problem with his car one time which left a big scar on his face. Disanza’s dad beat them because he was upset they were messing around. They always tried to make a dollar if they could. His older brother worked construction and Disanza worked on a laundry truck. Disanza had another job helping the milk man. Disanza earned the respect of his father by cleaning shoes and at nine years old was awarded his own box to clean shoes so he could make money. If Disanza made more than two dollars he would keep the difference. When Disanza worked delivering milk he made a dollar a day, sometimes two. Disanza got his brother involved in the milk business. His brother went into the Merchant Marine. His brother’s name was Joe. Joe's ship was torpedoed during the war and he was killed. Disanza was in the Merchant Marine. Every ship he got off of was torpedoed at some point after he left it. His first deployment in the Merchant Marine was to South America. He was off the coast of North Africa two days after D-Day. Disanza went to Glasgow and then England. He got home one day shortly after his brother was killed and his mother requested that he immediately get out of the Merchant Marine because she did not want any more sea burials. Disanza left and went into the army. Disanza was sent to New Orleans and then Maryland for his training. He began his OSS training in Maryland. They taught him different types of warfare and taught him how to be proficient with American weaponry. Disanza did not like the Browning Automatic Rifle because it was too heavy. He went into Burma and from there they engaged in guerilla warfare as well as reconnaissance.

William Disanza refused an order one time. They asked them to knock off a group of Japs. They always scouted ahead to make sure they were not walking into an ambush. They had a meeting with a colonel, a first lieutenant and sergeant. They all wanted to know what the story was. Disanza informed them that there were too many. They told Disanza that he could have gotten a court martial for refusing an order. Disanza informed them he would rather get a court martial than be dead. They let it simmer for a couple of days and they came back to Disanza. Disanza was always concerned about the men underneath him. He always made sure he got what he needed for his men. When the war was over and Disanza was on his way home he slipped on the ship and broke his leg. He was in the hospital for two months. The doctors told Disanza that he did not have enough calcium in his blood. He drank a lot of milk in the hospital. Disanza entered the Merchant Marines in 1940 when he was 18 years old. He was on three different ships. They were the Floridian, the Chase, and the Middleton. He entered the army because his mother did not want any more water burials. He ended up in the army’s navy. Disanza had long hair when he ran guerilla activities. One day he was close to the Japanese and they were loading trucks. Disanza loaded the trucks next to the Japanese. They had made arrangements to blow the Japanese trucks up. They eliminated as many Japanese as they could. Only once did Disanza refuse to attack a group of Japanese. They blew the trucks up because they were carrying ammunition. Disanza knew that he did not have a chance to knock the Japs off when he refused the order. Disanza immediately joined the army after leaving the Merchant Marines. One time when Disanza got off of a ship he wanted to rest. He went to a farm in upstate New York by train. Disanza was picked up by a woman in an old Chevrolet. They gave Disanza 11 dollars a week to shovel hay. One time the rope broke that held the hay. The guy was upset he had to go into town to fix the problem. Disanza told him he could repair it himself. Disanza was good with ropes because he had to learn about them in the Merchant Marine. Disanza gave him a long splice and it worked fine. He was so happy he called a buddy to come check it out.

On a rainy day William Disanza would work around the house. He did a variety of odd jobs with odd solutions and trick that he picked up while he was in the service. Disanza did not want to go on a ship any more. A lot of people think the ocean is beautiful but to Disanza it is no good. The only water Disanza enjoys is a lake that looks like glass. He never bothered going back to sea. He met his wife after the war and got married. Disanza enlisted in the Merchant Marine. He went to the draft board with his brother Vinny. Vinny and Disanza got in an argument, so much so that the cops were called at the draft board. Disanza’s brother wrote a letter for him and himself saying that they wanted to be drafted. Disanza worked on the decks of ships when he was in the Merchant Marine. After his second trip he was listed as an able bodied seaman. He was good at tying ropes. He worked the watch sometimes as well. Disanza got seasick on his first trip. He was working the wheel of the ship and he had to leave to throw up. He got one of his mates to watch the wheel. The guy told him he did not give a damn if he had to throw up he was not to leave the wheel of the ship. Disanza had a pail with him the rest of the time. Disanza was sick for three or four days on his first trip. He was not able to eat anything. They told him he had to put something in his stomach. Disanza ate an entire grapefruit one time skin and all. He made sure to eat well. He notes that the Merchant Marine provided them with great food. Disanza was able to eat barracuda for the first time and liked it. They worked four hours on, eight hours off. Everyone had to serve watch. Disanza spent a lot of time in the engine room of the ship because he enjoyed learning about engines. The engineers had a tiny bucket where they washed their clothes in the hold of the ship. It was a good life. Disanza collected 50 dollars a week plus hazard pay. Any time they went into enemy waters they got an additional 10 percent on their pay. Disanza always did well. The first port they hit in South Africa was Capetown. The boatswain told DiSanza that he knew he was going in town to find some women. He told Disanza to go to the library in Capetown because libraries hold the prettiest girls and they also happened to be clean. Disanza always had a girl for the USO dances. He picked a girl up in Glasgow, Scotland. She preferred to go to a movie. Disanza still has a picture of her.

William Disanza had trains and tanks on the deck of his ship. The train cars were too big to fit underneath the deck. When a storm confronted the ship they had to go on deck to secure everything on deck. One time they got into a storm off of Cape Hatteras and one of the lifeboats was washed right off of the ship. Disanza almost drowned there. His feet were hanging off of the edge of the ship. As soon as the ship up righted he was able to save himself. The Merchant Marine was a good life if you liked the ocean. Disanza did not enjoy the ocean. He was happy to get into the army but initially he had to ride in boats. Disanzas training in the army was pretty basic. He was in Junior Navy ROTC so he learned a lot of things before he ever got in the service. He knew the manual. He did his basic training in New Orleans and Maryland. Most of his training was in New Orleans. In Maryland Disanza got involved with the OSS. He got involved with the crash boats. They would go from New Orleans to Tampa Florida just training on the boats. The boats were the number one thing they trained on. They put the boats on the deck of a big whaler and brought them overseas. A crash boat was six feet longer than a PT boat. In most cases they were faster than PT boats because they did not carry torpedoes. They carried 5,000 gallons of fuel like a B-17. The boats could burn 160 gallons of fuel an hour at top speed. Top speed was about 47 to 48 miles per hour. In knots it was about 42 or 43 knots. The crash boat would constantly hit the water at top speed. The front of the boat would come up and the back of the boat would hit. Every ripple or wave was hit by the boat. It was never a smooth ride. They were not that comfortable. Disanza was in the engine room of the crash boat. It was interesting. It was a huge engine. Disanza was familiar with Packard engines because he was familiar with Packard cars. They had an eight inch bore with a four inch stroke. They were made purposely for the crash boats. Some PTs had the Packard engine. They always had decent Marine engines. They were happy with the Packards. They had massive carburetors with big doors which allowed for a massive amount of fuel to go into the engine. The crash boats were used for picking up aviators who had ditched in the ocean. There were 13 men in the crew. The boat hit some coral one time and it bent the propellor. They pulled into shallow water and Disanza and the chief engineer hopped in the water to check it out. They used their gas mask as a type of scuba mask. Disanza and the chief went down and took the knob off. They had a jack with three chains on it and they wrapped it around the propeller. They put the jack against the side of the boat and they jacked it out. Disanza and his crew were able to repair the propeller.

William Disanza was happy to straighten the propeller issue out and get a new one back on. That was an experience they had with problems with the boat. They had two .50 caliber machineguns by the wheelhouse. They also had two twin .30 caliber machineguns on the bow of the ship. They would go up and down the rivers and shoot up anything that was strategic to the enemy. That was the biggest use they had for the boats. Disanza got into the OSS right at the beginning. They wanted three of the top crash boat crews to get shipped overseas. Disanza was told he was going to be in OSS but he had no idea what it meant. He was sent to Rockefeller Center. Disanza was in the OSS at this point. He went to General Donovan’s [Annotators Note: Major General William J. Donovan, also known as Wild Bill, was the wartime head of the Office of Strategig Services] office in Rockefeller Center. He was told to not talk about anything that he was doing. They did a lot of guerilla training. They went out in the field and did guerilla work. He did a lot of the training in Maryland. Disanza’s job as a guerilla was to attack and dismantle small groups of Japanese in a type of covert fashion. They did what they had to do. Nothing stinks worse than a dead Japanese soldier in the jungle. The oil comes out of their skin. Disanza always knew when there were dead Japanese around. When they killed them they got out of there most of the time. Disanza did not wear conspicuous clothing. In the jungle they were instructed to wear long sleeves because of the different types of insects and bushes around. Disanza always wore army shoes. They were the best to use. His feet would always be soaking wet. Disanza could not wait to sit down and relax for a second. Many times Disanza had to put wet socks back on his feet. If a guy in the outfit did something remarkable like save another man’s life he would be rewarded by the man who was saved with a dry pair of socks. They were a big commodity. Disanza hated the Japanese. They came across a village that the Japanese had left. The Japanese had killed a bunch of the younger men and women in the village. The Japanese had shoved bayonets into the girl’s private areas. Disanza also saw a baby with his head smashed lying by the edge of a tree. Disanza hated the Japanese so much. He sent a scout out to find the Japanese. They found them eating and knocked them all off. The Japanese maimed people after they killed them.

[Annotators Note: William DiSanza served in the army and was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS, and took part in combat operations in the CBI theater.] They went after the Japanese another time but they were too far away. Disanza hated the Japanese so much he could not believe his eyes when he came home and saw that people were buying Japanese cars and products. Disanza would never buy a Japanese car. Disanza saw what they did and disliked it. Disanza would give them the right time if they asked but that is about it. He does not buy anything from them if he can help it. In today’s world that is kind of hard. Disanza came face to face with a Japanese soldier one time. It was the only time he faced hand to hand combat. Disanza took his knife out and stabbed him in the thigh. He then took the knife out and stabbed the Japanese soldier in the throat. Disanza always thought that it was a good thing that the guy who trained him was better than the guy who trained the man he killed. That was the only time that Disanza fought hand to hand against the Japanese. It took place in Burma. The Japanese did rotten things. Two or three years ago in the newspaper the Japanese came out and said they were sorry about the atrocities they committed. Disanza would kill them and that would be the end of it. It upset Disanza to see that the Japanese mutilated people they had killed. Disanza does not have nightmares but he occasionally dreams about things he saw. He does not care about it anymore but he does hold a grudge when it comes to Japanese products. Disanza always felt that if he came into a lot of money he would have a Packard handmade. The first car that Disanza got his wife was a 1953 Packard hard top. It was green with a maroon top. It had cream colored seats in it. Disanze did not personally witness babies being killed but he found ones on the ground that had been stabbed. If they got a signal that there were Japanese around they would seek them out and attack them. If nothing was going on they lived in the jungle. The locals hated the Japanese so much that they provideded information whenever the Americans asked. They ate many different kinds of food. The locals would cook it up and the guys would eat it. Disanza ate python. It was white meat that looked more like chicken. It was good eating. Disanza witnessed the locals capturing a python. They cooked it by roasting it over a fire. Most snake meat is not bad to eat. Out in the field Disanza ate all types of things like grass and roots. Disanza believes that something he ate a while back still gives him diarrhea.

William Disanza was in one group of guys but they had multiple outfits in Burma. There was an outfit called the 101 outfit [Annotators Note: Detachment 101] and they had donkeys. They had about 125 guys with them. These guys hit the Japanese group that Disanza was unable to neutralize. It was Disanza and one GI plus a whole bunch of natives. The other GI was of Greek descent. Disanza lost contact with the man. Once they got on the ship they lost contact. Disanza was carried off of the ship at the end of the war because he had broken his leg. Disanza carried a map. He was the strategy guy out of the two man detachment. Disanza would dictate who they would attack and how they would get there. His partner would radio in the attack to headquarters. If they were capable enough to make an attack they would. If they could not attack they did not. Disanza liked the size of his group. Two GIs plus about 15 natives was a good size. Disanza notes that if there were anymore people than that it would have been difficult. Disanza was providing the natives with rifles. They also had carbines and grenades. Every now and then they would radio in for supplies and get an airdrop. Disanza noted that they gave them enough rifles to start their own revolution. At the end of the war Disanza was getting ready for his first parachute drop. They were specially trained for that. Two days before the mission they found out that the war had ended. Disanza used to carry a .32 caliber pistol under his left arm. Disanza always had that with him. When they were camped in a particular place in the field the natives would form a perimeter. Disanza was attacked by mortars one night in a field and he ran like hell. The Japanese were very good with mortars. The Japanese called it a knee mortar but it was not actually anchored by your knee. Once the Japanese bracketed you it was tough. Disanza never had to use his sidearm in combat. He never attacked Japanese with knives. He shot first. Disanza never slept sound. Even in deep sleep he felt like he had one eye open. One of Disanza's officers was gay and he made a move on another man. He was court martialed. Disanza was a sergeant.

William Disanza was in the Boy Scouts as a kid but it did not prepare him for Burma. Disanza had originally joined the navy but did not like the ocean at all. Disanza helped to train Ho Chi Minh’s soldiers. Disanza was out in the field and was contacted and told that he was to train some of the Ho Chi Minh soldiers. Disanza had the Ho Chi Minh soldiers for two weeks but he got rid of them after that because they were sadistic. They mutilated the guys that they killed. Disanza did not stand for the mutilation. It was a waste of time in Disanza's eyes. He taught them and it upsets him knowing that some of the guys he trained fought against Americans in Vietnam. Some people in that situation do horrible things but Disanza made the effort to not be sadistic. They were already dead and there was no reason to hack them up. Most of the guys Disanza served with had the same ideas. Disanza taught the Ho Chi Minh soldiers how to shoot and how to attack a force. They made sure whenever possible to sneak up on a group and shoot them all at once. Disanza notes that the Japanese knew how to live off of the land better then the Americans. He recalls some of the words that he had to know in order to do his job. He could tell by the inflection in their voice whether they were in trouble or not. It was a challenge to work with the locals. They never questioned Disanza however and that made his job a lot easier. The locals in Burma hated the Japanese to begin with. It was easy to train the locals who wanted to fight and kill the Japanese. Disanza was in the Merchant Marine at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was on his way to Cape Town, South Africa. He was hanging off of the side of the ship painting it. Everyone was nervous finding out about war because they thought that they could be torpedoed.

William Disanza had a navy crew aboard his Merchant Marine ship. Their job was to handle the guns. They had a submarine scare. Disanza himself did not see it but a couple of other guys saw it. They suggested firing the five inch gun just to show the submarine they meant business. It worked. Disanza qualified as a sharpshooter when he was in the service. His qualification did not necessarily help him with his OSS work. Disanza was always handy with guns. Disanza had a guy in Burma who was a sniper. Disanza called him in one time. He was able to meet up. Their job was to knock off a Japanese officer. They knew who he was and they had actually seen him. They had never gotten close enough to kill him. The Japanese officer was about a half a mile away but the sniper got him. They took off like birds after the shot. Disanza was never a hero. He did not want to be one. Disanza's heart was always pumping pretty fast on a raid. He always hoped that he did the right thing. The main thing was to set up the men in such a way so that they could get out. Disanza preached firing and not aiming. It was good practice to not aim because it cost time. Disanza was always afraid but he never let it get to him. He knew he had to do a job. Disanza got parachute drops that contained supplies. The parachute was made of silk. The natives loved the silk. They always had women in the camp. One of them asked how the women dressed in America. Disanza told them as best as he could. Disanza offered to make a dress out of the parachute. The silk was very soft and very nice. Disanza taught them how to do it and they did it themselves. There was always a woman to help cook and wash clothes in camp. They cooperated to no end. Disanza used medical tape to make a chute that would capture rainwater.

Any little thing William Disanza could do to help the natives he did. They loved it as well. It was American ingenuity at its finest. Disanza was dropped off in Burma in a harbor. It was a small harbor where boats came in. Disanza walked everywhere. He even touched the Great Wall of China when he was over there. Disanza walked up and touched the Wall so he could always say he touched it. Disanza notes that he has forgotten a lot. What he remembers today is the stuff that impressed him. Disanza ran out of gas one time in a boat. He was not able to reach the buoy. This incident occurred when Disanza was on a crash boat. Disanza grabbed onto a life preserver and an English PT boat picked him up. The boat was alongside the dock. Whoever tied it did a bad job and the boat started to drift out. Disanza was on the boat and tried to grab the line. He grabbed the rope and swam towards the buoy. Disanza could not reach the buoy because of the tide. Disanza always put one or two lookouts out if they were in a village. They had nothing more than a stick on them. If someone was coming they tapped their stick against a tree. The Japanese this time came into a village and did their harm but Disanza and his men were able to catch up later with those Japanese. One time Disanza and his group was planning on setting the grass on fire to cause a distraction. The Japanese looked all over but could not find anyone. The Japanese had an inkling that someone was there that was not Japanese. If you were not Japanese you were going to get it from the Japanese. If the Japanese had known they were Americans they might have been looking a little harder. Disanza had to learn how to control himself and not make a move. Even if he had to urinate he stayed very still. A lot of things happened but Disanza is here today. Disanza picked a lot of things up out of necessity and not training.

When William Disanza had to urinate he would take a knife and dig a small hole to urinate in. Disanza always noted that God was on his side. Most of the time Disanza was too scared to sleep but he also notes that he could not afford it. Disanza was 84 years old at the time of the interview. He holds up an identification card which was his ID card in the OSS. Disanza was supposed to turn it in after he was discharged but he kept it. Disanza carried it with him throughout the war. Disanza keeps it in his wallet to this day. If anyone asked Disanza what he was doing he told them he worked in the underground balloon battalion as a joke. Disanza was asked to continue working in the OSS. They wanted to send him to China but he did not want to go. Disanza got out completely. People used to ask Disanza what he did in the OSS. He never told them the truth. If the service found out that certain guys were talking about their experience they would interject and tell them to keep their mouths shut. Disanza talks about his service with his family. Disanza told his family what he did as soon as they were old enough to understand but he never talked to friends about it. Disanza kept certain things close to his chest. His family discovered his experiences as he got older and the family got older. He never mentioned his experiences to his brothers. One of Disanza’s brothers finished 25 missions in a B-17. That brother remained in the reserve after the war. His brother who flew in a B-17 had terrible nightmares. After the war Disanza had some trouble sleeping. He would wake up covered in sweat and wonder why. Disanza has one brother who is still alive. He rested when he came home from the war. He got married and his uncle went into the egg business. His job was to deliver fresh eggs in a basket to people living in apartments. Disanza did that for a few months and then he went to work for an outfit called Falcon Buick. Disanza worked with them for nine or ten years.

William Disanza worked in the office for Falcon Buick. His job was to be the follow up guy. He would contact the customer to tell them how much the work cost and when they could pick up their vehicle. Sometimes Disanza would work at night. They had stacks and stacks of orders that were never filed. Disanza would go in at night to file them. The boss knew Disanza stayed late but Disanza never asked for extra. Disanza got a 500 dollar bonus for staying late. They were very grateful for what Disanza did. Sometimes Disanza worked on a Sunday. His boss's name was Edward Miller. Disanza then started a career in sales. Disanza was able to take a couple of courses via the GI bill. He would say offhand that he was successful. They had a layoff and Disanza was laid off. Disanza then got a job with Ford. Disanza never felt right selling the cars at the dealer price. Disanza ended up only selling trucks for Ford. None of Disanza’s experiences during World War 2 helped him with his business career. It did help his mindset however. He learned to always finish a job that he started. He always told his children that integrity was number one. Disanza is proud of his kids. The GI Bill helped Disanza get through school. He took a course on business management. He would not have taken that course unless he had the GI Bill to pay for it. Disanza’s son went to the same place Disanza went. His son has done very well business wise. Disanza learned to depend on himself in the army. He did well throughout his life and this was a result of the army. Now Disanza depends on his wife. Disanza always learned to follow through and finish the job.

William Disanza's business lasted over 30 years. The war did not change Disanza drastically. He was in the Civilian Conservation Corps [Annotators Note: generally referred to as the CCC] and that helped him develop more into a man than the army. At Disanza’s job they had a rule that if it was eight degrees or higher they were out in the field. If it was below eight degrees they had the day off. The CCC camp had army instructors. Disanza has been saying for years that they should start the CCC up again. They would be more likely to be independent. Disanza thinks that one way a new CCC could be useful for is firefighting. They want people who are young and vigorous. If Disanza became very rich he would push someone to start that up again. Disanza believes that World War 2 definitely made the world smaller. Disanza never guessed that the military would take him on such adventures. Disanza believes that the war did a lot of good. It was good for the United States to help up the enemies we had defeated. Japan and Germany were essentially rebuilt by the United States. The Berlin air drop was also a big success. The C-47s hauled all types of supplies into East Berlin. The Korean War was a mistake in Disanza’s eyes. Disanza never cared for Truman. Disanza did not think that Truman firing MacArthur was a good idea. Disanza thinks that it is important for future generations to study World War 2. He thinks that the younger generations need to learn more about sacrifice. Disanza also thinks that people need to know how we took care of Germany and Japan and Europe after the war. Disanza is frustrated that kids today do not know their history and geography. Disanza made sure that all of his children knew geography and studied it. Disanza hopes that future generations will teach their kids. Disanza wants World War 2 to be viewed as a necessity and a sacrifice. We knocked Hitler off. The Germans were sinking ships off of the coast of New Jersey and New York. Sometimes they could see the ships sticking out of the mud. It took awhile but the United States finally realized that they needed a convoy system. God was on our side. Disanza went through the Depression. There is so much business going on and some of it is crooked too. There are so many people who want to work to make money. Disanza does not think a Depression is imminent because people still want to spend money and be active in the economy. People have to buy things. Things can depreciate, but they will never reach Depression levels.

William Disanza is not positive about everything but he thinks the Great Depression could never repeat itself. Disanza notes that many people want to come into this country. We believe in live and let live. That is the main thing. Disanza thinks it is important that we have museums. He believes its a great thing. He did not know there was one. Disanza went to a museum in England when he was there and he thought it was great. History is very important to Disanza. Disanza's CCC [Annotators Note: Civilian Conservation Corps] articles are at the Smithsonian. It was a foot locker that Disanza had. Disanza has his name on the foot locker. Maybe in 100 years someone will look at the foot locker and be amazed by it. Museums help to bring things to life. Disanza is one little person in the whole scheme of things. Disanza thinks his experiences are not as great as the guys who fought with Patton. Disanza thinks that the experiences are important. The country sacrificed a lot of people to make things right. People should not forget it. Do not take things for granted. [Annotators Note: Disanza ends the interview. The interviewer gives some kind words towards Disanza and his family members who were present.] Disanza enjoyed having The National WWII Museum come and interview him. He served his country as best as he could. It is the finest country in the world. [Annotators Note: The interview is over however for the last few minutes Disanza shows off his shoe shine box from the Great Depression.] Disanza's brother made him a shoe shine box that he used to shine shoes. It is well made. Most of it is originial. Some of the brushes in the shoe shine box are most likely 100 years old. Disanza was nine years old when he received the shoe box. He received five cents per shoe shine. Every now and then he would get a quarter. Disanza holds up a picture of an 85 foot long crash boat. It could do about 45 miles per hour on the water. It did not carry torpedo tubes which allowed it to be faster than a PT boat despite being longer. It carried 5,000 gallons of fuel with a compliment of 13 men. The Packard engines could burn 160 gallons of fuel at high speed. Disanza has a trophy he was awarded as a boxing champ. He earned that trophy fighting at 147 pounds. He sent it to his wife at the time as a birthday present. Diamonds came later for his wife. Now she has so much jewelry he does not give her any more. She has some beautiful stuff as well. Disanza holds up a medal that he was awarded for winning three fights. Disanza was very proud of that. Disanza had PAL pins in grammar school. Disanza had about 17 of them and they were awarded for completing various athletic exercises in his gym class. Disanza's skipper showed him how to tip the tables. They went out and found a square piece of plywood and made three holes in it. They stuck pegs in it and put it on a hard surface. He showed them how to tip the table.