1
100
2
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https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/files/original/e23571c6982787a3af060a1a9aa455a4.pdf
0e90bd85a39a5fe34646163564782a15
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Watermark Collection
Alternative Title
The Watermark Collection
Subject
Gay culture--United States
Description
Since 1994, <em>The Watermark</em> has been the cornerstone source of LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, and others) centered news for the Central Florida region. Founded by Tom Dyer in Orlando, the publication began generating bi-weekly issues beginning August 31, 1994. Since then, <em>The Watermark</em> has consistently published newspaper style issues every other Thursday. Gaining traction, the publication expanded in 1995 to include Tampa and, in 1997, <em>The Watermark</em> became a permanent piece of LGBTQ+ culture when the publication initiated the first large-scale Gay Days Weekend event, the Beach Ball at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. Before 1999, the publication printed 20,000 copies every week, distributing them to over 500 locations between its two major cities. Following 1999, the publication launched watermarkonline.com shifting to an online publication style. In 2016, Rick Claggett purchased <em>The Watermark</em>.
Is Part Of
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/" target="_blank">RICHES Program</a>
Type
Collection
Contributing Project
<a href="http://www.floridalgbtqmuseum.org/%20" target="_blank">GLBT History Museum of Central Florida</a>
<a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/">The Watermark</a>
Curator
Smith, Robert
Cepero, Laura
O'Neal, Rhiannon
Hearn, Nikki
Greene, Quintella
Rodriguez, Sharon
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
<a href="http://www.floridalgbtqmuseum.org/%20" target="_blank">GLBT History Museum of Central Florida</a>
External Reference
"<a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/aboutcontact/" target="_blank">About/Contact</a>." WatermarkOnline.com, accessed July 11, 2016. http://www.watermarkonline.com/aboutcontact/.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
The Watermark, Vol. 12, No. 7, April 7-20, 2005
Alternative Title
Watermark, Vol. 12, No. 7
Subject
Gay culture--United States
Description
The seventh issue of the twelfth volume of <em>The Watermark</em> was published on April 7, 2005, and was the Spring Home Décor issue. The Décor pull out section highlights Central Florida homes and their interior designers' unique styles. Also included in that section is an interview with Style Network's Brini Maxwell (Ben Sanders, b. 1969). This issue also covers the death of the Student Safety Bill in Florida's legislature, as well as a recently passed Ohio bill that would inadvertently harm straight couples in cases of domestic violence. Further coverage includes an examination of the late Pope John Paul II's relationship with the LGBTQ+ community, a queer alumni group started at the University of South Florida, and Israeli leaders' resistance to Jerusalem hosting WorldPride.<br /><br />Since 1994, <em>The Watermark</em> has been the cornerstone source of LGBTQ+ centered news for the Central Florida region. Founded by Tom Dyer in Orlando, the publication began generating bi-weekly issues beginning August 31, 1994. Since then, <em>The Watermark</em> has consistently published newspaper-style issues every other Thursday. Gaining traction, the publication expanded in 1995 to include Tampa and, in 1997, <em>The Watermark</em> became a permanent piece of LGBTQ+ culture when the publication initiated the first large-scale Gay Days Weekend event, the Beach Ball at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. Before 1999, the publication printed 20,000 copies every week, distributing them to over 500 locations between its two major cities. Following 1999, the publication launched watermarkonline.com shifting to an online publication style. In 2016, Rick Claggett purchased <em>The Watermark</em>.
Type
Text
Source
Original 76-page newspaper: <a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/" target="_blank"><em>The Watermark</em></a>, Vol. 12, No. 7, April 7-20, 2005: Publications Collection, <a href="http://glbthistorymuseum.com/joomla25/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">GLBT History Museum of Central Florida</a>, Orlando, Florida.
Requires
<a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/reader.html" target="_blank">Adobe Acrobat Reader</a>
Is Part Of
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/collections/show/203" target="_blank">The Watermark Collection</a>, RICHES.
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original 76-page newspaper: <a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/" target="_blank"><em>The Watermark</em></a>, Vol. 12, No. 7, April 7-20, 2005.
Coverage
Orlando, Florida
Tampa, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Cleveland, Ohio
Augusta, Maine
Jerusalem, Israel
Vatican City, Rome, Italy
Sarasota, Florida
Miami, Florida
Creator
Baber, Keith
Blanchard, Steven
Crescitelli, Jim
DeJesus, Edwin
Dyer, Tom
Hartlage, Kirk
Jenkins, Georgia
Kundis, Ken
Leiner, Victor
Masters, Billy
Middour, Bryan L.
Murray-Parker, Karen S.
Nolan, Margaret
Roehr, Bob
Shapiro, Gregg
Triggs, Greg
Walen, Rick
Wiethop, Dave
Wiggins, Jayelle
Wilde, Diane
Publisher
<a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/" target="_blank">Watermark Media</a>
Date Created
ca. 2005-04-07
Date Issued
2005-04-07
Date Copyrighted
2005-04-07
Format
application/pdf
Medium
76-page newspaper
Language
eng
Mediator
History Teacher
Provenance
Originally published by <a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/" target="_blank">Watermark Media</a>.
Rights Holder
Copyright to this resource is held by <a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/" target="_blank">Watermark Publishing Group</a> and is provided here by <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES</a> for educational purposes only.
Accrual Method
Donation
Contributing Project
<a href="http://glbthistorymuseum.com/joomla25/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">GLBT History Museum of Central Florida</a>
Curator
O'Neil, Rhiannon
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
<a href="http://glbthistorymuseum.com/joomla25/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">GLBT History Museum of Central Florida</a>
External Reference
"<a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/aboutcontact/" target="_blank">About/Contact</a>." WatermarkOnline.com, accessed January 28, 2018. http://www.watermarkonline.com/aboutcontact/.
A Dirty Shame
A League of Our Own
Abdel-Salem Mensara
Advantage Tampa Bay
AIDS
Alan Douglas Ruck
ALSO Out Youth
Aqua Girl
Arielle Maffer
Arlene Donnelly Nelson
ATB
Ausley
Babes in Bonnets
Barry Hobbins
Bear Bust
Bears of Central Florida
Ben Sanders
Bernadette Peters
Bill Frederick
Bill Young
Billy Manes
bisexual
BOCF
Bonnie Raitt
bowling
Brian Botoroff
Brini Maxwell
Buddy Dyer
bullying
Carl M. Kuttler
Carmella Marcella Garcia
Catholicism
Cathy James
Cathy Sands
Cdc
Centers For Disease Control
Chantel Reshae
Chase-Brexton Clinic
Chloe Town
Christine Baranski
Christopher Ashton Kutcher
cinema
Citrus Classic Tennis Tournament
Clint Lyons
Cornelius Plantefaber
Cris Williamson
crystal meth
Curtis Richardson
Daisy Lynum
Dan Bray
Daniel Merrithew
Darcel Stevens
Darrin Carrington
David Acosta
David Caton
David Dunham
David Haltiwanger
David Magee
David Nelson
David Raymond Sedaris
David Weaver
discrimination
domestic violence
DontAmend Tampa Bay
drag queens
drugs
Ed Briggs
Ed Fasulla
Ed Jennings
Edward Lopes
Elizabeth Hostetler
Equality Florida
Equality Ohio
Erasum Williams
Ericka Dunlap
F.U.R.
Faces Club and Lounge
film
Florida Film Festival
Florida Queer Art Collective
Florida Ursine Retreat
Frank Farkas
Frederick Burk
GALA
gay
gay adoption
Gay and Lesbian Alumni
Gay and Lesbian World Travel Expo
Gay Days
gay marriage
Gay Naturists International
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Community Center
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Student Union
GLBCC
GLBT Parents of Tampa Bay
Gordon Mansergh
Greg Tappan
Gulf Coast Gay Men's Chorus
Gulfport Womyn's Festival
Gus Barriero
Hagai El-Ad
HIV
Holly Near
homophobia
homosexuality
homosexuals
Interfaith Gay Clergy
interior design
International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association
James "Jim" Conrad Verraros
Janette Kim
Jasmine Skiies
Jason Gage
Jay Dagenhart
Jean Malecki
Jerry Cramer
Jerusalem Open House
Jim Stump
Jimi Sue
Joe Pickens
Joe Saunders
John Baldacci
John Samuel Waters Jr.
Joseph Lawrence
Joy Bochner
Judy Genshaft
Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus
June Millington
Karen Doering
Karen Gonzalez
Karol Józef Wojtyła
Kathy Young
Ken Gottlieb
Ken Mulvaney
Kevin Earl Federline
Kim English
Kim Shaw
King of Peace MCC: Joy MCC
Kirsten Johnson
Kuttler Kitchens
Lambda Legal
lesbians
Leslie Dawley
LGBT
LGBTQ+
Lisa Gray
Loranne
Lynne Bowman
Maine Human Rights Act
Malcolm Guishard
Mallory Wells
Mariah Carey
Mariruth Kennedy
Mark Hafen
Martina Navratilova
Mary Cheney
Meg Christian
methamphetamine
Michael Morris
Michel Sabbah
Mike Bennett
Mike Hancharik
Miss Illusions National Pageant
Morgan Fairchild
Nadine Smith
Nathanial Wilcox
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition for LGBT Health
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
NGLTF
Nick Sovey
Olivia Records
Oral Brandy
Orange Blossom Tennis Association
Orlando Mayhem
Park Avenue Doggie Art Festival
Parliament House
Pat O'Brien
Patty Sheehan
pets
Phil McCabe
Pope John Paul II: Francis DeBernardo
public nudity
Q Television
queers
questioning
Rainbow Promise MCC
Ralph Arza
Rebecca Myers
Roel Hinjosa
Roger Brown
Roman Catholic Church
Rusty Faucet
Sabine Haddad
Sabrina Maxwell
Sal Capozzi
Sam Ings
same-sex
Samir Hanna
Sarasota Pridefest
Scott Cowger
Scott Crews
Scottish Episcopal Church
Sharon Brady
Shawn Millard
Shlomo Amar
Spencer Tunick
St. Kitts and Nevis
Steve Ross
Student Safety and Campus Violence Prevention Act
Sundance Channel
Susan Unger
T.J. Jones
Tampa Bay Terminators
Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
tennis
The Beacon
The Brini Maxwell Show
The Graduate
The Watermark
theatre
Theresa "Terri" Marie Schiavo
Thomas Mahaffey Jr.
TIGLFF
TIGLFF Summer Series
Tommy Mottola
trans
transgender
Tret Fure
Troy Perry
U.S. Episcopal Church
UCF
United Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
University of Central Florida
University of South Florida Alumni Association
Uri Lupolianski
USF
V. Gene Robinson
Vatican
Vernessa Mitchell
Victoria "Tori" Davey Spelling
Vonn New
Wanda Woolworth
Water Colors
women's football
WorldPride
Yaron Lahav
Yoav Leff
Yona Metzger
Yossi Bar-Lev
-
https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/files/original/cf54e641fa0d4b54defe352f173e3897.pdf
c11b2eb95128c7178d7e692f93672926
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
World War II Collection
Alternative Title
WWII Collection
Subject
World War II, 1939-1945
Veterans--Florida
Is Part Of
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/24" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project Collection</a>, RICHES of Central Florida.
Language
eng
Type
Collection
Contributing Project
<a href="http://digitalcollections.net.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
<a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a><span>, UCF Digital Collections, University of Central Florida</span>
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Description
Although Japan and China were already engaged war since 1937, September 1, 1939 is generally considered the beginning date of World War II. It was on this day that Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the Führer of Nazi Germany, invaded Poland, inciting France and the United Kingdom to declare war. Through the course of the war, belligerents were general divided into two groups: the Allied Powers, consisting of the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, China, Poland, Canada, Australia, India, Yugoslavia, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, New Zealand, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, Brazil, Denmark, Luxembourg, Cuba, Mexico, the Philippines, Mongolia, and Iran; and the Axis Powers, consisting of Germany, Japan, Italy, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.
The United States did not join the Allies until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. War was waged for several years. On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered to Soviet and Polish troops in response to the capture of Berlin just a few days earlier, in effect ending the war in Europe. The war in the Pacific theater did not end until Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, in response to the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
World War II transformed the globe's geopolitical context. The United Nations (UN) was established and the United States and Soviet Union emerged as opposing superpowers, setting the stage for the 46-year long Cold War. Much of Europe was left in economic collapse and decolonization began in Asia and Africa.
Contributor
<a href="http://library.ucf.edu/about/departments/special-collections-university-archives/" target="_blank">Special Collections and University Archives</a><span>, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida</span>
Source Repository
<a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a><span>, UCF Digital Collections, University of Central Florida</span>
External Reference
<span>"</span><a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/" target="_blank">About the Project</a><span>." UCF Community Veterans History Project, RICHES of Central Florida, University of Central Florida. http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/.</span>
Black, Jeremy. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51306184" target="_blank"><em>World War Two: A Military History</em></a>. London: Routledge, 2003.
Maddox, Robert James. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/24066126" target="_blank"><em>The United States and World War II</em></a>. Boulder: Westview Press, 1992.
Davies, Norman, and Norman Davies. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/104891528" target="_blank"><em>No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939-1945</em></a>. New York: Viking, 2007
Zeiler, Thomas W. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51905775" target="_blank"><em>Unconditional Defeat: Japan, America, and the End of World War II</em></a>. Wilmington, Del: Scholarly Resources, 2004.
Ferguson, Niall. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70839824" target="_blank"><em>The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West</em></a>. New York: Penguin Press, 2006.
Reynolds, David. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646790595" target="_blank"><em>From World War to Cold War Churchill, Roosevelt, and the International History of the 1940s</em></a>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Coverage
Naval Training Center, Orlando, Florida
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Oral History of Frank V. Boffi
Alternative Title
Oral History, Boffi
Subject
Veterans--Florida
World War II
Description
An oral history interview of Frank V. Boffi (b. 1922), who served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945 and again from 1948 to 1952. Boffi was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, on May 18, 1922. He served during both World War II and the Korean War, and was stationed on USS <em>Bernadou</em>, USS <em>Hugh W. Hadley</em>, USS <em>Brownson</em>n, and USS <em>Fiske</em>. Boffi also took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily, the Battle of Anzio, and the Battle of Okinawa. He received a Purple Heart, among other awards, and achieved the rank of 1st Class Machinist. This interview was conducted by Luis Santana Garcia at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. Topics discussed in the oral history include Boffi's background, his enlistment, fighting in Italy, the construction of the USS <em>Hugh W. Hadley</em> and its subsequent destruction, serving in the Pacific Theater, leaving the Navy, his medals and citations, and the Lone Sailor Memorial Project.
Table Of Contents
0:00:00 Introduction<br />0:00:30 Background and family<br />0:02:00 Entry into service<br />0:08:30 First days of service<br />0:12:37 Invading Italy as an American of Italian heritage<br />0:14:30 Experience during the battles in Italy<br />0:19:30 USS <em>Hugh W. Hadley</em> construction, training, and the Pacific Theater<br />0:23:23 Typical day and recreational activities<br />0:25:30 Life after service<br />0:27:50 Medals, citations, and values learned<br />0:29:42 VIDEO SKIPS<br />0:30:00 Future of the Lone Sailor Memorial Project<br />0:31:43 Closing remarks
Abstract
Oral history interview of Frank V. Boffi. Interview conducted by Luis Santana Garcia.
Type
Moving Image
Source
Boffi, Frank V. Interviewed by Luis Santana Garcia. Audio/video record available. <a href="http://digitalcollections.net.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/VET/id/267" target="_blank">Item DP0014888</a>, <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, Orlando, Florida.
Requires
<a href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/" target="_blank"> Adobe Flash Player</a>
<a href="http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp" target="_blank"> Java</a>
Is Part Of
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, Orlando, Florida.
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/95" target="_blank">World War II Collection</a>, UCF Community Veterans History Project Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Has Format
Boffi, Frank V. Interviewed by Luis Santana Garcia. Audio/video record available. <a href="http://digitalcollections.net.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/VET/id/267" target="_blank">Item DP0014888</a>, <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, Orlando, Florida.
Digital transcript of original 32-minute and 25-second oral history: Boffi, Frank V. Interviewed by Luis Santana Garcia. Audio/video record available. <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, Orlando, Florida.
Conforms To
Standards established by the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/vets/" target="_blank">Veterans History Projects</a>, Library of Congress.
Coverage
Cranston, Rhode Island
Downtown Providence, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Boston, Massachusetts
Naval Training Center, Orlando, Florida
Sicily, Salerno, Italy
Anzio Beach, Italy
Oran, Algeria
Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands
Okinawa, Japan
Vatican Necropolis, Vatican, Vatican City
Creator
Boffi, Frank V.
Garcia, Luis Santana
Publisher
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Contributor
Barnes, Mark
Date Created
2014-02-26
Date Copyrighted
2014-02-26
Format
application/website
application/pdf
Extent
12.1 MB
188 KB
Medium
32-minute and 25-second Hi8 CD/DVD
15-page digital transcript
Language
eng
Mediator
History Teacher
Civics/Government Teacher
Geography Teacher
Provenance
Originally created by Luis Santana Garcia and Frank V. Boffi and published by <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>.
Rights Holder
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Accrual Method
Item Creation
Contributing Project
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/veterans/" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
<a href="http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/VET" target="_blank">UCF Community Veterans History Project</a>, UCF Digital Collections, University of Central Florida
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
External Reference
Black, Jeremy. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51306184" target="_blank"><em>World War Two: A Military History</em></a>. London: Routledge, 2003.
Maddox, Robert James. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/24066126" target="_blank"><em>The United States and World War II</em></a>. Boulder: Westview Press, 1992.
Davies, Norman, and Norman Davies. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/104891528" target="_blank"><em>No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939-1945</em></a>. New York: Viking, 2007.
Zeiler, Thomas W. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51905775" target="_blank"><em>Unconditional Defeat: Japan, America, and the End of World War II</em></a>. Wilmington, Del: Scholarly Resources, 2004.
Ferguson, Niall. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70839824" target="_blank"><em>The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West</em></a>. New York: Penguin Press, 2006.
Reynolds, David. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/646790595" target="_blank"><em>From World War to Cold War Churchill, Roosevelt, and the International History of the 1940s</em></a>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Click to View (Movie, Podcast, or Website)
<a href="http://stars.library.ucf.edu/veteransoralhistories/214/" target="_blank">Boffi, Frank V.</a>
Transcript
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Today is February 26<sup>th</sup>, 2014. I am interviewing Frank Boffi, who served in the United States Navy. He served in World War II and ended with a rank of Machinist MAT 1<sup>st</sup> class. With me is Mark...</p>
<p><strong>Barnes<br /></strong>Mark Barnes.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Mark Barnes. We are interviewing Mr. Boffi as part of the University of Central Florida Community Veterans History Project and as research for the creation of a Lone Sailor Memorial Project. We are recording this interview at UCF in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Boffi, will you please start by—start us off by telling us when and where you were born?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Cranston, Rhode Island, which is about nine miles north of, uh Downtown Providence[, Rhode Island]. I was born May 18<sup>th</sup>, 1922, and I’m the, uh, youngest of seven boys. We were a family of 10 children. Raised during the Great Depression which is—was hell on life—on Earth, really. So we had to get adjusted to that— not having anything.</p>
<p>I’ve been lecturing five high schools here locally about World War II and the kids don’t believe that, during the Depression, we had no allowance, we had nothing, and, uh—but anyway, I survived the Depression. I survived three battles in the Pacif—the, uh, Mediterranean [Sea], and the one battle in the Pacific [Theater]. So I consider myself a survivor.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>What did your parents do for a living?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>They were, uh, country folks. My dad worked—was a laborer, because in Italy they lived out on farms, and came over here had really no skills. and, um, he worked for—under the WPA systems, which was the Works Progress Administration—back in the [19]30s, uh, one of the programs set by President [Franklin Delano] Roosevelt. So he was just a, uh, shovel—a reg[?] guy. He was working on the roads and the parks and stuff that the city was rocking[?] for him. That sort of thing.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>And when did you, uh, enter the Navy?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>I, uh, entered—first of all, I think it’s important to hear that we<a title="">[1]</a> got engaged December 6<sup>th</sup>, 1941, which was the night before the Pearl Harbor attack. And, um, it’s so strange: these high schools that I’ve been lecturing—that’s the one thing those kids remember when I go back the next year after that. Yeah. I ask what they remember about World War II and they all say the same thing, “You and your wife got engaged the night before Pearl Harbor.”</p>
<p>We got—I got married at, uh, 20 years old—August 1<sup>st</sup>, 1942. And on September 15<sup>th</sup>, 1942, I went down and enlisted in the Navy, because I did not want to be drafted into the Army. I was told that the Navy, you had three square a day and clean bedding, as long as you washed it. But the Army guys had to sleep in mud and foxholes and I didn’t want that kind of stuff.</p>
<p>But, um, yeah. We were—I—my wife and I were married 71 years this past August 1<sup>st</sup>, and then she died October 7<sup>th</sup>, [inaudible] 2014. But, uh, it was a tough life, but we hacked it through[?]. It was just two young kids. She was 22 and I was 20, but we made it and it was a real sacrifice. We only had the one son who has—now has two children and six great, uh—six grandchildren. I have six great-grandchildren.</p>
<p>My son is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, where he has a master’s [degree] out of the university. Um, He started in engineering, but he changed it over to psychology. And I asked him why he changed his major[?] over the subject—his degree in, and he said one of his friends dove out of the six—I think he said it was a six-story window. And He was on LSD [lysergic acid diethylamide] and he just dove out the window. And that was when my son decided to change his career and help the kids that were—that were on drugs. He was—he wound up being an administrator of six counties in east Nebraska—in charge of the drug program. But Now he’s a—he was a regional manager for Xerox [Corporation], and they moved him to Washington, D.C. area. And now he’s, uh—has his own business—he and his wife—as general resources. Um, he’s chief operating officer for AmeriCom. It’s a company that deals with the government, and their biggest account is the Air Force. And he is in, uh, San Antonio[, Texas] about every four or five weeks, because we have bases there. What else you want?</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Now, uh, you said you were—got engaged the day before Pearl Harbor. What was your reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>It was kind of a shock, but We, uh, I think we were prepared for it. The—the way things were going, we knew that some war was going to come out of it. It was so strange: in Downtown Providence—I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it—they had docks there. And, uh, my buddy and I—we used to go down there. we used to walk to Providence maybe two days a week, and there were all these old rust buckets loading up with all the, um, scrap iron, and we sold millions and millions of tons of scrap iron to Japan. And then—then four or five months, the war broke out, they were firing it right back at us.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Why did you join the Navy?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Like I told you, I didn’t like—I didn’t like being in a foxhole, and I didn’t want to join the Army. I had one brother in the Army and two—the one in the Navy, he joined long after I did. But, uh, my other two brothers were [Boeing] B17 [Flying Fortress] bombers.</p>
<p>And, uh, I—I just liked the water. I thought I would be better off in the Navy. Might as well do something I like, than[?] rather[?]—I had to go no matter what. I didn’t want to be drafted in the Army.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Where did you attend boot camp?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi <br /> </strong>I, uh, went to boot camp in Newport, Rhode Island. I reported there October 15<sup>th</sup>, 1942 and got in out March 1943. And they sent me to [inaudible] Institute in Boston[, Massachusetts], which is an engineering school. And I came out of there with a, uh—with a second class machinist MAT training.</p>
<p>It was so strange that, in those days, uh—that—that the commander of the school posted a notice one day saying anybody in the top five percentile for academics would be allowed the privilege of applying for Officer’s[sic] Candidate School. So I applied for it, and that’s all it says. And I walked up, and commander Cavinar[sp] was sitting at his desk, and I came in the door about that distance away, and he kind of looked up and says, “Frank, you don’t qualify.” I said, “But I’m in the top three percentile academically.” He said, “Yeah. Academically you can qualify, but you’re married.” They would not give you a rate[?] then—a commission [inaudible]. You had to be married first though—no. You—you couldn’t get married until after you got your commission. that’s what it was. So they refused to give me a commission.</p>
<p>And, uh, then later on when I worked[?] the ship got sunk, I was supposed to make chief June 1<sup>st</sup>, 1945. And we got sunk on the 11<sup>th</sup> of May of 1945. That’s when I wound up in a hospital bed for the next four and a half months. So they wouldn’t give me the chief’s rating, because you had to be with an active unit.</p>
<p>Now, today even, if you lost both legs, you’re still in the military, you get your rating or whatever. So, um, when they held its 90<sup>th</sup> birthday, the chiefs down here at NAWC [Naval Air Warfare Center] made me an honorary, um, chief with them. So I have a [U.S.] DOD [Department of Defense] certificate stating that I’m part of the chiefs’ at NAWCTSD in Orlando. They—they kind of glorified it and they gave me the rate. I asked them about it—OCS [Officer Candidate School] now, but they wouldn’t allow me [<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>What was, uh, your first days of your service like?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Pardon?</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>What was the first day of your service like? First days.</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Well, the—the first couple of days were interesting, because we had some boys from the Midwest area[?] they were Arkansans. We had to sleep on hammocks. In those days, in boot camp. And the hammock was strung up to the ceiling and you had what you called the” jack stand.” That’s a bar, and you would jump up and grab it and you’d pull your body up. And if you knew how to do it, you would open your hammock line with one leg and then pop your butt in and then—otherwise, you would just roll off the other side. and that’s what was happening to this one boy from Arkansas. He couldn’t—he’d get in one side and roll out the other one. He couldn’t get himself—so one night, the chief told a couple of us to “Go help that kid get in that hammock.” And, Uh, We raised the sides up, but in the morning he tried to get out and he’d fall out all the time. He was a character. He never did adjust to a hammock. We kept our hammocks as part of our sea bag. And I’ve used it two or three times at sea out here in the Atlantic [Ocean]. When we had a hurricane or real bad weather, the ship would go rocking and rolling too much. My buddy and I would go out and string up our hammock underneath the gun tug, where it would be dry, and sleep in the hammocks. We just—like a baby rocking in a crib.</p>
<p>But, um, yeah. The first ship was on was a 1918—it was commissioned in 1918—a World War I destroyer. It was an old four stacker, and we called them “rust buckets.” But Then [<em>clears throat</em>]—and we made the three invasions of, um, [inaudible] Sicily, Salerno, Italy, and, um—what was the last one? One of the—one—I forget the name of that one. Oh, [inaudible]. My memory is failing me, but we made the two—three invasions in Sa—Sicily, Anzio Beach, Salerno—Anzio Beach. That’s what it is. Anzio Beach, Salerno, and, um, you know, Sicily.</p>
<p>We operated out of Oran[, Algeria], North Africa. That was kind of a[sic], uh, interesting—now that we have so much Muslim, uh, religion spreading out all over the world. There was a place in Oran that was called Medina. It was a, uh, sacred city with great big columns and you were not allowed in there unless you were a, um, Muslim religion[sic]. And my buddy and I didn’t believe it, so we started in there one day, and we get about three feet through the gates, all these Arabs started getting up from sitting on the sidewalk. And, um, we were lucky. I think I—I’m alive today, because the shore patrol was right there. They drive their Jeep in about three feet into the Medina, and told us to get in and they brought us back [inaudible].</p>
<p>And they told us that one of my friends, uh, Bill Suey[sp], came from Cranston, Rhode Island—.he and I went through school together. He went through Medina one night and came back in just his underwear—just his skivvies. He was lucky he got his life, but they took everything he had—his uniform, cigarettes, and—and they stripped him. They didn’t want us there. Basically, that’s what it was. We were invading their country and—and they—they didn’t realize that we were there protecting them from the Germans. I mean, they were losing their country to the Germans till we got there. And, um, so we saved them, but they’re still Muslim and that scares me till today—what’s happening in some of these cities. [<em>clears throat</em>] It’s a damn shame that we have to go through stuff, but I see it happening right now.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Now, uh, as an Italian [American], how did it feel invading Italy?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>How did I feel being in Italy?</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Yeah.</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>It was, uh, a good feeling. Because I was—my mom and my eldest brother came over in 1904. And this was 19—well, I didn’t get there until during the war, but I stayed in the Navy and I went back in 1950 with the ship I was on. And I got to meet my, uh, dad’s two brothers, and my cousins, and my mom’s half-sister.</p>
<p>And her—this one half-sister has three—three daughters. And they came to my uncle’s house and the eldest—eldest daughter was, um, just—just under 18. She was a senior in—in high school—equivalent to our schedule setup. And, um, she was so excited that I was talking to an Italian in English and all that. And she kept patting my knee, and the moms kept telling them, “Don’t touch him. he’s an American sailor.” She said, “But he’s my cousin.” She said, “I don’t care if he’s your brother. Don’t lo—don’t touch him. He’s an American sailor.” But that was the kind of reputation we had all over the world. The—the sailors were people [<em>coughs</em>] [<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p>And I had one other cousin, who had a close friend of his who was a [Papal] Swiss Guard in the Vatican. So I got to, uh, go places in the Vatican that the general public had never been to. And we got way down deep into the catacombs,<a title="">[2]</a> where they used to bury all the priests and the bishops and whatever. There—it was kind of an eerie feeling being down there with all these caskets on both sides. And these guys didn’t realize that they’ve been buried there for a hundred years or longer. That was something that the general public never saw, but I got to see it because of my cousin’s—Tom’s—friend was a Swiss Guard. He allowed me to go down there [<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Now what—what was…</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>[<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>What your experience during the actual battles?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>What was what?</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>What your experience during the actual battles themselves?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Well, um, uh, the, uh—at the Anzio Beach location, I was on deck and that was a, uh, a 50 millimeter—50 caliber machine gun. And that really was the only action I’ve ever—I’ve ever seen. Because, um, normally, I would be engine room. You would not see any action. And, uh, It’s so strange that now I—you know, there were three destroyers in our squadron. We were all—we were all World War I destroyers. And they, uh, used us as decoys. The American government had no, um, um, information as to where the gun emplacements were. So they—the three destroyers were supposed to go in, approach the beach with all their lights out [inaudible]. And at midnight, put on our search light. We had a great big, regular search light they use at airports. And, uh, there was total darkness. I couldn’t see you guys as dark as it was. And all of a sudden, at midnight, when we put our search lights on, all hell—the beach just broke all out, and I jumped.</p>
<p>And I found out later that that was a trigger, because I was subject to that for a long, long time. I mean, if we walked—if I walked in this room and someone tried to put the—somebody put the light on, I would react to it. And Now I—I found out that eventually, training with the VA [Veterans Administration] and, um—my son, um, met the woman who was the CO of the Purple Heart Association.<a title="">[3]</a> And she sent me a book, and then I read that—<em>Tears of a Warrior</em>[<em>: A Family's Story of Combat and Living with PTSD</em>] it’s called. I found out that that was only a “trigger,” that they called them. And so I finally got myself to overcome that, and it doesn’t bother me anymore now, but Going into this totally dark room and somebody put the light on. But—and I do it every night when I go home. It’s be totally dark in the house and I flip my own light on, but I don’t react to it anymore like I used to. ‘Cause I suddenly realized that it was just something that was back here and I had to weed it out of my system.</p>
<p>But, uh, normally, I saw no action on my—the—on the [USS <em>Hugh W.</em>] <em>Hadley</em>. I didn’t see any action, until we got, uh, blown out of the engine room—came topside. And to this day, I don’t remember seeing any action then. And I found out from Captain [Doug] Aiken, who’s retired—he was a lieutenant on the <em>Hadley</em>. I asked him how long we were—were in the water, and he said about two and a half hours before we were picked up. And I’ve got—if you want me to email you, I’ve got the picture of that, uh—the ship picking up the survivors and I’ve got the DVD that I can send you and incorporate it with part[?] of yours. It shows a Kamikaze hitting the water and showed the—the bomb going off—something like that. I can get you a copy of those if you—if you wish. They’re not copyrighted at all, so you’re welcome to do with it what—whatever you want with ‘em [<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>And so you—you said you were—you were sent in as a decoy. Once—once, like, you complete your mission, did they figure out where the emplacements were and then did you guys leave after that?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Well, we didn’t really leave the battle area. We went out on, uh, screening. They called it “screening.” You had two or three destroyers. Well, that day, there were like 15 destroyers out there. And just—you stayed off the beach about three or four miles and tried to shoot down the planes that were coming in to attack our troops. And they were coming in to hit our supply ships [inaudible]. So we were on—on the screening most of the time, at the—Of course, I wasn’t there, but the ship was. I was in the hospital. That was—let’s see—May, June—two and a half months in the, uh, ten city hospital. We called it “ten city” in Tinian Island, which is part of the Marianas.<a title="">[4]</a></p>
<p>And, uh, In July of ’45, they sent me to a naval receiving hospital in San Francisco, California. stayed there a couple of weeks, and from there, they sent me to a psychiatric hospital up in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, because I was getting a severe—I mean, real bad headaches. It was the back of my head and they thought I was going crazy, I guess. It was just blast concussion. It finally settled down. And after about six—I think six or eight weeks in Coeur d’Alene, I was transferred on down to Sun Valley, Idaho, in which there was a naval recuperation hospital. And then, in October of ’45, they transferred me to Fort Lewis, Washington. And, um, from there, to Boston to be discharged in November of 1945 [<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Alright. And, um,what—when, uh—you said that you were on, um—what was the name of the first ship you were on?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>The USS <em>Bernadou</em>, B-E-R-N-A-D-O-U.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>And, um, how did you, like—and then you transferred to the <em>Hadley</em>?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>No. They sent me to school for—the <em>Hadley</em> was so called “new construction.” It was a, uh, bigger class destroyer, and it was higher pressure. We operated at 600 pounds of pressure steam on the <em>Hadley</em>, and the <em>Bernadou</em> was only 250. So I went to North Virginia to school for 12 weeks.</p>
<p>And then I went out to, um, San Pedro, California, and I was part of the 14 people that was the skeleton crew to watch the ship being built. That was quite interesting. And, you know, we saw them lay the keel hull in the dry dock. And we—we had to be in the dry dock every morning at eight o’ clock. That’s where they held quarters. And we literally watched the ship being built. Every—every bit of welding they did, we were there. There were 14 of us: one officer, and, uh, I think two chiefs, myself, another 1<sup>st</sup> class in engineering, and there, um—some other guys from other rates I don’t know—the yeoman[?] and [inaudible]. But, um—so I was on it when it went into the water in October of 1945—I mean ’44 — and we were sunk May of 1945. so it didn’t last very long.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>That was…</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>[<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>That was during the Invasion of Okinawa[, Japan]?<a title="">[5]</a></p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Yes.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>And what—what was your experience in that battle?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>My experience? Well, I didn’t see any action, because I was down in the engine room all the time.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>When you were in the engine room, what—like, what was your job, per se?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Well, to keep the ship moving. We had to keep the engines running, and, um— because if you lose your engines, then you are a dead, still target. Then they just blow you out of the water. So, uh—as a matter of fact, Marc [Ennis] is in simulation, and we had no simulators in those days. And I was—I had my pump man and my messenger blindfolded when they were on the lower level, where all the pumps are. And they had the second level was the operating deck—the control deck.</p>
<p>And I had them blindfolded, and the Chief Engineer comes down and he says, “Boffi, we don’t have any time for this blind man’s bluff games and stuff like that.” I said, “We’re not playing games, sir. I’m teaching these guys to know the engine room blindfolded.” That’s the first thing you lose on any situation is power. I mean, right now, if the power went off, we would be in a darkened room. So I said,” I’m trying teach them how to get out of there—this engine room.” And to this day, I think we all come[?]—[Don] Hackler, my master, was the last one to leave the engine room. We seemed to think he slipped down the ladder. he didn’t make it. Speedo, my bunkman, and myself got out. And that was the— Speedo got out first, and then I was second, and Hackler was—and he was only 17 years old. He had been in the Navy like 81 days. At the end of the war, they were taking real young kids in, with hardly any training at all. And, uh, Don Hackler—I think it was his name—and he was the only one that didn’t survive the—in that engine room. We lost, uh, everybody in the forward fire room, plus there were other people on deck. I think there were about 18 casualties that—fatalities that morning of the attack [<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Uh,Going back a little bit, what—what was…</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>[<em>coughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Saily life like on the Navy vessel?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>A normal day?</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Mmhmm.</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Normally, you get up at about five—normally, you get up about 5:30 for regular crew. But in engineering, you’re—you’re on four hours and off eight. So we would be getting up at like 3:15 in the morning for the four to eight watch. And, uh, for the midnight watch, you got on—you had to be up by quarter to 12, and that ran to—to quarter to four, and that ran to quarter to eight. And, um, once you got in the engine room though, there was no—I didn’t do much. I just sat there, che—checked the other guys, and did some checking of equipment, and stuff like that. But—mostly management. I didn’t really do anything. There was nothing you could do. Just be ready to—if you did take a hit, be ready, you know, do—to you could react. Do what you had to do.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>And you told us about…</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>[<em>coughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Some of the, uh, recreational things you did while you were in Italy and Africa. Were there anything in the Pacific—any areas In the Pacific that you got to experience in the Pacific?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>No. I never got off the ship. We never had any liberty and such. So I know noth—nothing about the Pacific Ocean, other—other than being aboard a ship. We did hit Pearl Harbor[, Hawaii] before—on the way up there—that area. We had about three days in Pearl Harbor. and that was my only experience in Hawaii for a long time. But, uh, you know, you pull into a Navy base and you really have nothing to do. most of them are kind of isolated away from the normal public. We didn’t have the, uh—the glory of—the liberty, so to speak. We got four hours off. Didn’t have enough time to run into town, grab a couple of beers, hopefully get lucky and get a woman, and back to the ship [<em>laughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>[<em>laughs</em>]. And, um…</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>[<em>coughs</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>What—What was it like when you left the Navy—like, coming home?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Well, I—I went to work for the power company. I—I wanted to—see, I used to work in jewelry—jewelry manufacturing, when I was in high school. After I got out of high school, and I told my wife—said, “I’m—I’m going to go into something that was going to be a career, like…” So I—I went to the power company, and after I got into trouble with that union, they run me off.</p>
<p>So I got an insurance job as an engineer. And I inspected elevators and boilers, held safety meetings. Then I, um—April 1<sup>st</sup>, 1970, when the OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Act] law came into being, it was signed by the President<a title="">[6]</a> as the—a law of the land. And I went to, uh, what is now the University of Southern Florida<a title="">[7]</a> and took a two day exam—two eight hour exams—for, uh, my—they call it Certi—CSP—Certified Safety Professional. And, um, I passed that, so they gave me the designation. That’s what I was when I retired—a Certified Safety Professional.</p>
<p>When I was, uh, working for the insurance company, I—I did the service for a lot of power utilities and inspected elevators in a lot of buildings. My territory included Puerto Rico, the [U.S.] Virgin Islands, and [the] Bahamas. It was a tough territory to—to take care of. And, Uh, Every other month, my wife would go with me and go on the beach, where we would get the hotel in San Juan[, Puerto Rico]. I’d go do my job, and then we would fly over to Saint Thomas[, U.S. Virgin Islands] and Saint Croix[, U.S. Virgin Islands]. I—I really enjoyed it. I—I—I did 50 years in the insurance industry. The, um—I retired March 1<sup>st</sup> of ’84, and then I re—they called me back. And then I retired again in—in 2001, I think it was. In 2006, they forced me to retire. They said I was too old at 84 years old to be inspecting boilers and elevators and all that kind of stuff, so I finally decided [inaudible].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>And, Um, Were you awarded any medals or citations? [inaudible]…</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>I have a Purple Heart for my injuries, and I’ve got, uh, three battle stars for the Mediterranean, three warzones, and three battles. And I’ve got, um, one battle for the, uh, Pacific. Other than that, uh, no high rating. Um, medals or anything.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Um,What values or characteristics of the Navy do you believe made an impression on—on your life?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>I think the camaraderie. There’s something about the Navy that the Army and the Marines never had. Uh, Like Mark, anybody would do anything for anyone else, if they were Navy. And I’m not sure that was true in the Army or the Marine Corps. My son became a Marine. He was in, uh, six years during the Vietnam [War] era. And, uh, I didn’t notice the camaraderie with them as I did in the Navy. And to this day, like I said, I go to NAWC every single day. They say I’m there more than people who get paid to be there. They don’t even show up and I’m there every morning.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>And What was the most valuable lesson that you learned during your time?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>I’m sorry?</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>What was the most valuable lesson you learned during your time in the Navy?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Well, I think that you treat everybody that you would want to be treated, for one thing. The only thing that used to really bother me and still does to this day is these ethnic groups that come [inaudible]—the— immigrants—they come over here and they want us to change to be whatever they are, you know? The Hispanics or Chinese or—I mean, when you come over here, be an American. I can still hear my dad when I was a youngster, he kept saying this great…</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>And he, uh—to this day, I have arguments with some of these people. I am not an Italian. I’m of Italian heritage, but I was born in this country and I’m an American. I fought in several wars—battles—for the Americans. And I’d—I’d do it again if I had to, if that were necessary [<em>clears throat</em>].</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>And What do you think former Navy personnel would like to see or be reminded of when they visit—revisit the site of the base<a title="">[8]</a> and the Lone Sailor Project Memorial?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>What do I think of the—I think it’s going to bring back a lot of memories of a lot of people. I—I just—befriended—well, ,I’ve been friends with him for about a year and a half at the Moose Club. I didn’t know he was a photographer in the Army. And then, when he go out of the Army, he took all the photographs to the Navy base, where Mark graduated from, and he took all the shots over the Cape [Canaveral]. He went for the Cape. So, uh, that was kind of interesting.</p>
<p>He’s telling—he was telling Mark and myself about, um, incidents that had happened there before. And, uh, he’s going to be one of our guests at the next Navy League luncheon, I think. He can tell us some of the things that are interesting. Me[sic] and Mark were talking about those days.</p>
<p>I had no idea that there was a boot camp here. I lived up in, um, Miami since ’66, and never had an idea that there was a boot camp in Florida. So That was kind of a shock to me that I got up here and found out there was a boot camp there. I probably would have come up every weekend and go there and visit. I—I would have befriended—I would have taken the, uh, transfer—my company travels insurance wanted transferred me up here in, uh, ’69, I think it was. and I refused it. I wanted to stay around the Miami area, but, uh, if I would have known there was a boot camp up there in the Navy, um, influence, I think I would have—would have transferred.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Is there anything else you would like to share about your Navy experience?</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>It’s really helped me a lot, both psychologically and physically. I see they treat people here at NAWC. They really respect me. They show me a lot of respect. They all treat me as though I’m family. Officers, business people, and whatever. I’m just part of their big family and I enjoy it. That’s why I go every day.</p>
<p><strong>Garcia<br /></strong>Thank you, Mr. Boffi.</p>
<p><strong>Boffi<br /></strong>Thank you very much, and good luck in your ventures.</p>
<div><br /><div>
<p><a title="">[1]</a> Boffi and his wife.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[2]</a> Vatican Necropolis.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[3]</a> Correction: Purple Heart Foundation.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[4]</a> Northern Mariana Islands.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[5]</a> Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[6]</a> Richard Milhous Nixon.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[7]</a> Correction: University of South Florida.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="">[8]</a> Naval Training Center (NTC) Orlando.</p>
</div>
</div>
Allied Invasion of Sicily
Anzio Beach, Italy
Arabs
Attack of Pearl Harbor
Battle of Anzio
Battle of Okinawa
battle stars
Bill Suey
boot camps
Boston, Massachusetts
camaraderie
catacombs
Cavinar
Certified Safety Professional
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
construction
Cranston, Rhode Island
CSP
decoys
destroyers
Don Hackler
Doug Aiken
drafts
engineering
engineers
FDR
Fort Lewis
Frank V. Boffi
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Rooosevelt
Frontline of Anzio and Nettuno
Great Depression
hammocks
health care
hospitals
immigrants
immigration
insurance
Islam
Italian Americans
Italian Campaign
Italy
jack stands
Kamikazes
Lone Sailor Memorial Project
Luis Santana Garcia
machinists
Marc Ennis
Mark Barnes
Mediterranean Seas
mental health
Moose Club
Muslims
Naval Air Warfare Center
Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division
Naval Training Center Orlando
Navy League
NAWC
NAWCTSD
New Deal
Newport, Rhode Island
North Africa
NTC Orlando
Occupational Safety and Health Act
OCS
Officer Candidate School
Okinawa, Japan
Operation Husky
Operation Iceberg
Operation Shingle
Oran, Algeria
orlando
OSHA
Pacific Theater
Purple Heart Foundation
Purple Hearts
retirement
San Francisco, California
San Pedro, California
screening
skeleton crews
Speedo
Sun Valley, Idaho
Tears of a Warrior: A Family's Story of Combat and Living with PTSD
Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands
training
Trigger
U.S. Navy
UCF
UCF Community Veterans History Project
UCF CVHP
University of Central Florida
University of South Florida
USF
USS Bernadou
USS Brownson
USS Fiske
USS Hugh W. Hadley
VA
Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican Necropolis
veterans
Veterans Administration
wars
Works Progress Administration
World War II
WPA
WWII