Speranza, Vincent.

Vincent Speranza was born on March 23rd, 1925 in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. He grew up in Staten Island in a large and extended Italian family during the depression, and as war broke out in Europe, followed the war closely. Following his graduation from high school, Speranza was inducted into the Army in October, 1943. While receiving advanced infantry training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina he observed an airborne demonstration and thereafter joined the elite airborne service. Upon completion of airborne training at Ft. Benning, GA, Speranza was shipped overseas on the Queen Mary, and was eventually assigned to H Company, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, arriving to the unit in November of 1944 while it was recovering from Operation Market Garden. Within weeks, Speranza found himself at Bastogne, with the division completely surrounded by German troops. He survived the battle of the Bulge, but was wounded shortly thereafter. Upon his recovery in England, he returned to his unit, which finished the war near Berchtesgaden, Germany. Following the war, Speranza was sent to France, and when the 101st was deactivated, was transferred to the 82nd Airborne Division for a short time. He soon returned home, joined the merchant marines for a short time, then got married and obtained a teaching degree before settling down to a career as a history teacher and labor union representative. In 2009 Vince visited the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. as part of an honor flight, and months later, he returned to Bastogne, Belgium, for the first time since the war, and was invited to participate in the 65th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.