Cortopassi, John.

There is very little biographical material available about any of the authors of the letters in this collection. Sgt. John Cortopassi seems to have worked as a longshoreman before enlisting in the Army, and from a reference in one letter can be stated to be over 30 years of age in March of 1943, with a birthdate falling somewhere in the vicinity of Feb.-Mar.-April. He was trained in several U.S. camps before being shipped overseas to Europe, where he was stationed at various times in France, Belgium, and Germany. After the conclusion of the war in Europe, he was stationed in California, and correspondence ends at that point.

Pvt. Alfonzo (Bobby) Cortopassi, brother to John Cortopassi, was unemployed or very sporadically employed before serving in the Army, and there is some sense that there was family concern about his activities while unemployed. He also trained in several camps in the U.S., but his Army career ended after a bad fall from a barrack's roof left him with a partically functioning arm.

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