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WWII Lives On In Memories

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By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - At 86, Leonard Messana seems as likely to forget his World War II experiences as he is to lose his Brooklyn accent.

Surrounded by Germans during the Battle of the Bulge, Messana remembers thinking he was a "goner," until more airplanes than he had ever seen roared over the battlefield en route to Berlin.

For American troops, the sight of friendly fighter planes was an adrenaline-pumping morale booster.

"I wonder what the Germans thought," Messana said.
Messana and four other residents at Baldomero Lopez State Veterans' Nursing Home in Land O' Lakes were interviewed last week by Ed Towey, president of a Tallahassee communications firm.

The interviews are part of an ongoing history project for the Library of Congress; the material also is shared with the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience at Florida State University.

Every year, Towey conducts interviews at the state's five veterans' nursing homes. Besides war veterans, he also talks with "those who supported those who served."

Before speaking with Messana on Wednesday, Towey spent an hour with Agnes Krol, a cook with the Women's Army Corps during World War II. A New Hampshire native, Krol served in Spokane, Wash., and Newark, N.J., from December 1941 to November 1945.

A new resident at Baldomero Lopez, Krol said she especially remembered the mess halls full of soldiers she and others fed at Thanksgiving.

"We never served a cold dinner," she said with obvious pride. "It was a good period."

Asked by Towey if her experiences during the war changed her, Krol responded with a laugh.

"I was always a little backward," she said. "Whenever somebody would say, 'Get up and sing,' well, I would."

After gentle persuasion from Towey, she broke into "America the Beautiful."

At 87, her voice is still strong.

'They Came And Got Us'

Shortly after being wheeled in for his interview, Messana said he graduated from high school shortly before being drafted in early 1942.

He said he would have been content to stay in Brooklyn, where he and his brother helped their father run Martin Woodworking Co. on Flushing Avenue.

"I didn't want to sign up," he said. "I'm not a fightin' guy. My friends and I figured if they wanted us, they'd come and get us. And by God, they came and got us."

The Brooklynite was trained in Kansas and Louisiana, but always knew that "we were headed for combat." Before long, the young man who had been comfortable as an architectural woodworker had a new job in armored field artillery.

"I had no choice in the matter," he said. "That's where they needed people, so that's where they put us."

He said his unit - a "support group for the infantry" - was shipped to England, then France.

They arrived at Utah Beach, south of Normandy, the day Allied forces took Paris, he said.

"A lot of times it was scary, but we got over that," Messana said. "You'd start recognizing sounds and you'd get your butt out of the way."

He said prayer, and the Rosary beads he wore around his neck, helped him survive.

Besides the daily war experiences, Messana also was notified overseas via letter that his fiancee had ended their engagement.

Devastation Went Down To Ground

Responding to a question from Towey, Messana said he thought all sides of the war used propaganda to rally support.

"It sounds like you had some empathy for the Germans," Towey said.

"No," Messana said. "No sympathy at all."

He then recounted a story of American POWs massacred during the Battle of the Bulge.

Often, as his unit traveled through the French countryside, it would come upon piles of rubble where towns once stood.

"You'd just say to yourself, 'Man, I'm glad I wasn't here when it happened.' The devastation was all the way down to the ground," he said. "You'd think of the people who were hurt, the little children running around."

Messana's unit was crossing into Germany when they learned the war was over. He spent four years, two months and nine days in the Army.

Back in Brooklyn, he resumed work at the family business. He eventually married and had three daughters and a son. A widower, he said his family rarely asked him about the war, and he seldom felt compelled to share.

"I didn't think it would be interesting to them," he said.

But to Towey, interviewing Messana and others is what makes the project rewarding.

"These people, so many of them were raised during the Depression," he said. "Some of them came from no electricity, no water. They were tough. Talking to them, you get a good sense of their contributions.

"In thousands of ways, big and small, people just pitched in. Many of them didn't get medals and ribbons and Bronze Stars, but they all contributed."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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