The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
WWII paratrooper Tony Graziano
Tony Graziano: Paratrooper recounts botched mission into German territory
CANASTOTA » As World War II paratroopers, Tony Graziano and his fellow soldiers were well accustomed to jumping out of an aircraft. But when their plane was shot down over Germany in April 1945 and all hands ordered to bail out or die, they found themselves falling to earth in a much more lifethreatening situation than ever before.
The now-96-year-old Graziano recalled their mission was to fly into hostile territory, parachuting out at a pre-designated location to bring the fight to the Germans in their homeland. Considerable fire fromthe ground had damaged their aircraft, however, setting it on fire as it began to fall from the sky.
Theywere still 20 miles away from their drop zone, and the 30 soldiers aboard ended up landing in a forest where they dangled helplessly as a platoon of German marksmen started to shoot at them.
“We were caught up in the trees and shot up really bad,” Graziano said. “I had Germans shooting at me, and one shot the heel off my boot, another twisted my helmet around. A third shot got me in the shoulder.
Grazia no decided to play dead until the Germans left, and then hung in the tree for some seven hours before pulling a blade he had stashed in his boot to cut himself loose. He made it to the ground, where he could see the lifeless bodies of his buddies still hanging in the trees.
Then he heard the rumblings of another threat -- a pair of tanks was bearing down on him. He quickly camouflaged himself and hid off the path.
Butwhen the tanks got closer, he discovered they were English, and he stood up to signal them. Pointing to the stars and stripes adorning the shoulder flag patch on his uniform, he identified himself as an American. They field-dressed his wound, and as he leaned against a tank for a much-needed rest, an English soldier asked if he had any American cigarettes. In exchange, Graziano asked for some English tea.
That tea was cold, and Graziano was told to hold it against the exhaust pipe of the tank to warm it up. He rode away from that scene of carnage aboard the tank, hoping never to have a repeat of that dreadful experience.
“That was something I never wanted to see again,” he said.
Graziano recalled he joined the Army after just “hanging out” with some other teen friends in December 1941 as they heard the news about the attacks on Pearl Harbor. One of them said it looked like the war was on, and they” all decided to go an enlist in the Army to do their part for the American forces. Within two days, Graziano was on his way via train
“I had Germans shooting at me, and one shot the heel off my boot, another twisted my helmet around. A third shot got me in the shoulder.”
— Tony Graziano, World War II veteran
to Fort Dix in New Jersey for basic training. It was a fun ride, he recalled, as his oldr brother had given them a bottle of whiskey as a going away gift to enjoy along the way.
When they arrived at Grand Central Station, some of the more experienced soldiers there weren’t quite as impressed by their antics, Graziano recalled.
“The Army guys lined us up, and said, ‘ You’re in the Army now so straighten up,’” he said, admitting he was a bit of a “wise punk” to them. They promised Graziano they would soon take that sass out of him.
Graziano said he was later training in wading through swamps and blowing up bridges, but he was really looking for something more challenging. Then one fateful day he saw a sign that announced “paratroopers wanted.” He and a few buddies quickly signed up for that service, and after training at Fort Benning in Georgia were soon in the 507th Parachute Infantry, E Company, by June 1944.
He was there for D-Day -“that was hell, really hell,” he said -- and the Battle of the Bulge -- which he described as “cold and miserable.”
After his discharge at the end of the war, he was invited to a friend’s home in Florida, where his buddy was involved in boxing. Graziano had “dabbled” in boxing during his younger years, he said, so he was interested in what his fellow soldier was up to and went along. His enthusiasm for the sport grew to where he became a trainer, working with famed boxers like Carmen Basilio and Billy Backus, and opened his own gyms.
Graziano had also “dabbled” in cooking, in his own words, and that led him to operate eateries including the Parachute Inn, Club Dana, and Russell’s Dance Land. But one day some 70 years ago a local surveyor was working in Ca- nastota -- a village where Graziano had been drawn to thanks to the abundance of partridge for hunting -on the construction of an exit there for the New York State Thruway. The savvy businessman knew a restaurant located at the exit would do a thriving business, so he opened Graziano’s Casa Mia there.
Graziano was honored by the Canastota American Legion Post 140 as their “Distinguished Citizen of the Year” at a luncheon right there in the restaurant on Feb. 24. Their salute, before a standing roomonly crowd of supporters that day, commemorated both his military service and the many years of operating the Peterboro Street restaurant.
“That was really great,” Graziano said. “They were all really nice guys.”
The event included official proclamations from New York State Assemblyman Bill Magee and Canastota Mayor Carla DeShaw, plus reflections from post Commander Frank Garlock, Graziano‘s daughter Val Graziano, and audience members. It was a fitting tribute to a local hero, and one that his friends were glad to have happened-while he could still attend and enjoy it.
Today, Graziano is still very much a fixture at the restaurant, now renamed Graziano’s World Famous Inn and Restaurant after the addition of rooms for travelers out back. He is still coming in daily and often reminiscing with the many friends he has made over the years.
The faces might be a little older now, but the camaraderie remains as strong as ever there.
“So many of the seniors coming in here now were only kids when I met them,” he said. “It is so great that I have made so many friends over the years here.”