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Ralph Mollica
Ralph Mollica served in the US Army Air Corps and then the Army Air Force. He enlisted on September 26, 1940. At that time he was not in school. He and three buddies were excited because the Army recruiter said if they were sent overseas, to such places as Panama, Hawaii, or the Philippines, then in six months the Army would bring them back to the states and they could go into pilot training. For basic training Ralph went to Fort Slocum, New York, an island in the Hudson River. The most important thing, he said, that he gained in basic training was learning to obey. "If the sergeant said jump, we jumped," he said. After basic training, he went by boat to the island of Hawaii in the territory of Hawaii. On the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, Ralph was at Wheeler Field, lying in bed. At that time he was a radio repairman in the 44th Pursuit Squadron of the 15th Pursuit Group at Wheeler Field. A very vivid and memorable event took place on that day. Ralph was talking with one of his buddies at 7:45 a.m., on December 7th. They were trying to decide whether to go to 8 o'clock or 10 o'clock Mass. The chapel was just around the corner. The Japanese airplanes hit them at 5 minutes of 8 and they never did get to Mass. Ralph still has the bullet which came through his locker that day. Ralph came back to the United States in April, 1942
and went to pilot training in Santa Maria, California. After leaving pilot
training, he was assigned to Merced Air Base in California. With his experience,
very shortly he was made first sergeant. When the war ended, Ralph was
in Caserta, Italy. He had accumulated enough points under the Green Light
Points System to be shipped back to the USA. Ralph returned home by airplane.
He went from Caserta to Casablanca, from Casablanca to the Azores, and
from the Azores to Miami. The good thing about being home was seeing his
wife and new daughter, Karen. Ralph was honorably discharged at Fort Logan,
Colorado. He received several service medals, including five combat stars. Ralph Mollica had no difficulty adjusting to being home. He went back to Vermont, working in the food service industry. He has shared his experiences with his family, which includes four schoolteachers, one therapist, and one financial advisor. Ralph says that after the September 11th attacks, we need to have preparedness. At Pearl Harbor, we were unprepared; at the World Trade Centers, we were unprepared. He says that our freedom is very important, and we have to be ready to support that at all times.
More Biographies:
Send comments about the Memories of WWII pages to Phyllis Larison |
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| Last page update: March 2, 2008 12:12 PM |
Ralph
Mollica was born on February 18, 1919 in Florahome, Florida. He met his
wife, Phyllis, in Orange, California, when he was in the Army Air Corps.
After leaving pilot school, Ralph and Phyllis married in September, 1942.
They have raised six children and now have thirteen grandchildren and
three great-grandchildren. In post-war employment years, Ralph worked
in the food service industry and he has worked in food service for most
of his life. 