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John DeFrancesco in the News
Well, he’s done it again. My friend and fellow Ocala resident, John DeFrancesco, has made the local paper – again. And, not only is John the subject of a great article in the Ocala StarBanner by Andy Fillmore, with photos by Doug Engle, John made the front page of said newspaper.
John was a B-17 pilot during WWII and served with the 384th Bomb Group of the 8th Army Air Forces, the same group in which my dad, George Edwin Farrar, served, although at a different time.
The entire article can be read online on the paper’s website.
John’s reaction to making the front page of his local newspaper. “Wow!”
I have to agree. Wow! Thank you, Andy, for the awesome article, and thank you, Doug, for the excellent photos.
A follow-up to John’s article…
After John’s article appeared in our Ocala newspaper, I had a phone call from a 90-year-old woman named Myrna. Myrna lives in Ocala, and after reading the article in the paper, was interested in talking to John (yes, I have passed the message along to him).
From 1953 to 1954, Myrna and her late husband lived in Moosburg, the German town where John’s WWII POW camp was located (Stalag VII-A was actually located just north of the town of Moosburg).
Myrna’s husband was stationed in Moosburg for the US military. They resided in military housing, an apartment in a building divided into two apartments. Myrna said that during WWII, the building had been a Nazi headquarters.
She said in the basement of that building, there was a barricaded area that they were told was off limits to them. They learned that past the barricaded area, there was an escape tunnel that led to the river. They followed instructions and never explored the barricaded area or tunnel. Her husband is no longer living, but now, at 90, Myrna wishes she had investigated that tunnel!
For more information about John DeFrancesco, see previous post, John DeFrancesco, Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, which contains links to even more posts about John.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2021
An Italian-American Airman on Television
In October, RAI (Italian television and radio) journalist Vittorio Argento traveled from Rome, Italy to Ocala, Florida to interview 384th Bomb Group pilot John DeFrancesco. I previously posted this article about Vittorio’s visit here.
The TV show has aired in Italy and I thought I would share it here. It is available now through this link. This is a direct link to the episode of November 26, 2017, episode 26.11.17 of TG2 Storie.
Before you watch, I must let you know that the program is for Italian viewers and everyone, including John, is speaking Italian, but I think with the wonderful job of editing that Vittorio did with the photos and WWII footage he used, you’ll be able to follow the story just fine.
Multiple stories are presented in the program. John’s story starts at 28:58 in the video and goes through 34:45. Notice the photo on the wall of John’s kitchen. That’s me and my Stalag Luft IV daughter friends with John. Standing left to right are Laura Edge and I. Seated left to right are Ellen Weaver Hartman, John DeFrancesco, and Candy Kyler Brown.
The story includes a photo of my dad and some of his crewmates at 33:52. They are left to right, George Edwin Farrar (my dad), Lenard Leroy Bryant, Erwin V. Foster, and Sebastiano Joseph Peluso (also an Italian-American). Vittorio also included several other photos of 384th Bomb Group airmen and ground crew.
Thank you, Vittorio Argento, for helping the 384th Bomb Group “Keep the Show on the Road.” You did an exceptional job telling 384th Bomb Group pilot John’s DeFrancesco’s story!
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2017
An Italian-American Airman in WWII
384th Bomb Group veteran John DeFrancesco is a WWII rock star. He has been the subject of several magazine and newspaper articles and is now set to appear on Italian television. Both of John’s parents were from Italy. John’s father immigrated with his family when he was fourteen years old and served in the American Army in WWI, earning his American citizenship. John’s mother was also born in Italy and immigrated with her family when she was very young.
Italian Air Force veteran and journalist Vittorio Argento recently visited Florida to interview John about his role as an Italian-American B-17 pilot in WWII.
Vittorio currently works with the Department of Safety and Security for Italy’s national radio/television public broadcasting company, RAI. He is a veteran journalist who has worked in television and daily newspapers and was previously Deputy Managing Director for RAI Radio News. In 2016, Vittorio served as the Prix Italia’s (an international Italian television, radio-broadcasting and website award program) Secretary General.
Vittorio has a personal interest in WWII history and has restored two WWII jeeps. You can read about Vittorio’s adventure to bring a 1943 Willys back to its Ohio factory from Italy here.
At John’s interview, Vittorio presented him with a beautiful plaque of the Italian Air Force. “Virtute Siderum Tenus” translates to “With Valor to the Stars”.
As a result of his interview, John will be the subject of two television programs in Italy and an article in the Italian Air Force magazine.
I enjoyed Vittorio’s visit with us and he has sparked an interest in my husband and me to visit Italy. My passport is ready, my phone is loaded with Google Translate for Italian, and, most importantly, I am shopping for travel shoes.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2017
Paul Bureau and the Marion County Florida Veterans Memorial Park
I live in North Central Florida. We don’t have beaches, but we have plenty of moss-covered oak trees and horse farms. In fact, Beautiful Marion County’s motto is Horse Capital of the World. We breed and grow great thoroughbred race horses here. Another thing we in Marion County are proud of is our veterans.
The Ocala/Marion County Veterans Memorial Park opened in 1997. It is a lovely park where folks like to have a picnic lunch on nice days, which we have a lot of here. The park is a lasting memorial to veterans of all wars, with more than 5,000 personalized bricks set into pedestals, 200 benches, and 100 plaques.
The first time I visited the park was January 25, 2014, when the 384th Bomb Group’s wing panel came to Ocala. Two 384th Bomb Group veterans, pilot John DeFrancesco and armorer Paul Bureau, added their signatures in a ceremony near the park’s pavilion. John’s signature was the wing panel’s eighty-sixth and Paul’s was number eighty-seven.
Like many military parks, the park hosts a Memorial Day celebration every year. But the Ocala/Marion County Veterans Park goes a step further. They host a Memorial Ceremony every quarter to honor those Marion County veterans who have died in the previous three months.
Saturday, October 1, 2016, I attended the ceremony to honor Paul Bureau. Paul was an armorer in the US Army Air Forces, 8th Air Force, 384th Bomb Group, the same group my dad served with in Grafton Underwood, England. Paul’s was among the names read during the ceremony’s “Roll Call of Honored Deceased.” Paul died on August 9 this year.
The park had recently acquired a cannon and chose to use it in the memorial ceremony. The ceremony began with the firing of the cannon. Almost as startling as the tremendous sound of the cannon fire was the ring of smoke that ascended to the heavens as though carrying away the souls of the veterans toward their final mission.
The ceremony continued with the invocation and a youth group called the “Young Marines” posted the colors. Everyone joined in the pledge of allegiance to the flag and sang the national anthem. The roll call began and a bell was rung after the reading of each name. Taps were played. A man named John Earl dressed in a kilt played the bagpipes. The Ocala Police Department Honor Guard performed a twenty-one gun salute.
The ceremony concluded with the benediction and a second firing of the cannon. I knew what was coming, but I still jumped at the tremendous boom. This time, though, no smoke ring accompanied the boom. Only the sad realization that many of our country’s finest defenders are no longer with us.
Note: Please visit the home page of the 384th Bomb Group’s website or the Veterans Signing Project page of the 384th Bomb Group’s photo gallery for more information about the 384th Bomb Group Veterans Signing Project and photos of past signers. Volunteers are still touring the country with the wing panel collecting signatures of 384th Bomb Group Veterans.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2016