War vets together five decades

These World War IIveterans have beenmarried 56 years.
By LEONARD CRIST
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BAZETTA -- The horseshoe pits at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds were unusually quiet.
Though 12 people were pitching, the only persistent sound was the clink of horseshoes hitting the metal stakes at each end of the pit. The horseshoe pitchers concentrated more on the game than on conversation.
Pete Perich, a retired photographer from Warren, grasped a horseshoe, took aim and tossed it into the sky. The horseshoe sailed through the air, hit the stake and bounced off -- no ringer this time.
Pete quietly cursed to himself.
Outside the horseshoe pit, the 81-year-old World War II veteran can be quite talkative, telling stories about the three years he spent overseas.
Pete was stationed as a supply sergeant in Andimeshk, Iran, for two of those years.
"During the war, I organized the [horseshoe] pitching league between barracks," Pete said. "I was the champion in the whole desert district. The word was, 'You gotta beat that sergeant from Andimeshk.'"
Pete's wife of 56 years, Anne Perich, doesn't share his lifelong love of horseshoes.
"I'm not a horseshoe pitcher," she said at their home in Warren. "I'd rather go dancing."
Her service
Anne is also a World War II veteran. Known then as Anne Fiorino, she achieved the rank of pharmacist mate third class and was stationed at a San Diego naval hospital that treated wounded soldiers from the Pacific war theater.
During the war, Anne never got to leave the United States.
"At the time, none of us went overseas," Anne said. "We didn't go aboard ships or anything like that. Nowadays they do, but at that time, we weren't allowed to go to those areas."
"Her generation set the stage for the girls that wanted to get in the military later," Pete said.
The two first met at a wedding after the war. Pete was the wedding photographer. He said that the first time he saw Anne, he knew she was the one. On the dance floor that night, Pete forwardly told Anne that he would marry her someday.
"A fresh GI, that's what it's called," he said.
In Iran, a few years earlier, Pete said the soldiers had "no liquor, no bars, no dancing, no movies, no girlfriends, none of that stuff." The soldiers were there to work.
They furnished the Russians with fresh supply shipments each day to aid in their fight against Nazi Germany.
Pete's company repaired wrecked diesel engine trucks.
The drivers "would fall asleep, go over the cliffs, and get killed. It was too much pressure on the guys. So then we'd take the trucks and we'd repair them."
Time in Iran
He spent a lot of time with the Iranian people and said he's saddened that conditions in the Middle East haven't improved much in the 60 years since he left.
Pete went out of his way to treat the Iranians well, giving them extra coffee and bread when he could. "I would kind of take care of them," he said.
In 1945 while on leave, Pete passed through Basra and Baghdad on his way to the Holy Land. Immediately upon returning to Iran, his company packed up and was sent off to Egypt, Algiers and, eventually, Europe. Pete visited 16 countries while serving.
After the war, Pete and Anne both took advantage of the GI bill. He went to college at Yale to study photography. She became a medical technician.
They retired quite a few years back and have since volunteered much of their time to various causes. Pete recently spearheaded the "First Flight" Lunar Module project in Warren.
"I think the military gave us the emphasis on doing more than just being a citizen," Pete said. "There is no country better than [the United States]. I've been around and I'll vouch for it 100 percent."
lcrist@vindy.com