A day never to be forgotten

Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, 1941, literally hit every one of our homes. It was a never to be forgotten day of infamy in our glorious history.

As a 17-year-old Vindicator carrier at the time, my route consisted of about 60 customers on Youngstown’s East Side. The bulk of my subscribers lived on Oak Street, starting at the intersection of Oak Street and Himrod Avenue and continued to Loveless Avenue. I then headed home up Loveless Avenue, down Himrod Avenue and back down North Jackson Street.

As I reflect on the then-young men and boys in many of those homes, I remember volunteers and inductees going into the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy. About half of my customers had at least one person in the service. There were over 50 servicemen on this route and even an Army nurse. Seven of my customers had all three of their sons in the service. One of those families was my uncle Tony and aunt Florence Lacivita. My cousins Felix and Ralph were in the Air Force, while Lou was in the Army. All three served overseas and saw combat action.

East High Yearbook

As I review my East High School June 1942 graduating class Yearbook, I count 98 boys out a class of 217. I was inducted into the service on May 17, 1943, along with the majority of my male classmates. There were about 20 of us that went into the Navy and the remainder into the Army. We were the first group of 18-year-olds inducted at the Lincoln Elementary School draft board.

Our country was in a total mobilization mode. Many “Rosie The Riveters” and welderettes were working in our local factories, in support of the war effort. I landed aboard an amphibious ship, the U.S.S. LST 582, “Landing Ship Tank”, also dubbed “Large Slow Target.” Our ship had rubber hose from Republic Rubber and water line seamless steel tubing from Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co.

Some time ago, a television documentary entitled “Return Of LST 325” was shown on the History Channel. It brought back memories of my home away from home during 1944 and 1945. A group of former LST sailors in their seventies had returned this 1942 vintage ship from Greece to Mobile, Ala. There were 1,051 LSTs built during World War II and the 325 was one of the few still navigable.

Today’s LST type ships are much larger than those of World War II. I have always been a firm believer in a strong and ready military force, to preserve our hard won freedoms.

Michael J. Lacivita, a Youngstown retiree, has been inducted into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. This is a reprinting of one of his columns that first appeared in December 2001.