Sam Shapiro
Sam spent his two years of WWII experience almost exclusively in the South Pacific. He was attached to the 79th Combat Engineers Battalion which received honors for service during the April 1944 invasion of Dutch New Guinea and the 1945 invasion of the Philippine islands. He carries keen memories from those years. He remembers living without fresh produce or dairy for those entire two years except for the 15 days he spent on the landing support ship. He remembers well the sober days of August 6 and August 9 when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. He also remembers being present on the day that U.S. and Allied prisoners in the Philippines (some of whom had survived the Bataan death march) were released from Japanese captivity. Since his return home in 1945 Sam spent 34 years working for KCPL. He and his wife were married 52 years and raised two sons. Sam’s favorite movie? Stagecoach starring the inimitable John Wayne.
