Paul A. Samperi

Paul Arthur Samperi was born in Hoboken, NJ in June of 1926. He was from a working-class family involved in the restaurant and banquet hall business, which supported the family during war time rationing. Samperi noted that, because of his family’s involvement in the restaurant business, they never struggled with food in the same way that many other families did during the war. He grew up with a brother four years his senior who attended Cornell University before serving in the U.S. Army, where he was part of the North African Campaign that invaded Sicily and mainland Italy. Their father was a veteran of World War I but was fortunate enough to avoid combat, as he was sent over just as the war ended.

Samperi spoke of his time growing up before World War II, including a lively social life filled with movies theaters, big bands and dance halls. He also mentioned what they had to endure, which included the rationing of other essentials like shoes. On December 7, 1941, Samperi heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio in the morning as he awoke. He recalled being shocked and, just like every other American at the time, he realized that America was at war and the life that they knew would be forever changed. Samperi said how the mood in the United States changed, and how more patriotic Americans became following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Samperi graduated from A.J. Demarest High School in 1944 and in the same year turned 18. He was drafted soon after along with his friends, including one of his best friends Joe Pecorino. Once he got to the Newark Induction Center, Samperi spoke on how there were two lines they could choose, one going into the Army and one going into the Navy. Since he had a lot of ship models during childhood, he chose the Navy line, along with his friend, Joe Pecorino.

Samperi did his basic training in Bainbridge, Maryland. There, he underwent physical conditioning and sailing exercises. Initially, Samperi wanted to go to RADAR school, but due to minor hearing loss, he was disqualified for that school and instead went into the Navy’s Cook and Baker School, partly due to his experience with the family business of restaurants. Because of a common cold, he missed a few weeks of the schooling and had to be moved to another class in order to keep up with the program. Samperi would graduate top of his class in Cook and Baker School, and therefore graduated Seaman First Class, which earned him the privilege of choosing where he would like to be stationed. He chose to be sent to the Pacific, because after his basic training, the war in Europe had ended, and the atomic bombs had been dropped in Japan.

After Bainbridge, Samperi was sent to Camp Peary in Virginia, specifically to a part of the camp called “Island X,” where he would learn how to cook in simulated Pacific Island conditions. He and the other cooks serving would learn to use makeshift stoves, to purify water, and to prepare meals for large groups of troops.

During leave time, Samperi would visit his family in their summer home on the Jersey Shore, and it was on one of these leaves that the war ended. To celebrate, he and his parents went to a hotel in Asbury Park for a modest celebration.

Samperi recalled that the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan was met with relief, since it brought the war to a sudden and complete end. He personally believed that the decision was justified, reasoning that it saved countless American lives – including his own and even his brother’s, as they both would have been sent over to the Pacific to continue in the fight.

After Japan surrendered, Island X was closed and Samperi’s assignments at Camp Peary shifted. The remainder of his time and service spent at Camp Peary was at the base’s fire department as a Yeoman. As Yeoman, he dispatched firemen, wrote reports and investigated fires. Samperi spoke of his encounters with the German POWs who were being housed at the camp. He remembered them as polite, highly skilled in trades, and reluctant to return to Germany after the war. Unable to become a Specialist F Fireman because of the amount of service years needed, it was suggested to him to take a test to become a Motor Machinist instead, which he passed.

Samperi’s service was complicated by recurring ear problems that were aggravated by the cold he had back in Bainbridge. He was hospitalized several times during his service at Fort Eustis and Norfolk Naval Hospital. Samperi encountered many different sailors, some who had not seen combat like himself, but also many veterans who had, including burn victims and amputees. During his time in the Norfolk Naval Hospital, he worked many volunteer jobs, one of which was a photostat job, where he helped the Navy make photocopies of maps, documents and photos. Samperi was able to make his own personal photocopies such as Christmas cards. Another monumental volunteer job he did during his hospital stay was to help a CBS radio broadcast in Virginia interview a man named George. A. Yoste, a sailor who was the only survivor of one of the bombings of the USS Franklin.

Samperi was discharged in 1946 as the Navy downsized after the war. He would travel home by train to reunite with his parents and his brother, who had returned home months before he did. His neighbor and best friend, Joe Pecorino, went on to join the Naval Reserves, and would go on to serve during the Korean War. Samperi did not choose to re-enlist, instead, utilized the GI Bill to go to college. He would graduate from St. Peter’s College with a degree in Economics and Business.

A member of the American Legion, Samperi continued to be involved in veteran work, and he spent the rest of his life in the restaurant business. He owned a restaurant in Asbury Park and continued to speak on behalf of restaurateurs.

Paul A. Samperi passed away at home in Wall Township New Jersey on September 19, 2013, at the age of 87.