Dominic Costanzi
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Dominic Costanzi enlisted in the Army Air Corps August 27, 1942, Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Home at entry: Chisholm, Minnesota.
He served as a staff Sergeant and airplane maintenance technician with the 4000th Army Air Forces Base Unit in the Continental United States.
"After enlistment...I was sent to Marana Army Air Base, Marana, Arizona...a member of the 758th Basic Flying Squad. We trained men to maintain aircraft. I had the title of flight Chief and was in charge of 15 airplanes and 12-15 men. They did the daily maintenance on the planes in order to train basic flying cadets. We also had a number of cadets from China. Only their leaders spoke English...After two and a half years I was sent to Hartford, Connecticut to the Pratt & Whitney engine factory to study radial engines designed for the B-29 Super Forts for higher and faster flying. After this project, I was sent to Chanute Field, Illinois where we studied hydraulics. I had one more week of study left when the atomic bomb was dropped and the war ended."
"From Chanute I was sent to Wright-Patterson Air Base in Dayton, Ohio...with a group of 10 to 12 German engine designers and aircraft scientists who came to this country voluntarily after Germany surrendered. Also, there was a group of POWs who had earlier been interned in Cohasset at the old CCC camp there. They were very familiar with the towns on the Iron Range. The two men I remember most clearly are Professor Ahman, an engine designer and Werner von Braun who became a famous space scientist. We celebrated my last Christmas in the service together. Professor Ahman gave me a sterling silver cup, one of his family possessions, as a gift and memento. I still have it...."
"After two months of service in Ohio my discharge orders finally came through. On the 23rd of January 1946, after 44 months of service, I was free to come home to my wife and family."
Awarded:
Good Conduct Medal
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Honorably discharged January 1946, Wright-Patterson Field, Dayton, Ohio.
Source: Hometown Heroes: The Saint Louis County World War II Project, page 62.
