Local veteran excited for Honor Flight

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The seventh annual honor flight, a day trip to Washington in honor of World War II veterans, will take off Wednesday at 7 a.m.

Honor Flight South Alabama ( HFSA) is a non-profit program that honor the tremendous service and sacrifices of America’s “Greatest Generation,” our World War II (WWII) Veterans. HFSA will fly one local veteran and more of these American heroes to Washington, DC, to visit and reflect at their memorial.

John Bosco is a local jeweler. Nearly 70 years ago, he was drafted to serve in WWII. Now, he'll join other veterans on the Honor Flight.

Bosco said he is happy to be a part of the trip, and hearing from past participants only increased his excitement.

"I wanted to go because I heard and spoke to some of the other veterans who'd gone and they enjoyed every minute of it," said Bosco.

At 18-years-old, Bosco was working in Dayton, Ohio when he was drafted and enlisted into the Army-Air Corp, the present day US Air Force. Bosco's unit helped keep fighter planes in the air.

"I was in the Air Service 318th Air Squadron," Bosco said.

He added that his squadron was primarily made up of men from the Southeast region.

He said, "I was a Yankee."

His unit was sent to the Battle of Naples-Foggia which began with an Allied beach landing in Naples, Italy. Bosco spoke of the battle, which began in late 1943, like it was yesterday. He said his unit landed in the midst the a long battle. But the Allies had the upper hand.

"By now, the Germans were on the run, but we still needed our Air-Corp," he said.

After the war, Bosco returned home to Pennsylvania. There, he entered what he calls a G.I. school, which trained former military in any number of crafts.

"I went to a jewelry school, which was about 20 miles from my home," said Bosco.

After graduation, Bosco applied for a jeweler position in Mobile.

Sixty years later, he's still going strong at his craft, but he will never forget his time in the war. Wednesday, he'll get to revisit it as a part of the Honor Flight.