102-year-old remembers veteran brother who died overseas
Now 102 years old, Frank Bloise can recall serving in the Army during World War II, alongside several of his brothers, including his eldest sibling, Joe Bloise, who died in the Battle of the Bulge.
On Friday, May 26, Bloise, who is originally from New Castle, but is now living at the Butler VA Community Living Center, shared memories of World War II.
Bloise said he was in the Philippines with the Army in 1945, but his military duty started with helping with training, instead of with active combat.
“I was held back, probably being saved by being held back. When I got to basic training, they got me teaching truck driver’s school,” Bloise said. “I spent a couple years doing that.”
Bloise said he will always remember where he was when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Japan in the waning days of the war.
“I was in the Philippines when they dropped the atomic bomb,” Bloise said. “They dropped the bomb and then we went into Japan. We got there at night and had to walk through the field over to the city.”
His brother, Joe, however, took part in the Battle of the Bulge, which occured from December 1944 to January 1945 in Belgium, when Allied forces clashed with Nazi Germany’s military divisions. The battle would later be called “the greatest American battle of the war” by Winston Churchill.
Bloise said that about 25 years ago, he and some family and friends traveled to France to visit his brother’s grave.
“He went, several of his nephews and his one brother, John, went and visited his grave,” said Sharon Napolitano, Bloise’s daughter from New Castle. “That was a nice pilgrimage they made over there.”
According to September 2022 statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 167,284 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II were still alive.
At that time, 9,675 living WWII veterans were reportedly still alive in Pennsylvania.
Those numbers are expected to continually decline. The National World War II Museum anticipates losing an average of 180 WWII per day.
The number of WWII veterans alive is expected to dip below 100,000 by 2024, and below 50,000 by 2026, according to predictions from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. By 2030, the department predicts less than 10,000 WWII veterans will still be alive to recount their experiences.
The department lists Pennsylvania among the top four places for its veteran population.
Before leaving to go to war, Bloise worked at what was most recently known as Rockwell International, where he constructed parts for bombs. He said that by the time he returned from overseas, the company had begun constructing springs.
Joe had worked at the company with him, but never made it back. Out of several Bloises who served in the military, Joe was the only one who died in action.
“They were kind of fortunate to only lose one out of five,” Napolitano said.
Bloise said Memorial Day has always been a special day for him and his family, and in the past, he had commemorated the holiday alongside his loved ones.
“The family always got together. My mother would have us all over with a big tub of ice cream, stuff to keep cool,” Bloise said. “We had a lot of get-togethers in the Bloise family for holidays.”
