Vincent Borelli

Vincent Borelli was born in New York in 1918. At a young age, his family moved to Pennsylvania, where he lived for the rest of his life, except for his time in the military. Borelli grew up in a large family as one of eight children. Borelli had six brothers and one sister. His father was a physical therapist for the Department of Health, and his mother was a housewife.

Borelli worked as a teletypist for newspapers prior to the war. His last job was delivering newspapers for the New York Post. In that job, he sent copies of newspapers to homes. During World War II, Borelli was drafted rather than enlisting in the military. His six brothers were drafted as well.

Borelli served in the Army Air Forces as a teletypist, and was stationed in Missouri in the 4196th Air Force Base Unit during his service. While in the Army, he became friends with some of his fellow soldiers. Borelli remembered that one of them was killed in action during the war in the Battle of the Bulge during the last year of the war. When he became aware that the war had ended, Borelli was at an airfield in Oklahoma. He was discharged as a Corporal in 1947.

After his service, Borelli did not stay in contact with fellow veterans nor did he join any veteran organizations. He did stay in contact with his brothers, and would mail a letter to one of them as a way of staying in contact. Whichever brother received the letter mailed it to one of his other brothers, and they kept passing it on.

During his service, Borelli did not keep a journal, as he did not have time to write in it. Soldiers were put on extra duty if they showed up late or missed an appointment, as part of policy, so he made sure he kept up with his schedule. Interestingly, Borelli did not think that being a veteran had any influence on getting a job, although veterans were chosen above others for state and federal Civil Service employment. 

On January 5, 2012, Vincent Borelli passed away at the age of 93.