Romance Blossomed in the Depths of War
Thousands of miles from home, a US pilot and a US Army nurse found romance amidst the horrors of World War II.
The war had brought Captain Vito Pedone and 1st Lieutenant Jerry Curtis to England in 1943. They came from very different parts of the United States and likely would have never met, if not for the war.
Initially assigned to the US Eighth Air Force as A-20 bomber pilot, Vito was transferred to IX Troop Carrier Command, US Ninth Air Force, as an Operations Officer. He flew as the co-pilot of the lead Pathfinder aircraft from RAF North Witham on 6 June 1944, leading the US Airborne assault on Normandy during D-Day.
Alongside pilot Lieutenant Colonel Joel Couch, they dropped paratroops on Dropzone A at St-Germain-de-Varreville, just after midnight on 6 June 1944.
1st Lieutenant Geraldine 'Jerry' Curtis was a US Army nurse based in England. The many months to build-up US forces and prepare for D-day provided the opportunity for Vito and Jerry to meet and fall in love. They were stationed at different air bases, so Vito would fly various aircraft to visit Jerry at her base! They were married at reading in England in 1943.
Vito and Jerry successfully executed their assigned missions: for Vito, it was leading the US Airborne assault on Normandy; for Jerry, it was the vital evacuation by air to England of wounded troops from the battlefields of Normandy.
1st Lt Jerry Pedone in A2 Flight Jacket. (via Steve Pedone)
US Army Air Force Flight Nurses, with Jerry second from the right. (via Steve Pedone)
Capt Vito Pedone in A2 flight jacket. (via Steve Pedone)
The lead Pathfinder aircrew on their return from the D-day mission, 6 June 1944; Vito second from right. (via Steve Pedone)
Jerry and Vito's English Marriage Certificate. (via Steve Pedone)
Jerry and Vito chatting on the balcony of a control tower. (via Steve Pedone)
Vito and Jerry lie together in the US National Military Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. (via Steve Pedone)