Maine Maritime Academy

My father Bill Ferreira fought as a Marine in the South Pacific during WW II. He joined the service at age 17 after graduating from Medford HS in Massachusetts. He quickly was deployed to the Asian war zone where he was stationed in new Guinea and New Caledonia. He reached the rank of staff sergeant before his 18th birthday and commanded a crew that loaded munitions onto B-17 bombers. His post was frequently strafed by Japanese bombers and he contracted malaria for which he was given a brief respite in New Zealand. He returned to the US when Japan surrendered and had a long career as a teacher and junior high principal. He only spoke about his time in battle to his six children when we pushed him to talk and was an anti-war advocate for the remainder of his life.