Joe C. Damiano was the son of Sicilian Immigrants from Piana degli Albanesi. Joe and his brother, George, both served in WWII. Joe served as a Navigator with his B-24 crew in the 700th Bomb Squad. Their crew was involved in the Rhineland campaign and others.



Towards the end of the war, Joe was injured and was still healing when it was time to head home. Joe got a spot in the Queen Mary's Winston Churchill suite, sharing it with many other wounded soldiers, sailors and flyboys. This was one of the Queen Mary's last trips back to the US, bringing home thousands of troops at each crossing.



Many years later Joe would take his granddaughter to the Queen Mary, while it was dry docked in Long Beach, and share his memories with her. Joe rarely talked about the war, but when he did, he would tell his grandchildren that truth be told...he always felt very honored to be his crew's Navigator. He said the crew always relied on him to get them home and he was determined to never let them down...and he never did.