Interviews with World War II Veterans-Arvo, Dick

Richard Nillo Arvo was an Air Force B-25 Gunner in North Africa from 1942 until 1945.

The morning of December 7, 1941, Dick Arvo was sitting in a restaurant with his brother when the attack on Pearl Harbor was announced. As soon as they were finished eating, they rushed home to tell their sister about the war because they were both sure that they were going to be drafted. At that time Dick Arvo was nineteen years old. He was too young to just sign up on his own because at that time you had to be 21 to enlist. Dick felt that it was his duty to serve his country so he

convinced his mother to sign his papers and he enlisted. His brother who was five years older than him also wanted to join the war effort. He made tools for a living so he was told that he was needed to help make weapons and other things for the war.

After enlisting, Dick spent six weeks in Missouri at Jefferson Barracks where he decided that he wanted to be a gunner. From Jefferson Barracks, he went to Gunnery school in Vegas where he spent another six weeks learning how to shoot down enemy planes, identify enemy planes and ships, and learning flag signals.

Dick was the Turret Gunner of the six-man crew of the Patricia. The Patricia went on many skip-bombing missions, earning medals for several of them. By the time the was over, Richard Nillo Arvo had received the following decorations and citations: European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with 4 Bronze Starts, Air Medal with one Silver Oak Leaf Cluster and 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, and a distinguished Unit Badge with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster.

Although the war was a horrible event that should never have occurred, Dick felt that there was one good thing about it. The entire country came together to fight the war against the unknown enemy. Nobody cared about any petty differences.

One of the biggest issues in the Second World War was the dropping of the atomic bombs. Most people at that time were against them, but Dick felt that it was justified. He said that if the bombs had not been dropped, the war would have gone on for much longer and just as many lives would have been lost. But even though he agreed with the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Dick said that he doesn’t have any harsh feelings against any Japanese people.

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I interviewed Richard Nillo Arvo on April 2, 2001. He turned 79 thirteen days later. I enjoyed talking to him because he was a very interesting man. Dick has done many things with his life and is very satisfied. I would like to thank him and all of the veterans for everything that they have done.

-Vidya Mahadevan