Dec. 7 — It's About Pearl Harbor, The Pacific Theater and a Birthday for Avon World War II Veteran

AVON, CT — The seventh the day of December has extra meaning to World War II veteran Angelo "Bob" Galiette above and beyond being Pearl Harbor Day. It represents a defining moment in his life, but it also happens to be his birthday.

And on that day in 1941, things went from a simple celebration over a game of pool and ice cream to someone who had been 18 for only a few hours being thrust into a turning point in history.

"As you recall, it was a Sunday. We had just come out of church. It was my 18th birthday and some of us went to play pool and have banana splits," Galiette recalled in a Monday interview with Patch. "We turned on the radio and then we heard that Japanese airplanes had bombed Pearl Harbor."

Now 93, Galiette, a Southington native who has lived in Avon since 1959, said he had vividly recalled what happened next every birthday since. His daughter, Claudia Flannery, said Monday that the coincidence is "a key element in his identity."

And Galiette said he made sure he had a say in that identity. Rather than waiting for the draft, he sought out the Army Air Corps. He even decided to make up his senior year in high school after the war.

"Yes, instead of getting drafted, I opted to volunteer for induction," he said.

Galiette said he wanted to be a fighter pilot, but was told there was no shortage of them training for the war effort. He wound up in the Pacific Theater in airplanes but in a different role.

"But they needed gunners," he said. "So I became a top turret gunner on a twin-engine, A-20 light bomber. In those planes were the gunners and the pilots — that's all. And they were low-level missions."

How low exactly?

"We were right at the treetops," he said. "I can say we oftentimes chopped the tops of trees with our props. So it's the pilot and the gunner and I was up top, spinning around 360 degrees."

Galiette flew 20 missions in an A-20 while being stationed in New Guinea, thew Philippines and in Okinawa, the third stop playing a role as part of the Japanese occupation. He was discharged in January 1946.

Galiette said he is proud of his service, but equally proud of another family legacy — his grandson, James Flannery, a West Point graduate who served in the Middle East with the Army Rangers as a captain.

The two can share memories anytime they want, Galiette said, especially on Dec. 7.

He said he'll think of that banana split, interrupted by a news bulletin on the radio. He will think of the Pearl Harbor aftermath and the zeal to volunteer.

He will think of those treetop missions.

"I'll be 93," he said. "But I can remember it all well. It's a special day with a lot of memories."

Photo Credit: James Flannery, Claire Galiette and Bob Galiette on Memorial Day 2014 in Avon — the Galiette family; an A-20 in flight — U.S. Air Force.