James N. Rizzo enlisted in the Air Force and served for 22 months. After attending basic training at Keesler Field, Mississippi [Annotator's Note: now Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi], he was sent to San Antonio, Texas to Kelly Field [Annotator's Note: Kelly Field, now part of Joint Base San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas]. At this time, America was winning the war and did not need any more airmen, so Rizzo signed up to help with the ground crew. After some training, the military decided to make him a regular soldier. Rizzo was born in June 1926 in the Brighton Park area of Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois]. He attended Catholic grammar school and Tilden High School where he played for the city football championship at Soldier Field [Annotator's Note: football stadium] in 1943. He had two sisters and a large extended family that lived in the same apartment building as his family. He always had to make sure he did not get into trouble because there was always one of his family members around. In 1932, half of Rizzo's neighborhood was on a twice weekly government food program because of the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939]. Rizzo's father was a printer for the Herald American [Annotator's Note: Chicago Herald American newspaper] until it went out of business, at which point he opened a tavern and began doing very well for the family. His extended family always pulled together when it needed to throughout the Great Depression. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], Rizzo was aware of the military situation around the world and heard radio broadcasts concerning Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. His father told him that the United States would be involved in a war soon. On 7 December 1941, Rizzo heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor over the family radio. Aside from being unaware of where Pearl Harbor was located, Rizzo was shocked at the unprovoked attack. With the nation at war, Rizzo's father began to explain the geopolitics that led to the war. In his junior year of high school, Rizzo enlisted in the Air Force at age 17 and was given a six-month deferment [Annotator's Note: postponement of military service] to finish his education. He wanted to enlist because he wanted to protect his country. While finishing school, Rizzo worked at a Dodge [Annotator's Note: American automobile] factory in Chicago making cylinder heads for aircraft. His mother pushed back against his desire to enlist, but his father reasoned with her and smoothed things over. Rizzo chose to join the Air Force and was sent to Keesler Field, Mississippi for basic training before being sent to Chanute Field, Illinois [Annotator's Note: in Champaign County, Illinois] for mechanic's training. He was then sent to Biloxi, Mississippi for more training and then joined the 553rd Air Service Group in San Antonio, Texas before being sent overseas. His group was a service outfit for bombers.

James N. Rizzo sailed overseas to the Pacific. He did not travel with his whole group [Annotator's Note: 553rd Air Service Group], but only with a select few. While aboard ship, he was asked if he would like to help in the kitchen, which he agreed to do. He cooked 80 turkeys for Christmas [Annotator's Note: 25 December 1945] for the Army. He never had any animosity towards the Japanese people, as they only did what their government told them to do. While he was on occupation duty, the Americans taught the Japanese to drive like they did and use the same traffic signs. Rizzo became a cook upon his arrival at Tachikawa Airfield [Annotator's Note: in Tachikawa, Japan] in Japan. From Tachikawa, Rizzo talked his way into a position as a chef at a rest camp for enlisted men and officers in a hotel at the foot of Mount Fujiyama. He had to help with getting the hotel prepared for 80 guests every week. While based at the hotel, Rizzo had the chance to climb the mountain in his off time. The ground felt like he was walking on ash. Northeastern Tokyo was obliterated in World War 2. The Japanese had surrendered when he was still training in San Antonio, Texas. His group was then sent to Japan for occupation duty. He remembered everyone in his unit were celebrating when they found out the Japanese had surrendered because they thought they would be sent home. Little did they know, they were scheduled to be shipped off to Japan for occupation duty. He was asked what he could do as a duty, and he told them that he wanted to be a cook. So, when he got to Japan, he began using the Army cookbook and made food for about 550 men three meals a day. His schedule worked where he was on duty for lunch, dinner, then breakfast the next day. Then he would have two days off before he had to work in the kitchen again. He often worked with a butcher to help him identify the different cuts of meat. Later on in life, he opened a couple of restaurants. After a year of occupation duty, he returned home. He then enrolled in the University of Notre Dame [Annotator's Note: University of Notre Dame du Lac in Notre Dame, Indiana]. He then worked with his dad in the printing trades and became an electrotyper, working himself up through the office. Rizzo was discharged with the rank of corporal. He did not use the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment].

James N. Rizzo's most memorable experience of World War 2 was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He went to his mother and told her that he was joining the service. America needed people to fight and that is why he joined the service. He enlisted when he was 17 but they told him to graduate from high school first. The war changed his life because it gave him a mechanical education that he probably would not have had. It also gave him a chance to go to college. He did have a scholarship to go to Notre Dame [Annotator's Note: University of Notre Dame du Lac, Notre Dame, Indiana] to play football. His experience of the war was always a learning experience. He was always happy to be able to help and feel needed. Most Americans do not have any thought at all about World War 2. Rizzo started his war experience in the occupation of Japan. He drove trucks around until he was needed as a cook. Rizzo talked his way into a position as a chef at a rest camp for enlisted men and officers in a hotel at the foot of Mount Fujiyama [Annotator's Note: Mount Fujiyama, Japan]. He had to help with getting the hotel prepared for 80 guests every week. It is important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and to continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because people should know what happen before the war and the sacrifices America did to ensure our freedom. Everyone was behind the war effort because they knew it was important.