Paul Pizzolongo was born in February 1923 in Bronx, New York. His father picked numbers for the bookies and his mom did some sewing to get by during the Depression. Pizzolongo delivered groceries. He tried to enlist in the Navy, but they said he was too short. On 19 November 1940 he went into the Army and was assigned to the 258th Field Artillery Regiment; Medical Detachment, Battery B, 991st Field Artillery Battalion. He felt lucky that he did not go into the Navy as he might have wound up in Pearl Harbor on the USS Arizona (BB-39). He trained at Fort Ethan [Annotator's Note: Fort Ethan Allen], in Vermont, Maddison Barracks, New York, and Virginia. He trained on self-propelled guns that fired a 95 pound shell up to 20 miles. He was assigned to Battery B in the Medical Detachment where he served as their combat medic. Pizzolongo landed on Omaha Beach where he was bombed for the first time in really bad weather. A lone German bomber they nicknamed Bed Check Charlie would show up every night around 11 or 12. It would cut its motor and dive, drop its bomb, and then take off. He left there [Annotator's Note: unintelligible] and there first attack was on Saint-Lo [Annotator's Note: Saint-Lo, France]. The Battery's job was to knock out pill boxes. He took a walk and he saw a boot sticking up. He crawled close and it was a German soldier who had been shot right between the eyes. The 258th then went deeper into France and across Belgium and to German border. Pizzolongo feels that von Rudstedt was an excellent German field marshall [Annotator's Note: German Army Generalfeldmarschall Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt]. Little by little the Americans got through.

Paul Pizzolongo was a medic in the medical detachment of Battery B, 991st Field Artillery Battalion, 258th Field Artillery Regiment. When they moved into Saint-Lo, France, dead Germans were everywhere, and no buildings were standing. His first time seeing a dead body caused him to say, "well, here is a good German." Going across France he treated several wounded soldiers. He treated them all regardless of country of origin. Outside of Mons, Belgium there was a large cabbage patch and Germans were hiding there. At daylight they surrendered, and he took care of their wounded. The Captain said there was a German with a wound in the patch and told Pizzolongo to go treat him. Two riflemen went with him and they were nearly shot by American tanks. He lifted the wounded man's head and his hand was filled with brain. He said they were all men who were fighting for their country and his job was to patch up the wounded. He ran out of bandages ultimately. He would carry morphine, bandages, adhesive tape and odds and ends. Sulfathiazole was used to treat wounds and prevent infection. He had received all of his medical training in the military. When he went to join the Army, the head of the medics was a relative of his and that is how he ended up being one as well.

Paul Pizzolongo was already in the Army and was returning from maneuvers in Pennsylvania when he heard about Pearl Harbor. Nobody knew where Pearl Harbor was. He was about to be discharged from his one year of service but everyone was now extended until the end of hostilities plus six months. For Pizzolongo that was 25 October 1945. He shipped out from Camp Shanks, New York and took a train to North Shore, Long Island and took the RMS Queen Mary to Europe. The British gave them kidney stew for breakfast which they threw into the water. They landed in Greenwich, Scotland and were greeted by school kids singing to them. They stayed in Scotland for a short time then went to Aberdyfi, Wales and spent several months there training. Their guns would often sink when they were training in the moors, so they sent them to Southampton, England. They were lined up and were given clippers to get haircuts. They were also given cigarettes and candy bars. He hated that when they were headed to Paris, France and could see the Eiffel Tower they readied the candy bars to give to children, but the convoy turned a different direction and they did not get to.

Paul Pizzolongo says that England was rainy, and the people had no teeth. The British loved the Americans, treated them well and would share whatever they had, although it wasn't much. His unit was bombed by American forces thinking they were Germans. He hit the ground and tried to get as deep in the dirt as he could. A man nearby had a stove land on him. On 16 December 1944 the Battle of the Bulge started. Pizzolongo and his unit [Annotator's Note: Battery B, 991st Field Artillery Battalion, 258th Field Artillery Regiment] were just freezing and doing nothing as the Germans had not come through yet. Once they started shelling them, they had to pull out because they were no match for the German tanks. The 88mm [Annotator's Note: German 88mm multi-purpose artillery] was the greatest weapon the Germans had. They could land a shell in your pocket. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer tells Pizzolongo of the 88mm gun at The National WWII Museum.] Pizzolongo was never wounded in the course of the war. He said the Germans never shot at him due to his wearing the red cross of the medic. After the war, he was almost killed by one of his own men. They were sitting around showing off their guns and one of the guys was shot and landed on him. If it had been a larger caliber bullet, Pizzolongo would have been shot as well. He felt bad and said the friend had survived five battles only to die that way.

Paul Pizzolongo received a Bronze Star for his work as a medic. He had the Medical Caduceus, Combat Medic Badge, and says that any man that was involved with the infantry in close quarters and received that would get the Bronze Star. His regiment [Annotator's Note: 258th Field Artillery Regiment] went through the Dragon's teeth [Annotator's Note: Drachenzäahne; square-pyramidal fortifications of reinforced concrete] and into Germany. At one position they were told to cease fire. The Russians were on target and they knew the war was over. All of the battles were tough, even though he didn't work with the guns. He would have to tag anyone killed by putting the person's dog tag in his mouth and then marking his forehead KIA, Killed In Action. Sal D'Amoto was his very good friend. Tim D'Amico was digging a hole next to a hedgerow. The Germans would clean the field by starting at one end of the hedgerow and working across to the other. Pizzolongo told Tim not to dig there. Tim left to go to the bathroom and right when he did a round hit. D'Amoto ran for the hole instead of going flat and he was hit and killed. The German artillery was the worst because they were so good.

After being discharged from the Army, Paul Pizzolongo joined the National Guard, then returned to the Army and then transferred to the Coast Guard. His wife asked him if he was going to join the Salvation Army next. In the Coast Guard, he went to Bermuda, but they could not go ashore in uniform due to it being a British Possession. He was in a bar one night and the bartender used to be a United States citizen. He told them to go to a liquor store and get a bottle instead of paying the bar price. They went swimming at night which was dangerous due to barracuda. After World War 2, he stayed a couple of months in Europe. He took a walk through the town [Annotator’s Note: unintelligible] and it had not been touched by the American forces. He found out it had the only operating German brewery, so it had been left alone. He came home via a Liberty Ship which was a rough ride that lasted two weeks. At the start of the war, he had gone to Europe aboard the Queen Mary which had avoided the German submarines on the way. He was discharged as a corporal and then joined the Coast Guard as a medic. He ended up with a disability after losing his hearing. [Annotator's Note: He won't answer the interviewer's question about any positives about the war.] He feels that The National WWII Museum is very important. His son-in-law and his grandson were asking about World War 2 nobody knew what it was.