Family’s wartime sacrifices lost with Trump
I am writing this letter to honor my three brothers who served in World War II, all of whom did not hesitate to go and defend our Democracy.
One brother, Staff Sgt. Fred E. Botti, served in Europe with the 9th Air Force. He flew missions over Germany. On one occasion their plane was hit by German fire, causing the pilot and other crew members to become disabled. He was the tail gunner and crawled to the front of the plane where he dug glass out of the controls with his bare hands and miraculously landed the plane back in England where he pulled the disabled crew out of the plane before it exploded.
One week later, he was sent on another mission over Dunkirk and their plane was shot down by German fire.The plane crashed into a field, this time he was not saved. His body was not discovered until three years later by a farmer. He was only identified by dental records.
My other brother, Staff Sgt.Joseph Botti, also fought in Europe with the 2nd Infantry. He had two Purple Hearts. I remember my mother, an Italian immigrant telling us about a dream she had. She was walking down a farm road in Italy when she saw this beautiful cow. She went over and petted the cow on her head. We soon learned the significance of her dream. You see,my brother in a battle in France, crawled out of his foxhole to get to a well to get water for his men.The Germans threw a grenade at him and the only reason he was not killed was because it hit a cow in front of him.
My third brother, Albert F. Botti also served in the U.S. Army. The only reason he was not sent overseas was because if Joseph got killed, he was the only surviving son.
He was drafted out of the University of Alabama where he played on the Crimson Tide football team that was scheduled to play in the Rose Bowl that year, he never got that opportunity.
These are the sacrifices that our family made to keep our country a free democracy and not Nazi Germany. Now I have to listen to people defending a coward who would not fight for this country A liar, a would be dictator, a scum of the male species named Donald Trump. Wake up, you Trump voters and respect what thousands died for, before you are uttering “HEIL, TRUMP!”
Yolanda Saghy
South Union Township