Joseph Fusco

Joseph Fusco was born on September 14, 1924, in Olean, New York. In 1942, after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army along with several friends who chose to serve rather than wait for the draft. He completed basic training and was assigned to the 117th Anti-Aircraft Training Battalion at Camp Davis, North Carolina. There, he trained on 90mm anti-aircraft guns, firing at targets towed by aircraft piloted by women.

In 1944, Fusco was deployed to the European Theater. After arriving in England following the D-Day invasion, he was sent to France as a unit replacement and assigned to the 558th Field Artillery Battalion of Patton’s 3rd Army. The unit, equipped with self-propelled 155mm M12 guns, had reached the area near Metz and was engaged in combat with entrenched German forces. Fusco served in Baker Battery as a gun crewman, having attained the rank of Private First Class.

As the Allies advanced into Germany, his unit discovered a sub-camp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp near Regensburg. The conditions were horrific. While rendering aid, Fusco and other soldiers transported a severely injured man to a local hospital. When a doctor refused to treat the man because he wasn’t German, Fusco insisted on his care. A second doctor agreed, and the man was admitted. The fate of the survivor remained unknown, a memory that Fusco carried with him throughout his life.

Following the German surrender, the 558th moved into Czechoslovakia and later performed military police and POW duties during the post-war transition. Fusco and his unit were then ordered to refit for deployment to the Pacific. Aboard the USS General Breckinridge en route to the Philippines, the crew received word that Japan had surrendered. The ship was redirected to New York City. Fusco was discharged in 1946 as a Technician Fifth Grade (Corporal).

He returned to Olean, worked, and enrolled at St. Bonaventure University. Before completing his degree, he was recalled to active duty in 1950. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, he served in the 20th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Army, stationed in Hanau, Germany. His duties included serving as an Aerial Observer during the early Cold War. He was promoted to First Lieutenant and served until 1953.

After his military service, Fusco worked in the beverage industry and then transitioned to real estate. He remarried and eventually settled in Peoria, Arizona, where he continued to work into his 90s, including a position with Avis Car Rental.

Fusco remains a hero and role model to his family.