Date: June 20-21, 2000
Location: Seattle, Washington
Videographer: Dana Hoshide
Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-117
03:56:21
34 segments
Male of Italian and Irish descent. Born 1919 in Baltimore, Maryland. Grew up in the countryside outside of Baltimore with his parents, younger sister, and maternal grandmother. Raised Catholic, he attended public schools until graduating in 1936 at age seventeen. Began working for the Baltimore News Post in 1937 until the draft of 1940 when he was called to serve one year in the U.S. armed forces. Joined the army at the age of twenty-one, well aware of Hitler's aggression in Europe and fairly certain the U.S. would have to join the war effort to stop him. Went through basic training and was just 2 months away from being discharged at the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Mr. Frisino shares his memories of the day Pearl Harbor was bombed and his own personal reaction to the bombing. Went through training as a radio operator, met and married his wife, Harriette, and went through rigorous Officer Candidate School before being shipped overseas to fight for 2 years in the jungles of Burma as a communications supply officer. In 1945, returned home to his wife in Seattle, Washington and began his career at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer where he worked for over 50 years. In this interview, Mr. Frisino shares the memories of his own life, as well as his perspective on issues of race and ethnicity. Mr. Frisino passed away in 2008.
This interview is part of the Densho Visual History Collection. Visit Densho for more information.