Written by Lindsey C., Ashley B., and Brandon R.
Rosemary Vendetti was born on October 12th, 1928. (She is currently 72 years of age.) Mrs. Vendetti had one sister, Joanne. When World War
Two started Mrs. Vendetti was 14 years of age. During World War Two Mrs. Vendetti was in high school. Other then that she said that there was not
much to do. The things that she did do with her friends would include going to a movie, or going down to Eldridge Park. Mrs. Vendetti’s favorite
thing to do with her friends was walking in downtown Elmira. We then asked Mrs. Vendetti if she ate well before the war started. Her response was
“We ate.” She then explained that she ate no differently then anybody else she knew. As the interview progressed Mrs. Vendetti explained her life
before, during, and after World War Two.
Mrs. Vendetti lived in Elmira most of her life, including before World War Two. Mrs. Vendetti was in high school as a high school
sophomore. Mrs. Vendetti was in school when she heard that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. She had said that they announced the bombing
over the intercom. At the time she really didn’t know what the big deal was with the bombing. She had said “it really didn’t sink in at the time”
Mrs. Vendetti said that she now understood what the big deal was with the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor. She said that she really didn’t have any
hobbies before the war started, she did say that she did hang out with her friends but never really did considered that a hobby. So, therefor she
really didn’t have to give up any hobbies due to the war.
Mrs. Vendetti went to high school during World War Two. She had commented that the schooling system was very much like the ones of
today. There wasn’t very much to do with her friends for fun. Much of the time they would go to a movie, or Eldridge Park, and some times they
would go on Water Street and go through all of the shops. It was very hard to find anything to do for fun that would not get boring after a short
while. One of the basic training exercises that Mrs. Vendetti, and the whole United States, had to practice was something called a black out. This
was when every body had to keep the entire outside black. In order to do this the residents would have to use black curtains over all their windows
at night, if they wanted to have light on in their homes. Mrs. Vendetti said that “even if there was a little crack of light, somebody would come
knocking on your door, and tell you to fix your curtains.” The point of the black outs were, in case enemy planes were flying over the United States,
they would not have any light to pick out a target to bomb. The two restrictions that Mrs. Vendetti discussed were the black curtains and the ration
books. She said that they had to have ration books to get gasoline, coffee, sugar, and etc. The one thing that she said was that “even with the
ration books coffee cost them $5 to $8 dollars a pound”. One interesting story that Mrs. Vendetti told use about, was that her stepfather got her, her
sister and her Mother into the black market. “Every night a black car would pull up behind their house with boxes of stockings, that all the girls use
to wear, but could not get after the war had started. Her stepfather would make her, her sister, and her mother sit at the kitchen table and scrape
the labels off them. Then a little later another car would pull up, and who ever was in the car would say, I want this many pairs. They would even
sell for as much as $18 dollars a pair.” The one thing that Mrs. Vendetti said was that she was to young to care about what she was doing, but now
she would never do anything like that again.
World War Two didn’t effect Mrs. Vendetti very much, the war just made it really sad and hard at times. But most of all, it made it so she
couldn’t do the things she wanted to do. By the time the war was over Mrs. Vendetti was still living in the same neighborhood, in fact she was still
living in the same house. When she heard that the war was over she was in her house and heard it over the radio. After they heard that the war
was over everybody went down town to celebrate, Mrs. Vendetti said that everyone was screaming and yelling because they were so happy the war
was over. Her happiest moment about after the war was over was when she met Mr. Vendetti at her stepfather’s restaurant in Hanover Square. She
said that she was surprised that she married him because when she was working at the restaurant her friends brought him in to meet her. She said
that she did not like him very much because, he acted to macho and like a sailor man. He kept coming back every day until one day she finally
agreed to go out with him. In 1946 they got married and have been together since!
Mrs. Vendetti’s life changed through the years of World War Two. The one thing that she learned because of the war was how to
appreciate the things that she had. Mrs. Vendetti’s over-all thoughts about the war were that it made no sense to her, and how stupid war was.
After the war she really didn’t go back to a normal life. The main reason that she didn’t return to a normal life was because, in 1946 she got married
to Paul Vendetti. She really didn’t meet new people. She kept the same friends through out the war. The one thing that Mrs. Vendetti wants people
to remember about the war was the hard ship it had caused. The main thing, though, that she wants people to remember, is that a lot of people
lost their family, and their friends. This was the most difficult thing about the war.