Vincent Circello was born in New York City, but found himself living in northern Italy when World War 2 broke out. "I saw German troops coming through our town, gather all the young folks, and take them somewhere," recalled Circello. "A lot of them never came back, never seen them. We ran on top of the roof so they wouldn't get my brother and I both. My mother encouraged us to run, so we did. They didn't get us."

Because he was American, Vincent went to the embassy where he was drafted by the U.S. Army and assigned to the 88th infantry. “We saw German troops coming through, some planes dropped bombs. So much so that the great big thick front doors just opened from the explosion.”