Born in Watertown, Tony DeStefano moved to Hopkinton when he was six years old. As a young man, rather than waiting to get drafted, he enlisted, picking the branch of service that he wanted. Both DeStefano and another Hopkinton resident Harold Pentheny became Marines, signing up on the same day. After basic training and an aptitude test, both DeStefano and Pentheny attended aircraft mechanic school, but when finished were assigned to different squadrons.

 

In an LST convoy from Ulithi, an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean used as a staging area during World War II, Tony was brought ashore on Okinawa at L+1, the second day of the beach assault. Living in tents at the newly captured Kadena air strip, the men of the Marine Fighting Squadron 312 (VMF-312) – known as the Checkerboarders – prepared and patched the runway for the arrival of Chance Vought F4U-1 Corsairs. DeStefano says the men used steel helmets to scoop up dirt for filling holes on the damaged runway as they secured the airport.

 

On L+6, the ground element of the squadron arrived; on L+9 Corsairs arrived, and on L+12 VMF-312 had its first contact with the enemy. Eight Zeros were downed, six others damaged and not one Corsair lost.

 

Tony also worked at Yontan airfield south of Kadena and remembers a night when the Japanese tried to land on the airstrip.

 

“I don’t know how many planes there were, but two of them landed,” said Tony. “They destroyed our paint shop up there as I recall and one of the ammunition dumps and all the Japs got wiped out. It was a hectic night; the sky was lit up like the 4th of July.”

 

When asked if he was able to go into his bunker, Tony replied, “No, we stayed under the plane on the runway. I didn’t get a chance to go into the bunker. You could hear the lead falling down, it sounded like hail stones….memories, memories, memories.”

 

After the war, DeStefano returned to Hopkinton where he lives today.