Sam Bertuzzi was the father of friends of both Irene and myself, he was also the Postmaster in Oneonta.  There were 3 articles about him, one in March, one in September and one in December. This is the one from September 25, 1943.

LT. BERTUZZI HURT IN ACTION

Lt. Samuel Bertuzzi, former OHS and Middlebury College athlete and a Navy aviator since 1941, was wounded in action in the southwest Pacific September 14, the Navy Department has informed his mother, Mrs. John Bertuzzi, 3 Factory.

In a telegram from Rear Adm. Randall Jacobs, Mrs. Bertuzzi was advised that her son was “wounded in the performance of duty and in the service of his country.” Adm. Jacobs said additional information “will be forwarded just as soon as it is received.”

Lt. Bertuzzi, who enlisted soon after receiving his degree from Middlebury College in 1941, was painfully injured in the Pacific area late in February. His plane crashed into several trees as he was departing from a base to engage in an attack on a Japanese position. Hospitalized some time, he later spent a few days’ leave with his mother and other members of his family before returning to a Naval base in California.

The Oneontan, who was an honor student at Middlebury, served preliminary flight training at Squantum, Mass., and was commissioned an Ensign following advanced training at Pensacola, Fla. He graduated from OHS in 1936.