My Dad was described as "the Squadron's all around man." He was part of one of the first four specialized new Squadrons organized to operate the then secret airborne interception radar. At the time, even the word "radar" was classified. The Squadrons formed and trained at Kissimmee Airfield, Florida.

During WWII, the 417th Night Fighter Squadron conducted operations from Scotland, England, Algeria, Corsica, France and Germany, mostly flying the British Bristol Beaufighter. The 417th NFS was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. 

He remained very close to many of his Squadron mates. They had reunions often and we were privileged to attend the WWII Beaufighter Dedication at Wright Patterson Air Base in Dayton, Ohio in 2002 where we met some of those wonderful men and their families.  For more information on the 417th NFS, a personal memoir, "C'est La Guerre" was written by Paul Peyron.

- Patti D'Avanzo