ANGELO BORZACHILLO
Age: 83
Born: Jan. 30, 1927
Hometown: New Castle, Pa.
Residence: La Quinta
Military branch: U.S. Navy, USS North Carolina
Years served: Feb. 9, 1944-May 12, 1946
Rank: Seaman first class
Family: Wife Victoria; three children, Angela Borzachillo of La Quinta, Steven Borzachillo (deceased) and Camille Unglaub of Palm Desert; three grandchildren.
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
Coming tomorrow
U.S. Army Air Force vet Courtney Shanken of Palm Springs.
LEARN MORE: Read about other Coachella Valley residents who served in World War II at www.mydesert.com/WWII
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U.S. Navy veteran Angelo Borzachillo was a 17-year-old sailor aboard the USS North Carolina during the Battle of the Philippine Sea — a decisive U.S. Naval victory that heavily damaged the Japanese fleet and its air power during World War II.
Borzachillo had to do some arm twisting to get himself into battle.
The high school junior couldn't get his mom to agree to early enlistment, so he “pestered” his dad until he relented.
In his hometown of New Castle, Pa., the young men were all joining the fight.
“I felt I should serve and do my part,” Borzachillo said.
The young sailor was part of the massive buildup of naval power that was assembling to take on the Japanese fleet in the Marianas Islands.
“On May 24, 1944, the USS North Carolina was dispatched to Majuro harbor, Marshall Islands, to join up with Task Force 58,” Borzachillo said. “This was considered the largest fleet ever assembled at this time. You could see ships for miles and miles around you.”
Two future U.S. presidents were part of this task force — President George H.W. Bush, a fighter pilot on the USS San Jacinto and President Gerald R. Ford, assistant navigator on the USS Monterey.
In preparation for the invasion of Saipan, the USS North Carolina shelled the island, bombarding the enemy with artillery fire, hoping to “soften” the blow Japanese forces would try to inflict on the troops during the beach landings.
The youngster was assigned to insert 5-inch by 20-inch, 50-pound projectiles into the breech of a gun.
After the shell was in place, another sailor loaded the casing that contained the gunpowder. From there, an officer in the control room took over, tracked the enemy target and fired the gun.
“We could fire about 12 rounds per minute,” Borzachillo said.
The sound was deafening.
“When those things went off, it was terrible in there,” he said
On June 14, the Marines started landing on Saipan and shortly thereafter, the young sailor and the task force would be engaged in a fierce firefight.
“I can recall Captain Frank Thomas speaking on the ship's intercom, ‘All hands prepare for a surface-to-surface battle with the Japanese fleet,'” he said. “This message had sent chills through my body,” he said.
On June 19, the first wave of planes launched from Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's aircraft carriers were detected about 150 miles to the west.
Sixty-eight enemy aircraft were headed their way.
“U.S. Admiral Mitscher started launching every fighter he had,” Borzachillo said. “Navy F-6F Hellcats met the Japanese planes at 70 mph and shot down 48 planes. Four bombers penetrated through our battleship formation. One bomber made a direct hit on the USS South Dakota. Twenty-four Navy personnel were killed but the bomb failed to disable the battleship.”
Borzachillo said four waves of aircraft were launched against the U.S. fleet. Nearly 400 enemy aircraft had been destroyed in 48 hours.
“American pilots nicknamed it, ‘The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot,'” he said.
On June 20, U.S. search planes sighted the Japanese fleet late in the afternoon. With less than two hours before darkness fell, Admiral Mitscher, in a risky move, launched 216 aircraft.
U.S. air power sunk one carrier, and damaged three other carriers plus one battleship.
When the planes began to return to the U.S. fleet, it was nearly 9 p.m.
“American pilots had little experience on carrier landings after dark,” Borzachillo said.
“Many of the pilots crashed on the flight decks or ditched at sea,” he said. “Fortunately, many of the crews were rescued. We lost 80 aircraft.”
Borzachillo said he developed major hearing problems from his duty on the 5-inch gun crew and was transferred to a Navy hospital on Pearl Harbor.
After being discharged from the hospital, he was assigned to patrol Pearl Harbor.
Borzachillo pursued a degree in aeronautical engineering, entered the U.S. Air Force Reserve as an engineering officer and holds patents on the U.S. Navy F-18 Hornet.
In 1957, Borzachillo was assigned to the F-89J Weapons Systems Capabilities team.
The team was tasked with readying the Northrop- designed F-89J Scorpion — a fighter-interceptor for the Air Defense Command — for the firing of a MB-1 Genie test rocket with a nuclear warhead.
The test rocket with nuclear warhead was detonated over a Nevada test range on July 19, 1957.
Prior to the test, Borzachillo was responsible for ensuring the “structural safely of the aircraft from the blast effects and thermal effects as well as radiation from the nuclear bomb,” he said.
It marked the first launch of an air-to-air rocket with a nuclear warhead. The F-89J was the first fighter-interceptor to carry nuclear armament, according to National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
