Art Amato

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A Karamürsel Survivor

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then

2012

This will probably sound corny to most, but the best four years of my life were spent in the United States Air Force. My times in Turkey were probably the most formative years as I look back in retrospect, mainly due to our sergeant, Sgt. Henry (Hank) Spears. I was just a kid out of high school and was real wet behind the ears, more than you can imagine. Being assigned to Dog Flight was a blessing due to working with guys like Pete Johnson, his brother Al, Ralph Jobson, Dennis Thorell, Jerry Scrimenti, and many others.

After I left Turkey in 1961 I did a 13 month tour at Chicksands AFB, England. The work there was not as challenging as it was in Turkey and it was kind of boring to go to work. The supervision there was lax and they could care less if you worked or not. I was not accustomed to this because while in Turkey we worked. But I did my tour there and did the rest of my time stateside at NSA. I liked that and would go home to Philadelphia every weekend with Jeffrey Dennard, who I also served 18 months with in Turkey. We would car pool and take turns driving each other every weekend.

I was discharged from the service on 1963 and went to refrigeration and air conditioning school for a year under the GI bill. Worked as a service technician for General Electric for 5 years and then joined the Philadelphia Police Force in 1969 and retired in 1990. I then joined the Pennsylvania State Parole department and served as a Parole Agent until I retired from there in 2004. I took up woodworking and found that I like making wooden pens on a lathe.

I now live with my third wife after two divorces and I think I got it right this time. I have three boys and several grandchildren. I like to play billards and recently converted my basement into the ultimate man cave with a pool table, which I play on every day. Pool is my passion at this time and I plan to enter tournaments in the very near future.

As I said in the beginning of this bio, the best four years of my life were spent in the United States Air Force and I am very proud to have had the opportunity to serve my country with the caliber of men that were mentioned in the first paragraph. When you are surrounded by good men, you have a good chance to become a good man as you get older. I like to believe I did. Thanks guys.