Rinaldo DiPaul, Company 2356, Camp SCS-15-N, Whitewater, NM & Company 350, Camp NP2, Luray, VA & PFC, 1976th QM Trn Co (Avn), 8th AF, WWII

Biography of Rinaldo DiPaul

Enrollee, Company 2356, Camp SCS-15-N, Whitewater, NM & Company 350, Camp NP2, Luray, VA

PFC, 1976th QM Trn Co (Avn), 8th AF, USAAF, WWII

My father, Rinaldo DiPaul from Phila. Pa. was in the Civilian Conservation Corp in New Mexico. I have received his records so I now know his camp info. From Jan 1940, Camp #2356 Proj SCS-15-N Whitewater, New Mexico, and from Jan 1941, Camp #350 NP2 Luray, Virginia. I have attached something he wrote shortly before he died in 1986. He mentioned a Dam and being close to Silver City, but it looks like there were a lot of camps.

�I joined the CCC camp, which is the Civilian Conservation Corps. It was in the reconstruction days following the great depression era during the Roosevelt administration. One of the many programs that was installed to held bring the country on the road to prosperity. We received $30.00 a month. $22.00 of it went home. We were left with $8.00 which went a long way back then. We bought cigarettes and other needs. Some of the fellows used to go to the whore houses in Silver City New Mexico. It only cost fifty cents to be entertained by one of the girls. Just goes to show what inflation has done lately.

Living in the C's was like being in the service, we wore uniforms with CCC Emblems on our pants and shirts. We also had ranks. The difference was we worked for the government building dams. Other branches of the C's were in forestry. Our enlistment was 6 months at a time, at which time we could also reup if we wanted to. It gave many men an opportunity to see the country, Whereas under normal circumstances they would have never left home.

It was a rewarding experience. Not long after this Nazi Germany began it's conquest of Europe and it would involves our country to stay the Nazi judgment. I guess Japan made our entry into the war a lot easier when the attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. I was also soon to learn that I would be part of that war."

He went on to serve in the 8th Air Force in England where he met my mother.

Below, Mr and Mrs. Rinaldo DiPaul, and his CCC and Army Air Force Enlistment Records

----- T. Cass