100 years of life: Bayonets in combat, dawn of the computer age and a love of chess

Frank Lennon, Special to the Journal
Updated ·7 min read

“Fix bayonets!”

In combat, that command sends a chill up every soldier’s spine. It means hand-to-hand combat is imminent.

“Uh-oh,” thought Louis Giarrusso, then 21, of Providence.

It was December 1944. He was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 305th Infantry Regiment of the 77th Division, and his unit had landed a couple of weeks earlier on the island of Leyte in the Philippines. They were keeping Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s famous “I shall return!” promise, uttered in the dark days of early 1942, when the Japanese forced the American surrenders at Bataan and Corregidor.

“I was in the thick of things on Leyte,” he told me.

During one battle they were crawling on their bellies, with bullets flying overhead and casualties calling for medics.

That’s when the command to fix bayonets was passed down the line.

Louis Giarrusso after graduating from Army basic training, about 1943
Louis Giarrusso after graduating from Army basic training, about 1943

“We halted to allow artillery to pound the Japanese once more,” said Giarrusso. “It’s funny — so long as I was moving, I felt no fear. But when I hit the ground and stopped, that’s when I had time to think, and that’s when fear crept in.”

Laying there waiting for that barrage to end was the longest 30 minutes of his life. When it stopped, they charged the Japanese position. It was abandoned; the artillery had caused the enemy to flee.

Early days

This World War II combat infantryman is a true Renaissance Man. The oldest living Johnston & Wales graduate, he parlayed a GI Bill accounting degree into a four-decade career at General Electric, bringing that company into the computer age.

“You have to keep active,” he says. “I’m not a couch potato. I need to stay in shape.”

Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, 9-year-old Louis moved to Providence in 1932 at the height of the Depression. His father, Silvestro, had a contact here for a job.

He registered for the draft in June 1942 and entered the Army in February 1943 after working in a textile factory.

By August 1944, Giarrusso joined the 77th Division on Guam. Three months later, his unit landed at Leyte.

The Okinawa campaign

After mopping up on Leyte, their next assignment was Okinawa, about 400 miles southwest of Japan's main island of Kyushu. Securing the airfields of Okinawa was a prelude to the invasion of mainland Japan since it put U.S. forces within bomber range.

Knowing its critical importance, Tokyo sent 100,000 men to defend the island. The Americans countered with 157,000 soldiers and Marines.

During the intense fighting on Iwo Jima, resupply and reinforcement of the troops ashore became more and more difficult. Establishing a permanent supply base close to the beaches was critical for the invasion of Okinawa. The 77th was tasked with capturing a small group of islands nearby, securing a seaplane base and a fleet anchorage to support the invasion.

An Army photo shows Louis Giarrusso’s unit, the 305th Infantry Regiment, fighting on Okinawa in 1945.
An Army photo shows Louis Giarrusso’s unit, the 305th Infantry Regiment, fighting on Okinawa in 1945.

“Six days before the landings on Okinawa I went ashore on Kerama Retto, about 15 miles off the coast,” Giarrusso recalled.

Later, the 77th landed on Okinawa itself. In July 1945, they returned to the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan.

I sent Louis this historical information in preparation for speaking with him about his WWII experiences.

“The descriptions were just as I had experienced them, and they brought back memories that stayed with me for two days. It's as if I had just gone through it. It seemed so real and so near.”

Postwar experiences

Thanks to the atomic bombs, the invasion of Japan became unnecessary. The 77th Division landed in Japan in October 1945 for occupation duty. Louis was discharged in early 1946.

He wanted to use the G.I. Bill to go to college, but by then most of the slots were already filled. He finally found an opening at Johnson & Wales, where he studied accounting. In 1948 General Electric hired him; he worked there for 39 years, although he never practiced accounting.

In 1949 he married Louise Muciaro; the newlyweds lived with her parents until Louis could get established. He and Louise were together for 73 years until she died last October from dementia. Despite his advanced age, he was able to care for her at home during the last years of her life.

Early days at General Electric

In 2017, Louis Giarrusso participated in an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., to visit the World War II Memorial. He is pictured at the airport, holding a photo of himself from 1944.
In 2017, Louis Giarrusso participated in an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., to visit the World War II Memorial. He is pictured at the airport, holding a photo of himself from 1944.

Giarrusso initially worked with a group who were doing manual data collection. The process was labor intensive and slow, so he supervised the installation of the IBM punch card system. It was the dawn of the computer age.

Shortly after 1954, GE transferred its national data collection from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Providence and Louis was tasked with figuring out how to handle the workload.

In 1956, IBM came out with the 305 RAMAC (Random Access) computer. Louis prevailed upon GE to buy one.

The 305 weighed over a ton, and forklifts were needed to move its components. It needed a 30-by-50-foot room — all for about 5 megabytes of memory!

IBM leased the computer by the month, charging $3,200 (more than $31,000 in today’s dollars.)

He retired from General Electric Systems in 1987.

A love affair with chess

Around 1962, Giarrusso began playing chess after reading an article by Joe DiDomenico, who wrote a chess column for the Journal for many years.

He joined several chess clubs and found that he was good at it. “It was a process,” he admits. “It took time for me to become competitive.”

“Chess keeps your mind active, and it parallels life,” he told the Journal in 1979. “Say you’re looking for the easy way out, and you get burned. Just like life, chess teaches you patience and how to think.”

Loius Giarusso cuts the cake at his 100th birthday celebration. Perhaps 75 friends and family attended the surprise party held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Cranston on May 7th. “I was totally surprised,” said Louis. “My niece said she was taking me to dinner with her family.”
Loius Giarusso cuts the cake at his 100th birthday celebration. Perhaps 75 friends and family attended the surprise party held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Cranston on May 7th. “I was totally surprised,” said Louis. “My niece said she was taking me to dinner with her family.”

On Saturday, the Ocean State Chess Association hosted a tournament in honor of his 100th birthday: the Louis Giarrusso Centennial Celebration Cup.

On May 7, family and friends hosted a surprise party for Louis. Roughly 75 people gathered to honor him. “I was totally surprised,” said Louis. “My niece said she was taking me to dinner with her family.”

Louis lives alone in Cranston and still drives his own car. He has one daughter, Patricia.

When asked what advice he might give young people today, he did not hesitate. “We live in a very fast-moving world, especially when it comes to technology. Get a good education! Otherwise, you will simply be left behind.”

After this article ran in print, Louis Giarrusso took this picture with the paper and sent it to his friends.
After this article ran in print, Louis Giarrusso took this picture with the paper and sent it to his friends.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/CALENDAR

2023 Button Hole Veterans Golf Clinics: May 25, June 8, June 22, July 13, July 27, Aug. 10, Aug. 24, Sept. 14, Sept. 28.

All veterans, active military and National Guard are welcome, as well as immediate family members. There is no charge for the golf clinics, golf equipment or the food that follows. A “ParaMobile” golf cart is available, courtesy of Full Swing Golf RI and the Stand Up and Play Foundation.

Typical agenda:

5– 6:30 p.m., Instruction on the range, plus playing as many holes as we can.

6:30 p.m., a light meal and soft drinks will follow the golf, allowing a few minutes to unwind and talk about our golfing exploits.

Join Button Hole for one clinic or as many as you can attend; they are open to players of all experience levels. If you plan to attend a clinic, please send an email to (Dwright@buttonhole.org). If transportation is an issue, please call Don Wright at (401) 421-1664 and Button Hole can find you a ride.

Also, veterans can use the range or play nine holes at no charge any Wednesday from noon-3 p.m. Simply sign in at the Pro Shop on Wednesday from noon-3 p.m.

The Providence Vet Center will hold a series of Shore/Open Water Diving Groups on the following dates: Saturday, May 20, 8 a.m., Fort Wetherill, Jamestown; Saturday, June 10, time TBD; Boat Dive, Gloucester. Times and locations for the following Saturdays are yet to be confirmed: July 15, Aug. 12, Sept. 2, Oct. 7.

To participate, you must be Vet Center eligible and have dive certification.

Graduates of Operation Blue Pride can use OBP equipment at no cost. For members who are scuba certified but not through Operation Blue Pride, you will need to provide your own equipment or register with OBP. For members who are not scuba certified, there is training and certification available at https://www.operationbluepride.org.

If interested, please contact Paul Santilli via email at Paul.Santilli@va.gov or by phone at (401) 739-0167.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: WWII veteran prepared to invade Japan, now he turns 100 years old