This website page is dedicated to my parents and the Greatest Generation....the brave men and women who fought against Hitler's reign of terror in WWII.                                            

      James D. Rosinola and Ilse Irmgard Laskawy         

     My Father served in the European Theatre of Operations in England, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium.  He was at the Battle of the Bulge and I have reason to believe he was also on Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion.   Over the years I've tried to research his service, but it's been difficult as many servicemen's records were burned in a fire in 1973, including dad's, and there are no family members alive now who can give me any information.   I've reached out to others on the internet and have had some luck with finding bits of information,  but these brave men and women are dying off every day.  

Dad served in the Army with the 788th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.  If there is anyone out there, still alive, who served in this battalion, or a family member of someone who did, I would love to hear from you.   Sadly, many of that generation who served in WWII are now gone.  We are fortunate to have the Wright Museum of WWII right here in Wolfeboro, N.H. and I've visited the museum many times.  It mainly deals with life on the home front during the war, but there is so much to see there and it's well worth a trip.

My mother was a war bride who came to America in 1947.   She suffered very traumatic experiences during the war and it affected her for the rest of her life.  Not much was spoken about during my years at home but what I do know is enough to make me realize how tough her life must've been.    I had hoped to learn more from a cousin in Germany who reached out some years back to locate his "American cousins."  But he doesn't know much more than I do about my mother's family history.   Cousin Jeurgen is the same age as me and I was pleasantly surprised to learn he also plays bass guitar in a classic rock band, just as I've done for decades.  I haven't heard from him in a long time and wish he would connect with us again.   It was my cousin who tried to fill me in a bit on my mother's German, Russian and Polish roots, but he too has had difficulty learning about that side of the family.

   Mom was a wonderful cook, as was my dad, so between his Italian and mom's European recipes there was always something good cooking.