I fell in love with Loretta while we were both in the Air Force stationed at Hancock Field outside Syracuse, New York-- the headquarters of the 32nd Air Division of the Air Defense Command.  She was just a sweetheart.  She captivated me in a way that I knew I was responsible for her.  She was mine and I had to love her and take care of her for the rest of our lives.  That was it. The way it was then and still is now some 55 years later.

Loretta was born in Sommerville, Mass.

The Louis Jodice family later moved to Brooklyn where Louis worked as a tailor for Lord and Taylor a well known tailor shop that catered to the more discriminating dressers.  Loretta grew up with her brother Louis in the Burough Park (or Bensonhurst?) section of Brooklyn on 39th Street.  She told me that her grandmother lived on one floor and her family lived on the second floor of the same house.  Her father later went to work for Prudential as an insurance salesman in Brooklyn.  He had what was called a "debit", a certain number of clients in defined section of the city.  He would collect the premiums from each policyholder on a monthly basis.  This meant he got to see and talk with a lot of people all the time.  This experience gave him a good command of the English language on a wide range of discussion topics.  He could argue either side of most any issue you could come up with.  If in conversation you gave an opinion on a certain subject, he would take the opposite view and argue it very convincingly just for the sport of the verbal contest.  He would wear me out.  I would have to bring home friends like John Benenati to help keep him challenged.  Loretta inherited some of his verbal ability and sharp wit.

Loretta went to elementary school at PS#130 and New Utrich High School in Brooklyn.  She graduated 1n 1946.  Her first job was as an usherette in a movie theater.  Later she worked as a telephone operator for AT&T in Manhattan. For a while she was a long-distance operator.  Then she worked at City Bank of New York on or near Wall Street.  She road the Long Island Railway and subway trains to work. When her brother Louie and sister-in-law, Lucille had their first child, Linda, Loretta would baby sit for them.  Later Louie and Lucille moved to Long Island and her folks moved in with them when they bought a house there.  Also, about this time Loretta's father went to work for the government as a military clothing inspector and traveled a lot. .  He and her Mom were often on the road away from home.  This left Loretta in a kind of limbo. She did not want to stay at home alone with her brother and family all the time.    She went out to California to stay with an aunt in Long Beach and later to San Antonio to stay with cousin Michael and Bonnie Lou Calabria. In San Antonio she worked at Josky's, a department store.    In 1952, she decided to enlist in the Air Force.  After basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas she was transferred to F E Warren AFB near Cheyenne, Wyoming as a supply clerk.  She hated the Air Force and did not like her job.  She had a problem taking orders--ha!  To hear her tell it she was in trouble all the time.  In 1953 she was transferred to Syracuse Air Force Station where we met and fell in love with each other. At the 32nd Air Division Loretta was in public relations or something like that.   Her good friend Sue Kerchmer and John Benenati, who was in Paul's unit, Flight 3D, 4602nd AISS, were going together.  Sue was from Missouri and thought all Missourians should stick together.  So, the four of us would do things together. We had a lot of fun doing mostly just nothing or some silly things.  Sometimes we'd get food from the mess hall and drive out on the old WWII runways no longer in use, snack on our goodies and watch the sun come up in the morning. Then in December, after about 6 months of being just kids having fun, we both took some leave and packed our things into my old ’49 Chevy and headed for the folks’ place in Pineville for Christmas.  It was while on the farm that I asked Loretta to marry me.  It was no surprise that she said “yes”.  We had a special bond that instilled a feeling in me that I knew I had to look after Loretta for life.  I felt responsible for her in every way.  So, from Pineville we made a trip to Bentonville, Arkansas and applied for a marriage license.  About a week to ten days later we returned to Bentonville, picked up the marriage license and found a kindly old justice of the peace and were married.  The judge’s wife was the only witness. (much more to come---I will continue the never ending story –my life with Loretta--starting at Syracuse 1953 continuing to Hawaii 2008…55 years & counting!!)