TOM PIRAINO • VIETNAM WAR
Tom Piraino, 78
Gloucester, MA
Born: 10/7/47
Born/Raised: Gloucester
Rank: Spec-5 Sergeant
Service: US Army
Unit: 4th Armored Division, S-2 Radar Unit, Germany;
G-2 Intelligence, Americal Division Chu Lai, Vietnam
Dates of Service: 1966-1969
Commendation: Bronze Star
“We used to look at them and they used to look at us,” Tom Piraino says of the Russian soldiers he observed while serving in the 4th Armored Division in Germany. While Vietnam was a hot war on the other side of the world, the Cold War was simmering in Europe. Tom spent 18 months with the S-2 Radar Unit in Germany before being transferred to Vietnam and an intelligence unit with the Americal Division in Chu Lai.
The Granite Street son of James and Francis Piraino, and one of four children, Tom graduated in from Gloucester High School in 1965 before joining the Army in 1966. He was drafted and decided to enlist instead.
During his service in Vietnam, Tom was assigned to work with the G-2 as an intelligence gatherer which meant a lot of time spent in helicopters. He was right in the room with the general when they got all the briefings on KIA/MIA and POWs. It was “not good” recalling the flow of information he received in his role. He received the Bronze Star for meritorious service under enemy fire. His future brother-in-law, Sammy Piscitello would be one of those killed in action in 1968, one of 11 Gloucester men to die in Vietnam.
Tom returned to Gloucester in 1969 and attended Beverly Community College where he learned to be a machinist taking night courses and ultimately worked at Bomco in Gloucester for more than 30 years, finally retiring at 67. He has been married to Mary Piscitello for 50 years and they have three children, James Thomas and Jaclyn, and ten grandchildren.
“I didn’t even want to tell anyone I was a Vietnam veteran. I love the United States. I love my country. I did my time,” Tom said. “The veterans of Gloucester are all the same. We love our country. We’re too old now, but if we got called, we’d go again.”