Meeting history at Mepham High

On a recent weekday morning at Bellmore's Mepham High School, Carmela Pisciotta called on a lifetime of memories to tell students about a momentous day she lived through more than 70 years ago.

That day was Dec. 7, 1941, and Pisciotta was having dinner with her parents and older brother at home in Flushing. She was a girl of 12, not that much younger than the students who are jotting notes about her memories for a project titled "Voices of a Different Age."

On that day, Pisciotta told the students, she didn't comprehend the full impact of the news they heard on the radio, that Japanese planes had attacked Pearl Harbor, plunging the nation into World War II.

"I said, 'Pearl Harbor, where's that?' " recalled Pisciotta, now 82 and living in North Bellmore with her husband, Salvatore, 84. But her father quickly assessed the impact the news would have on their family. "We're at war, and your brother will be leaving us," he told them.

"When I heard this, I cried," she said to the students, remembering how her beloved older brother -- then only 18 and "my hero" -- signed up for the famous "Screaming Eagles" paratroopers of the 101st Airborne. In Europe, her brother, Savino, or Sam as he was known, narrowly escaped death from a sniper bullet during the Battle of the Bulge. "The bullet went right through him and just missed his heart," she said. "He won the Purple Heart." Pisciotta told the students that Sam eventually married, had five children and died in his 80s.

What happens when Generation Y meets up with living history? Can the generation currently in high school, also known as the Millennials, comprehend what life was like for people their grandparents' age, who grew up during World War II and the postwar years? Stories that begin "When I was a child" have the potential to spell boredom for Long Island kids hooked on the latest TV shows, video games, 3-D movies and iPhone apps, none of which generally include the musings of senior citizens.

However, not all young people tune out when they're taken down memory lane by the older generation.

One who enjoyed this particular Mepham learning experience was Brittany Beichert, 16, of Merrick. Listening to Carmela Pisciotta's stories, Beichert said, "It is really cool to hear what molded these people."

Another student, Alyssa Morales, 17, had known a bit about World War II from watching the movie "Saving Private Ryan" with her grandfather, who is 70. The stories she heard at Mepham made Morales want to interview members of her own family about their past. In a phone interview several weeks later, Morales said, "It was an amazing experience having the opportunity to see the world through a totally different set of eyes from a different time period."

Learning to write from the perspective of an older person was one of the goals of this "creative nonfiction" project, which was intended to encourage students to attempt writing in a voice different from their own, says Anthony Brienza, a Mepham teaching intern. Following the program, which also included recollections by Salvatore Pisciotta and the Pisciottas' longtime friend Richard Geraci, 72, of East Meadow, a number of students came up to Brienza. They told him they hadn't expected to "have a connection with someone who is so vastly older," said Brienza, who expects to graduate in May with a master of arts degree in secondary education from Adelphi University in Garden City.

For his story, Geraci told the youngsters about his friendship with the Pisciottas, which began with a chance meeting while they were all on vacation at the Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island, Mich. Geraci, who passed out photos showing him and his wife on their wedding day in 1960 and at their 50th anniversary celebration two years ago, reminded students that decisions they make now can affect their future.

"I tried to tell them about forks in the road and how a decision can change your life," Geraci said.

Nicole Maresca, a Mepham English and creative writing teacher, said it was "meant to bridge the gap between the school and the community." Mepham, which is part of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, also reaches out to the community's older residents through its chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions. They hold an annual Senior Citizen Prom, where students share a meal and dance with them.

Voices of a Different Age gives "voice to community members who have stories to tell," Maresca said. Her students use their notes and follow-up interviews to "ghostwrite" a memoir. Their efforts are being published on Maresca's website, maresca.wetpaint.com (click on Creative Writing in the left column, then Featured Writer Spotlight) and turned into a book, copies of which will be given to the Pisciottas and Geraci.

Morales chose to write from Salvatore Pisciotta's point of view because, she explains, "His story was really funny." He talked about being drafted in August 1945, after World War II had ended, and winding up serving as an Army prison guard in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. At 18, he said, he was so young looking that when he arrived at the prison, he "was referred to as 'The Kid.' "

The war was over, but he did have one close call, he said. "One night, I was in the tower and I realized there was no toilet paper," he told them. He walked along a prison wall to get what he needed, and when he returned, the phone was ringing. When he answered, another guard told him, "You nut, you could have been shot." Some of the guards almost mistook him for an escaping inmate, he recalled.

Pisciotta later realized that all he had to do was to call for the missing supplies but chalked the error up to youthful inexperience.

The story also had an impact on Jalal "Jay" Shahid, 18, of Bellmore. After the speakers were done, Shahid rushed over with follow-up questions. Shahid, who is the same age Pisciotta was when he was in the Army, wanted to know if Pisciotta ever felt lonely when he was a prison guard. Pisciotta answered no, explaining that there were plenty of people around. "What was the hardest thing you had to face?" he asked. Pisciotta answered it was fear of a prison breakout that could endanger the guards.

There were moments where the generation gap was more like a Black Hole. When Carmela Pisciotta told a group that she had her photo taken with Bob Hope, "They didn't know who Bob Hope was," she said.

However, other "back in the day" stories -- like how the Pisciottas fell in love while commuting home on the same Queens-bound subway -- were well received.

And talking about the past with young people, Salvatore Pisciotta said, "refreshed a lot of memories. It was a long time ago but is still very vivid in my mind."