Peter Fischetti

Bio

Peter Fischetti grew up in a family committed to service. He and his siblings all joined the military, including his sister, who served in the Women’s Army Corps. Peter first served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, then joined the United States Marine Corps. When the Korean War began, he served with the 1st Marine Battalion. He took part in the Incheon Landing and later moved north into the Chosin Reservoir. There, he was badly wounded by a land mine and left for dead. A corpsman found him and managed to get him to safety. Peter spent the next sixteen months recovering at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Just a few days after he was wounded, another soldier found his pack on the roadside. That soldier was later wounded and mistakenly reported as deceased. His belongings, including Peter’s pack, were sent home to his family, and his mother stored them in the attic. Forty years later, the pack was found and returned to Peter, who happened to live just a few towns away. John Fischetti, Peter’s brother, shared these stories and images from his brother’s service, as well as his own, during his interview. To view this interview, please see John Fischetti’s profile page on our website.