Call Me Joe: The Secret World War II Diary of Nello Camilli

During World War II, United States military regulations prohibited servicemen from keeping personal diaries and journals. After Nello's death in 1995, nine US Army Signal Corps message books were found among his belongings. He had used these books as his diary during his time overseas during World War II serving in the United States Army Air Corps 64th Fighter Wing. He participated in the Tunisian, Sicilian, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns from 1942-1945.

Through his diary, we get a firsthand account of what he experienced while overseas during the war. There are accounts of the movements of the troops and battles being fought, but between the lines we also get a glimpse of a young man's fear, homesickness and humanity. We have an opportunity to see the war and the places he was stationed through the eyes of a regular enlisted man in his early twenties.