U.S. ARMY Tony Colaluca   At the age of 85, nearly 60 years after returning from his service in World War II, Tony Colaluca’s memories are at a physical level. A former member of the 29th Infantry, he remembers the Battle of the Bulge during one of the coldest winters in Belgium. He remembers the landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy, loaded down with equipment. Everything was wet and heavy. “There were body parts everywhere,” said Colaluca about the battle that began at 6 a.m. Colaluca nearly lost his arm shortly after landing in Normandy, on the way to Saint Lo. Shrapnel shattered bones in his arm. “They were going to take my whole arm,” said Colaluca. “It was kind of ugly looking.” He was sent back to England on a naval vessel and underwent three months of therapy before being sent back into combat. Before the war, Colaluca at age 18 had enlisted in the National Guard and was stationed at Fort Hood in Watertown, N.Y. His two-year service as a guardsman ended in 1939. He was out for a little over a year before re-enlisting, this time in the Army, after Pearl Harbor. “First to go and last to come home,” said Colaluca, who shipped out in 1941 and returned in 1946. “Everybody was feeling patriotic at the time.” Stateside, he trained at Fort Devons and Camp Edwards in Massachusetts, Fort Dixon in New Jersey and Fort Mead, known to many who have gone through it as Fort Mud, in Maryland. When his unit was transferred to England for training, he was promoted to buck sergeant. He held the rank for the next five years until he was discharged. Colaluca’s responsibilities were “whatever there was to be done.” Corporals and lower ranks answered to him. Most of his time in combat was spent on foot. Colaluca’s unit underwent two years of training in England where he made some good friends. American soldiers took advantage of weekends off from training. They’d go into local pubs and “whoop it up a bit,” according to Colaluca. “Overpaid, oversexed and over here,” was a common sentiment the British used to describe the American soldiers. The last six to eight months in England were seven days a week of training, including a trek across the moors in Southern England. Colaluca’s unit was the only one to endure what was very wet and uncomfortable training in the moors. Most of these days involved 25 miles of hiking. Colaluca believes it was the ultimate test to see if they could take what was to come in Normandy. It was called amphibious training, which took place in Cornwall, England, with live ammunition. Unfortunately, a large number of soldiers were lost in training before ever making it into combat. Colaluca is one of the few survivors of Bastogne, Belgium. It was a part of the Battle of the Bulge. His unit was sent in to rescue the 101st Airborne. The 101st was surrounded by German soldiers who were trying to force the Americans to surrender. The sergeant in charge of the 101st answered to the surrender demand with the word “NUTS” written in the snow. Ultimately, the American soldiers were able to push the Germans back.  At a break in the fighting, Colaluca remembers German soldiers stationed across the river singing Christmas carols. Another highlight that stands out in Colaluca’s mind was the capture of the Hennessy Brewing Co. in France. Every soldier was given two bottles of the libation. “The stuff was so strong you could fill your cigarette lighter with it,” said Colaluca. Those were some happy soldiers after that victory. For his service in WWII, Colaluca received a number of honors: a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, a Good Conduct award and one for serving in the European Theater. In 1996, he received a Commemorative Certificate. In late 1946, when Colaluca returned to his hometown of Brookline, Mass., he didn’t recognize it. So much had changed. Nearly five years later, he married Terry and they had a daughter. In civilian life, he followed his family tradition and became a hairdresser. “I made all the ladies pretty,” said Colaluca, who owned Anthony’s House of Beauty, a salon on Newbury Street in Boston, at one time. Colaluca and his family lived in the Massachusetts communities of Belmont, Lexington and Brookline. He retired from hair care 10 years ago and bought a house in Saint Augustine, Fla. But the need to be closer to his daughter brought him to Maine where he and Terry plan to stay. The couple are residents of Birch Bay Village in Bar Harbor. Reminded of the deep snow of Belgium, and years of the same in Massachusetts, Colaluca is braving the cold again in Maine. “Cold weather gets me,” he said. — Sarah Hinckley