Nic Di Benedetto often wears a small pin on his shirt or jacket that reads, “I remember.”

While Di Benedetto doesn’t have first-hand memories of World War II, he has never forgotten the stories he heard from his parents. They are stories of tragedy and loss but also heroism and gratitude.

That is why on Saturday, Di Benedetto presented World War II veteran Jim VanNostrand with a gift and celebration in his honor at St. John’s Living Center.

Di Benedetto’s family came to the United States as young immigrants, starving and with nothing in their name, he said. After about 10 years they returned to Italy, wealthy.

Then World War II changed their lives.

Bombs dropped on their central Italian village, Orsogna. They lost everything but their lives, Di Benedetto said.

Meanwhile, VanNostrand was stationed in Italy with the 461st bomb division at the Torretta airfield. Among the targets were the heavily defended Ploesti oil refineries in Romania.

While Di Benedetto’s family helped Americans and their allies evade capture, VanNostrand was in the air photographing bomb explosion patterns.

Growing up, Di Benedetto loved going to the movies – especially Westerns. He swore one day he would travel to Wyoming. After retiring as an accountant in Rome about two years ago, he made the trip on which he met Jackson resident Walt Farmer.

Farmer learned Di Benedetto loved World War II history, so he introduced him to VanNostrand. The two bonded talking about World War II.

On a map they found the Torretta airfield.

When Di Benedetto returned to Italy, he made a trip to the airfield. It stood in ruin.

Di Benedetto thought of VanNostrand. He felt gratitude in a way he couldn’t express in words.

“Thank you is a very small word,” he said. “If not for the Americans, the end of the war would have been different.”

Di Benedetto took a few pictures and a piece of the runway mat, which he framed as a gift to VanNostrand.

He wanted to thank him for his service.

“And through him I want to thank his comrades,” he said.

Farmer helped plan the party at the Living Center. He invited Hughes Glantzberg, from Gunnison, Colo. Glantzberg is the son of the commanding officer for the 461st Airborne Division in which VanNostrand served.

Glantzberg attended a reunion of the 461st in 2000, in place of his father. There he met VanNostrand.

Glantzberg’s father had told him stories about VanNostrand. During the war, the commander was upset there wasn’t proof of the bombings, the aftermath and whether the bombs were on target.

So he decided to assign a photographer on bombing missions flown by B-24s. He lined up the photographers and asked for volunteers. VanNostrand was the first to step forward, Glantzberg said.

VanNostrand positioned himself over an escape hatch, tracking bombs with a large format camera as they were dropped. Back at the airfield, a jeep would rush out to his plane and collect his film.

His work earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the country’s highest awards for valor.

At 89 years old, VanNostrand still wears a hat with the 461st bomb group written across it. His jacket is accented with patriotic and military patches.

His speech is impaired, but he greets those at his party with a phrase that can’t be mistaken.

“Is there a beer drinker in the house?”