Peter Barretta Jr.

Peter Barretta Jr. Air Force Colonel Peter Barretta Jr., 89, of Charlottesville, Virginia, died Monday, November 16, 2009, after an extended illness.

He was born on February 28, 1920, in Meadville, Pennsylvania, the oldest son of the late Rosalia and Pietro Barretta. He was preceded in death by his wife, Edna G. Barretta of Charlottesville; and three sisters, Elizabeth Sturm of Huntington, West Virginia, Marilyn Barisano of Nahant, Massachusetts, and Cira Barretta of Arlington, Virginia.

He is survived by his four children, Dr. Rosalie G. Barretta of Falling Waters, West Virginia, Elizabeth M. Barretta-Davis and her husband, Reggie, of Earlysville, Virginia, Peter A. Barretta III of Port Deposit, Maryland, and Patricia F. Steele and her husband, Robert, along with their children, Marcus and Josephine Steele of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; his two sisters, Rosalie Fera of Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Anne Ambrose and her husband, Leedy, of Manassas, Virginia; and his four brothers, Sam and Joe Barretta of Venice, Florida, Ben Barretta and his wife, Pat, of Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Anthony Barretta and his wife, Patti, of Crozet, Virginia, along with many nieces and nephews. In addition, he leaves many friends and staff at Our Lady of Peace who mourn his passing.

Colonel Barretta was a veteran of World War II, the Korean War, the Dominican Republic revolt and the Vietnam War, serving over 28 years in the Air Force until his retirement in 1970. He began his military career after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Leaving Allegheny College he joined up as a flying cadet. He flew in 43 missions in B-24 Liberator aircraft during five Solomon Island campaigns and was awarded eight Air Medals and two Presidential Unit Citations. At the end of World War II, he met and married Edna Gonzales of San Diego, Texas, and was stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he was an Education Officer. During the Korean War stationed in Japan as a psychological warfare officer, he wrote radio scripts for broadcast over the Voice of the United Nations Command to encourage the surrender of North Korean pilots. He also was assigned to work with the USO to meet and escort Hollywood entertainers including Bob Hope, Jayne Mansfield and Danny Kaye when they came to visit the troops overseas. During the Dominican Republic civil revolt from 1965 until 1966, he worked with the Inter-American Peace Force directing and performing humanitarian aid for the Dominican people. During the Vietnam War he served as the director of an intelligence unit with the then super secret Studies and Observation Group (SOG), a joint unconventional warfare task force that provided valuable intelligence information for many SOG and Green Beret operations. He served in three Vietnam War campaigns. Colonel Barretta was proud of his military service to his country and was awarded numerous medals and commendations including the Bronze Star.

After Vietnam, he returned to the Pentagon as an Intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency having been with the agency from its creation even designing the DIA logo, which is still used today. During this time Col. Barretta helped coordinate airlift support for Antarctica's "Operation Deep Freeze" and on his retirement in 1970, Colonel Barretta was invited to be a member of the Antarctican Society and the American Polar Society. For the next 25 years he wrote feature articles, columns and book reviews for the Icecap News and other polar journals with an emphasis on polar aviation and scientific missions. A prolific writer, he was particularly interested in the Lost Squadron aircraft in Greenland and wrote extensively concerning the recovery efforts. Through his correspondence with scientists and explorers from many countries he amassed an extensive collection of polar cachets documenting many expeditions to the Antarctica.

Always eager to further his education, he earned his Master's of Arts and Education Specialist degrees from George Washington University and taught American History at a local high school in Northern Virginia. He was working on his PhD when illness prevented him from completing hi dissertation.

After living in the Mount Vernon area of Alexandria for over 40 years, he and his wife Edna moved to Our Lady of Peace Retirement Community in Charlottesville in 2003.

The family wishes to thank Sharon Smith and Angela Duffy, his nurses who provided dedicated care to our father these last few years. Also special thanks to his University of Virginia "adopted granddaughter" Lizzie Simonds who spent many hours visiting with "the Colonel" as a Madison House volunteer.

Two viewings will be held at Demaine Funeral Home at 520 South Washington Street in Alexandria, Virginia, from 6 until 8 p.m. Tuesday, November 24, 2009, and from 9 until 10 a.m. Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

A memorial mass will be held 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. November 25, 2009, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church on 8710 Mount Vernon Highway in Alexandria, Virginia.

Final memorial services are scheduled later at Fort Meyer Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery 12:34 p.m. Thursday, February 4, 2010, with a military funeral to follow.

The family requests expressions of sympathy be made in the form of contributions to the Air Force Memorial Foundation, the Disabled American Veterans or a Veterans organization of your choice.



This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.