Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Charles T. Siranovic, a World War II Army Air Force veteran, displays the two Good Conduct medals he earned for his three years of service in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater as an airplane maintenance technician.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series published each Monday between Memorial Day and Veterans Day honoring local veterans. To nominate a veteran, email metro editor Marly Kosinski at mkosinski@tribtoday.com.

BOARDMAN — During his three years in the military, Staff Sgt. Charles T. Siranovic specialized in keeping things airborne — everything from highly sophisticated aircraft to the ball he once tossed for a no-hitter.

“I got that ball signed by Joe D.,” the World War II veteran said, referring to baseball legend Joe DiMaggio.

Siranovic, 99, is a resident at a Boardman assisted-living facility. He spoke recently about his military and civilian careers, which consisted mainly of repairing planes, then working for U.S. Steel Corp. until shortly after the collapse of the local steel industry in the late 1970s.

Siranovic, who was in the Army Air Force from 1942 to 1945, worked mainly as an airplane maintenance technician while serving in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and stationed at an Air Force base in Hawaii, where he spent the bulk of his time in the military.

He also played for a military softball league and was poised one day to pitch to DiMaggio, “but the war ended and I wasn’t able to,” Siranovic recalled.

DiMaggio enlisted in the Army on Feb. 17, 1943, and, like many other Major Leaguers at that time, he played on military teams largely to keep the troops entertained and their morale high.

“I could have sold that ball for a lot of money,” Siranovic said with a laugh.

After being drafted, Siranovic first served as part of the 78th Fighter Group of the 7th Air Force, then with the 6th Night Fighter Squadron. He worked on a series of fighter planes that included the P-39 Airacobra, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, the North American P-51 Mustang and a P-61 Black Widow.

“He often liked to say, ‘I didn’t fly the planes, but I made them stay up in the air,'” said Siranovic’s daughter, Mary Frum.

Despite his mechanical acumen, Siranovic never attended a school for budding mechanics. Instead, he developed many of his refined skills via on-the-job training, she added.

“When I first went in (the Army Air Force), I went in with mechanics,” Siranovic remembered. “From there, I learned about aircraft. It was some job.”

Shortly after the war ended, he returned to San Francisco before being honorably discharged Sept. 17, 1945, from Camp Atterbury, Ind., and receiving two Good Conduct ribbons.

In a sense, you could say that Siranovic has remained at least as active in a variety of settings as on a specialized airplane. As a civilian, he worked about 42 years for U.S. Steel Corp., including 20 as a vice foreman, before the demise of the steel industry beginning in 1977, though he continued working for the company for a few additional years.

After the mills closed throughout much of the Mahoning Valley around that time, he found work as a landscaper with a friend, he said.

In more recent years, Siranovic, who comes from a family of 11, has enjoyed being on hand to watch his grandchildren’s sports and academic achievements, including those of two of his grandchildren, Drew and Danny Frum. Several years ago, the two brothers were on Poland Seminary High School’s track-and-field team, which won the state championship, Mary said with pride.

“He’s very proud that all five of his grandchildren have college educations,” she added.

Siranovic, who also could hold his own on a golf course or in a bowling alley, isn’t averse to a few trips south — to Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Newell, W.Va., that is.

He enjoys going there a few times a week on a tour bus to try his luck at the slot machines, Mary added.

The next major family get-together likely will be soon, because Siranovic will be celebrating his 100th birthday Oct. 9.

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