THE DAY BAZOOKA JOE BECAME A HERO.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

SHERMAN OAKS - The two German tanks clattered down a hill, swiveling their guns toward a trench full of 150 cowering American GIs.

The only man standing between them and a military casket was Pfc. Joseph Pietroforte.

``Bazookas - front, forward!'' cried a captain.

But there was only one good Company G bazooka, that held by the 5- foot-6, 118-pound infantryman. The other was held by a scared grunt who couldn't face the advancing armor.

Pietroforte and an assistant scrambled into an open field, crouched in a shell hole, shouldered the 13 1/2-pound bazooka and fired - whoosh.

The armor-piercing rocket tore through the treads of the lead Panther, stopping it in its tracks. An artillery barrage halted the remaining German advance outside Frankfurt.

And then the 23-year-old Pietroforte, his company suffering severe casualties, wriggled 1,000 yards on his stomach to summon medics and reinforcements.

For his valor, Pietroforte, the man who would become a Sherman Oaks grandfather, won the Silver Star.

``I tell you how I feel, personally: The real heroes are the ones who gave their lives,'' said Pietroforte, 84, a green-eyed veteran dressed in a crisp vintage Army uniform. ``I hope the people of this country never have to go through the experience of being liberated.''

Pietroforte was one of millions of U.S. serviceman to help liberate Europe from the Nazis during World War II. He fought Germans in Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany.

The eldest of eight Italian children, he arrived in the United States when he was 6 months old. In Philadelphia, at 16, he left school to help feed his family.

In 1942, he got his U.S. draft papers - a year after he ignored a draft notice sent to him from fascist Italy. He won his citizenship in 1943 while training in the U.S. Army in Texas.

He was soon battling through Belgium's Ardennes Forest with the 1st Infantry Division. When his unit was scattered during the Battle of the Bulge, he joined Patton's 3rd Army and fought with the 5th Infantry Division, 11th Infantry Regiment.

Shells burst trees into a million deadly splinters. Cold froze soldiers hunkering in their foxholes. Fog limited sight to a few measly jeep lengths. Soldiers struggled to cross river after river raked by enemy fire.

If the Germans didn't kill you, he said, the weather would.

``There were many months when my mind was a blank, the pressure was so intense,'' Pietroforte said. ``It didn't feel like you would come out of it alive.''

While in Belgium, a woman whose son was executed by the Nazis gave him her late son's rosary, to protect Pietroforte in future battles.

After the war, Pietroforte settled in Visalia, then moved to the San Fernando Valley, where he became a longtime movie theater manager, opening the Victory Drive-In in North Hollywood in 1949.

Today, he serves as the official historian for Company G. He is also active in VFW Post 193 in Van Nuys and Post 8310. He recounts war exploits in local schools.

In 1996, he received a hero's welcome when he revisited fields of battle in Luxembourg and Belgium. He plans to celebrate the 60th anniversary of D-Day in France with his son.

``Very proud,'' he said of his service to his country. ``I love to wear the uniform because I want people to remember those men who were left behind.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) WWII Army veteran Joe Pietroforte tries on his helmet and uniform at his Sherman Oaks home. The 84-year-old won a Silver Star for his service in Germany during the war.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(2) Pietroforte appears as a 23-year-old soldier in a foxhole in this photo from World War II.