Donna Esposito
World War II Historian and Author of the Novel
Flying Time
RESEARCH & WRITING
IN THE NEWS
“A World War II Nancy Drew”
Interview with Author Donna Esposito
Stories Behind the Stars Podcast
Part I, 27 Apr. 2021
The Story Behind One of the Most Famous WWII Photos
Stories Behind the Stars Podcast
Part 2, 27 Apr. 2021
Guadalcanal Fallen's Dog Tags Found After 74 Years
Stories Behind the Stars Podcast
Part 3, 27 Apr. 2021
Historian working to find the men behind lost WWII dog tags found in Vanuatu
ABC Radio Australia Interview 20 Oct. 2020
Dog Tag Detectives Interview by Allie Cobb
of the South Pacific WWII Museum
Island Life Magazine, 2020 Annual
WNYT Forum 13 Interview with Asa Stackel
June 9, 2019
BIO
Donna Esposito grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, not far from the homes of James A. Michener, Margaret Mead, Pearl S. Buck, and Oscar Hammerstein II. She earned an undergraduate degree in molecular biology from Lehigh University (where she hosted “Sunday Swing” on the campus radio station, WLVR) and a doctoral degree in genetics from Cornell University (where she enjoyed learning to jitterbug and Lindy Hop when she wasn’t in the laboratory).
Although a scientist by training, Donna’s interest in World War II stems from seeing a local production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific when she was nine years old. Since then, she has had an avid interest in all aspects of World War II history and popular culture of the 1940s.
Donna enjoys flying in vintage warbirds, including flights in a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber, Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bomber, North American P-51 Mustang, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, North American AT-6 Texan trainer, and Douglas C-47 Skytrain. She spent five weeks in Papua New Guinea in 2018 and has visited the Solomon Islands twice, participating in the recovery of remains from an MIA soldier and attending the Guadalcanal 75th Anniversary commemoration events in August 2017. She has also traveled extensively to WWII sites in Palau, the Marianas, and Sicily. Donna has previously served as director of the library and archives at the Empire State Aerosciences Museum in Glenville, NY and as a historian with the nonprofit organization Pacific Wrecks. In addition to her personal writing and research projects, she volunteers as a writer and researcher for the South Pacific World War II Museum on Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu and as a researcher for Sealark Exploration.
UPCOMING EVENTS
PAST EVENTS
29 February 2020 at The Schenectady Trading Company: Meet the Author Series with Donna Esposito. 11 am- 2 pm
April 20, 2019 at the Empire State Aerosciences Museum: "Lt. John Mancini - Missing in action WWII F-5 Photo Reconnaissance Pilot"
Sept. 21, 2018 at the 5th Bomb Group (H) Reunion in Albuquerque, NM:
Presentation by Donna Esposito about her April 2018 trip to New Ireland to identify a B-24 Liberator Bomber
May 19, 2018 at the Empire State Aerosciences Museum: Fly-in Breakfast with Presentation by Donna Esposito about her April 2018 trip to New Guinea with Pacific Wrecks
15 February 2020 at the Empire State Aerosciences Museum: “STAG-1: The US Navy’s Secret Drone Project in WWII”
CONTACT
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