Before his life centered around his large family and Villa Park business, World War II veteran Salvatore “Sam” Sparacio had some defining moments thousands of miles away from the Lombard home where he has now lived for two decades.

Sparacio’s experiences as one of the first people that landed near Hiroshima will be featured in the TV documentary, “5,000 Miles Away From Home,” which airs this weekend and explores the impact of World War II on Chicago’s Italian-American community.

Sparacio, 83, first came to the public’s attention through a veteran profile published by Fra Noi, a Chicago-based Italian-American newspaper.

“Some of his stories are hilarious, like the time he received a care package from home that contained a huge jar of garlic,” said Paul Basile, editor of the newspaper. “And some others are sobering, like his visit to Hiroshima after the atomic bomb blast that ended the war.”

Even 63 years later, Sparacio is still able to tell his war story like it all happened yesterday.

Sparacio was a Chicago native and Marshall High School graduate when he was drafted to the war in 1945. After he completed his basic training at Camp Wheeler in Georgia, at 18, he was headed to invade Japan with the U.S. Army.

While on ship going over to Japan, the hours passed slowly and monotonously. The soldiers and sailors would play games and pranks to pass the time, but Sparacio took a job as a baker’s helper where he learned how to bake bread.

“The war ended while we were aboard ship,” Sparacio said. “You never saw so many happy soldiers and sailors.”

After the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and World War II came to an end, the fleet sailed around the Pacific Ocean waiting for directions on where to drop anchor.

“We were worried that the Japanese submarines didn’t hear the news (that the war ended), and that they were going to bomb us,” Sparacio said.

They finally were stationed in the Philippines before moving into Japan. His fleet was one of the first that landed in Japan after the atomic bomb was dropped.

“We couldn’t get too close to the site of Hiroshima (because of radiation), but from a distance, everything was destroyed for miles and miles,” Sparacio said. “It looked like someone went in there and cleaned everything out.”

Before coming home, Sparacio was stationed in the area for three months, during which time he destroyed war machinery and dumped hundreds of Japanese weapons into the Pacific Ocean.

He remembers his emotions from that time ranged from fear for his life to grief for the innocent people who died.

“I never realized then what the atomic bomb really was, and I hope to God they never have to use it again,” Sparacio said. “It was truly terrible.”

He spent a little more than a year in service before he was discharged in November 1946 and returned to Chicago.

“After seeing that, you hope there’s not another war,” Sparacio said. “A lot of children died, and that hurts, but I don’t think we would be here if President Truman hadn’t done that.”

His brothers, who both served in the military, also returned safely home. Coming from a devoutly religious Italian family, Sparacio said his mother vowed that if her sons came home safe, she would buy flour that weighed as much as all three of them combined to bake bread and distribute the loaves to the poor. After 600 pounds of flour and weeks of baking, Sparacio’s mother and her sons went down to Chicago’s poverty-stricken areas and distributed the loaves of bread to the poor for months.

“My parents were both from Italy, but they truly loved America,” said Sparacio. “I love America, and I would fight again if I had the chance. ... (But) I’m not a hero.”

However, judging by Sparacio’s numerous medals and awards for courage and patriotism, it is safe to say the U.S. Army feels otherwise.