Donna Esposito

World War II Historian and Author of the Novel

Flying Time

WRITING

Holding Death at Bay: The Story of a World War II Photograph, Blood Plasma, and the Soldier it Couldn't Save

Flying Time

Audiobook Now Available!

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Remarkable Journey to the South Pacific

Island Life Magazine

Oct. 2017

A Dog Tag's Way Home

Island Life Magazine

Oct. 2019

Some Enchanted Island: James Michener's Espiritu Santo

Island Life Magazine

Jan. 2018

Peleliu: A Forgotten Battle Remembered

The Santonian

Dec. 2019

IN THE NEWS

WNYT Forum 13 Interview with Asa Stackel 

June 9, 2019

Remains of WWII soldier identified 76 years after going MIA

WORLD WAR II ACE EARNS POSTHUMOUS AWARD FROM CORNELL

INTERVIEW WITH THE

NATIONAL MERIT

SCHOLARSHIP CORPORATION

Program on missing WWII pilot this Saturday

RESEARCHERS MARK DEATH OF PEARL HARBOR MASTERMIND YAMAMOTO

INTERVIEW WITH DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE & PRESERVATION SERVICES FOR NEW YORK

IL SOLDATO E LA BAMBINA, IL MONDO IN UNA FOTO

DOG TAGS, POSSIBLE REMAINS OF WWII SOLDIER FOUND ON ISLAND

MEET THE AUTHOR,

WRITER'S LIFE MAGAZINE

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. 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. Read Donna's Pacific Wrecks Q & A. 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.

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 

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