During his interview, Frank Siragusa (1928- ) remembers his six months working as a painter at the Navy Yard. When he started, he painted pipes using lead paint, which injured his hands. After he recovered, he began working with a trompe l'oeil painter, who could make iron look like wood. He talks about his friendship with this painter, and the two of them discussing philosophy, spirituality and history. Siragusa worked a few other jobs before joining the Navy, including at the Hotel New Yorker, where he saw the plane crash into the Empire State Building in 1945, shortly before he enlisted. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.