SSG Tony Joseph Vardaro

SSG Tony Joseph Vardaro was born as Anthony Joseph Vardaro on 15 Dec 1917 in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He was the 3rd of the 7 children born to Thomas and Martha (Decrapio) Vardaro. Both parents were natives of Italy and Thomas supported the family by working as a molder in a boiler works. Unable to work by 1940, Thomas and Martha as well as the rest of the family were supported by Tony and his older sister Margaret who worked together in the Talon Zipper Company factory. They both reported a 1939 income of $1200. Certainly, the family had to make some other arrangements as Margaret married later in 1940 and Tony married her husband's sister, Mary Rose Bergamasco, in April 1941. The couple had a son in April 1943.

Tony was drafted as Tony J. Vardaro in July 1943. After completing his basic military training he was sent to England and assigned to F Company 116th Infantry. He would have likely only had a short period of training with the unit for the amphibious assault which was a planned part of the liberation of France but survived the landing on 6 Jun 1944. PVT Vardaro suffered some sort of non-battle related injury on 26 Jun 1944 and was evacuated to hospital and returned to the unit on 5 Jul 1944. The unit was then involved in the fight to gain control of the vital road hub of Saint-Lo, France and he was killed in that fight when he was struck by machine gun fire early in the first minutes of 12 Jul 1944. He had only just been promoted to SSG.

SSG Vardaro was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in Saint Brigids Cemetery in Meadville, Pennsylvania. 

Tony's brother-in-law, Vincent Bergamasco, and younger brother, Patsy John Vardaro, both served in WW2. A nephew and his grandson were named for him. Mary Rose remarried twice and had 3 more children and passed away in 2010 at the age of 89. As this is written his son is still living.