CPT Ettore Vincent Zappacosta

CPT Ettore Vincent Zappacosta was born 13 Feb 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of the 3 children born to Camillo and Ernestina (Amoroso) Zappacosta. Both parents were natives of Italy, his father from Torano Nuovo and his mother from Rapino. Ernestina died of influenza at the age of 34 on 15 Oct 1918. His older brother was sent to the St. Johns Orphan Asylum while Ettore and his older sister were sent to live with the DiEmilies family until Camillo remarried in 1920 to Plama Alessandrini. The family owned their home, a narrow brick townhouse at 1240 Gerritt Street in Philadelphia. 

Ettore enlisted in the army in August 1934 and went to Hawaii where he was stationed at Schofield Barracks with the 21st Infantry. Promoted to CPL in 1936 he returned to the United States in 1937 and was stationed at Fort McDowell on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay before being discharged in June 1937. 

Ettore then went to Washington, D.C. to work for the Census Bureau and then the U.S. Commerce Department's Coast and Geodetic Survey as a draftsman. He was then living at 1739 Irving Street in Washington where he rented a room from Richard Laye and reported a 1939 income of $1800. He then re-enlisted in the Army and in 1941 was selected for and attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Ettore was apparently commissioned on 7 Dec 1941. He was soon assigned to the 116th Infantry and was in England with them on 6 Oct 1942. CPT Zappacosta trained with his unit and led them in the training to prepare them for the amphibious assault that was planned to be part of the effort to liberate Nazi occupied France. Radioman, then PFC, Robert "Bob" Sales gave his version of the events in that assault. 

When we left the Empire Javelin and boarded the landing craft, Captain Zappacosta was the first man at the front. I was behind him, being his radio operator. He was very quiet going in. He was not a talkative man anyways, but he was very, very quiet on the trip in.

About a thousand yards or so off the beach, the only words he spoke were “Sales. Step up there and see what’s going on on the beach, if you can see anything.”

I looked over. I could not tell anything. I said, “A Company. I can’t see ‘em. It looks like bodies laying on the beach, but I cannot tell.” And I sat back down.

It wasn’t but a brief while after that and the only words from the coxswain were: “I cannot go in any further. I’m going to drop the ramp.”

There was no argument about it. There were obstacles in the water. The water was up to my neck when I finally got my feet on the ground. He could not do any better.

We were headed into Vierville, where it was the most heavily fortified area on Omaha. Then the ramp went down and these were the only words I heard the coxswain speak, and I do not know to this day whether he got out alive or not, but when that ramp went down mortar shells were hitting on both sides of us. Machine guns were all over top of us, just like you were in a bees’ nest.

The Captain was the first man to get off the boat and he was hit on the ramp and fell into the water. Sergeant Wright was next off, followed by the first aid man. I was fourth off the boat. The sea was rough, the ramp banged up and down, and I caught my heel and went over the side into the water.

When I got up, Captain Zappacosta was up and calling to me, “I’m hit!” He went down and I did not see him come up. His body was washed up on the beach later.

CPT Zappacosta was killed in action on 6 Jun 1944. He was repatriated and re-interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, Pennsylvania.

Note: There is a story that CPT Zappacosta threatened the coxswain with his pistol to force the man to take the boat in to the shore. The Captain's radio man, Bob Sales, is adamant that such an event never happened and was adamant that this story, repeated by other supposedly reputable historians and then by those quoting them, should be repudiated and that is why we mention it here.