PVT Harold Beck

PVT Harold Beck was born 23 Sep 1925 in New York City to Milton and Esther (Spector) Beck.  Harold was their only child.  Milton was a clerk for the US Postal Service. 

Harold was drafted in November 1943.  It appears that he was assigned to B Company 116th Infantry before D-Day and survived uninjured until 14 Sep 1944 when he went to hospital.  He returned to B Company on 15 Nov 1944.  Originally thought to be missing in action he was found to have been killed in action on 3 Dec 1944. 

PVT Beck's body was repatriated and he is buried in the Long Island National Cemetery. 

Milton Beck had served in WWI as a Corporal in C Company 137th Engineers and is also buried in the Long Island National Cemetery.

CPL Joseph Vega

CPL Joseph Vega was born 29 Jan 1924 in New York City. He was the only child of Joseph and Mary N. Vega. Both parents were born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York City in search of economic opportunity. His father worked as a machinist, cigar maker and some other jobs to support his family. The family lived at 60 East 103rd Street in New York for many years. Joseph was able to complete 4-years of high school. 

Joseph was drafted in February 1943 and after completing his basic military training was sent to England. PFC Vega was transferred from the replacement depot to M Company 116th Infantry on 28 Jun 1944 to serve as a light mortar crewman. He was promoted to CPL on 19 Aug 1944. He continued to serve with M Company until killed in action on 25 Nov 1944 near Engelsdorf, Germany. 

CPL Vega was repatriated and re-interred in Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York. 

PFC Anthony Peter Szabanowski

PFC Anthony Peter Szabanowski was born 28 Aug 1912 in Westport, Connecticut. He was the youngest of the 2 sons born to Konstanty and Marianna (Urbitis) Szabanowski. His father had immigrated from Suwałki, Poland in 1902 and his mother was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. His father worked as a laborer in Fairfield county, Connecticut but was lost to the family, we are unsure how, about 1914. Marianna remarried. Anthony's step-father, Aleksander Milewski, was also a native of Lithuania and and supported his family by working his dairy farm near Lisbon, Connecticut. It is illustrative of the effect of the Great Depression that the farm was valued at $4000 in 1930 but only $1000 in 1940. Anthony was still living with the family in 1930 but was working in a nearby cotton mill. He married Genevieve Dubrowski in 1938 and the couple lived in a home on Versailles Road in Lisbon which Anthony owned and which was valued at $1000 in 1940. Anthony was working as a driver for the state highway department at the time earning a reported 1939 income of $825. The couple had a boy and girl, twins, in 1940 and another son was born in 1943. Anthony said that he was unemployed when he registered for the draft.

Anthony was drafted in August 1943. After his basic military training he was sent to the European theater. PFC Szabanowski was transferred from the replacement depot to L Company 116th Infantry on 3 Sep 1944 while the unit was at Brest. He then fought with the unit until recorded as missing in action on 21 Nov 1944. The unit later corrected this in the morning report to killed in action on that day but for some reason his body was either not recovered or identified immediately.

Initially reported as missing in action he was memorialized on the tablets of the missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery. PFC Szabanowski's body was found and identified in 1973, repatriated and re-interred in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

PVT Alexander Ignatius Saladuchin

courtesy of Glenn

PVT Alexander Ignatius Saladuchin was born 27 Aug 1916 in New York City, New York. He was the youngest of the 2 children born to Ignatius Samuel and Julia (Sherbrinsky) Saladuchin. His father was a tailor. Ignatius was born in Minsk in what is now Belarus and Julia was born in Vilna in what is now Poland. The Russian Orthodox couple married in New York City in June 1915. The family would eventually live in Astoria, New York which is on Long Island. Alexander enlisted in the New York National Guard in November 1933 and served in 2nd Battalion 244th Coastal Artillery until he was discharged in 1935. Alexander completed college and was working as a Certified Public Accountant for a bank earning a reported 1939 income of $1500. He married Jean N. Greenkowich in June 1940. Jean's father was also a native of Minsk.

Alexander was drafted in January 1944. After training he was sent to the European theater. PVT Saladuchin was transferred from the replacement depot to M Company 116th Infantry as an ammunition handler on 7 Aug 1944. The unit was then near Vire, France and PVT Saladuchin fought with the unit at Brest and Aachen. He was killed in action in the vicinity of Setterich, Germany on 20 Nov 1944.

PVT Saladuchin was repatriated and re-interred in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

PVT Philip Santoro

courtesy of Glenn

PVT Philip Santoro was born on 21 Nov 1914 in Reading, Pennsylvania.He was the 4th of 6 sons born to Michael and Domenica (Imbosimeto) Santoro. Both parents were natives of Italy. His father worked for the railroad. His brother became ill and died in 1937 after 2 weeks in the hospital.About 1939, Philip married Mary Dolores and the couple lived first at 5 South 3rd Street before ultimately moving to 527 Gordon Street in Reading. Philip supported the family of 2 by welding but his wife also worked as a dressmaker. The couple reported a 1939 income of $725 and $867 respectively.

Philip was not drafted until April 1944. After basic military training and a short furlough he was sent to the European theater in late September 1944. PVT Santoro was transferred from the replacement depot to C Company 116th Infantry on 28 Oct 1944. It was less than a month later that PVT Santoro was killed in action in the vicinity of Baesweiler, Germany.

PVT Santoro was repatriated in late 1948 and buried in Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

Mary Dolores Santoro did not re-marry before 1957 but she did move to Torrington, Connecticut. Philip had brothers who also served in the war. Joseph Anthony Santoro was a Coxswain in the U.S. Navy (1943-1945). James Santoro served as 1SG of B Company 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division in the South Pacific and was in service 1939-1946. 

PVT Joseph H. Sawicki

courtesy of Ronzoni

PVT Joseph H. Sawicki was born 21 Feb 1910 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the 8th of the 9 children born to Anthony and Marianne (Załucka) Sawicki. Both parents were natives of Poland.  His father worked as a tailor and had been born in Olszany, Gmina Strzegom, Świdnica, Voivodeship, Poland. His mother was born in Borki Nizinskie, Mielec, Podkarpackie, Poland. The couple had married after immigration.The family lived at 357 South 4th Street then for many years at 169 Johnson Avenue before finally moving to 445 Ridgewood Avenue. Joseph married Josephine Rachwalski on 24 Sep 1938 and the couple went to live at 109 North 8th Street, also in Brooklyn, which they rented for $24 a month. Joseph was working for a coal company and Josephine was working in a woman's undergarment factory. The couple reported a 1939 income of $2160. They had their only child, a son, born in 1942.

Joseph was drafted in December 1943. After his basic military training he was sent to the European theater. PVT Sawicki was transferred from the replacement depot to B Company 116th Infantry on 25 Oct 1944 to served as a rifleman. He was killed in action on 17 Nov 1944 in the vicinity of Baesweiler, Germany.

PVT Sawicki was repatriated in 1948 and he was re-interred in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

Joseph's older brother, Henry Joseph Sawicki, served as a CPL during the first World War. Josephine lived for many years at 109 North 8th Street and eventually remarried. As we write this his son is still living and has retired after teaching English for 33-years at the Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station, New York.

PVT Joseph J. Leon

courtesy of Glenn

PVT Joseph J. Leon was born 18 Jul 1922 in New York, New York to Arturo and Julia Leon. His parents and older siblings were natives of Puerto Rico. His father owned a cigar store and the family traveled several times to and from Puerto Rico.

We think that Joseph "fudged" his birth date to enlist in the New York National Guard in 1939 (M Company 71st Infantry).  His unit was federalized on 16 Sep 1940.  However, PVT Leon was not transferred to B Company 116th Infantry until 11 Aug 1944 and came to the unit from the replacement depot.  He was wounded on 3 Sep 1944 and evacuated to the hospital.  Again, we do not know when he returned to the unit but he is shown as being promoted to PFC on 20 Sep 1944.  Despite this entry in the morning report he is still shown as a PVT in the entry recording his being killed in action on 25 Oct 1944. 

PVT Leon was repatriated and is buried in Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

SSG Jerome Bergstein

SSG Jerome Bergstein was born 20 Aug 1925, probably in Brooklyn, New York, to Morris and Hannah D (Wexner) Bergstein.  He was the 2nd of 4 children.  His father worked variously as a process server and a salesman.  Jerome attended only 2 years of high school before he was drafted.

Jerome was drafted in December 1943.  He was assigned to F Company 116th Infantry on 23 Jul 1944 as a PVT.  On 15 Aug 1944 he was promoted to PFC.  On 14 Sep 1944 he was promoted to SSG apparently skipping a couple of ranks (CPL and SGT).  He was killed in action 17 Sep 1944. 

SSG Bergstein is buried in Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York. 

PVT Lorenzo Joseph Cusumano

courtesy of Glenn

PVT Lorenzo Joseph Cusumano was born in Brooklyn, New York on 24 Mar 1917. He was the first of the 2 sons of Antonio and Marianna Antonella (Ferrara) Cusumano. Both parents were natives of Sciacco, Sicily. His father was a salesman and the family lived in Brooklyn before moving to Howards Beach, New York. Lorenzo married Blanche Katherine Schwab in September 1940 and the couple lived at 92-25 Silver Court in Ozone Park, New York. Lorenzo had had 3 years of high school and was working for Moe Pollard on Wall Street as a stock clerk. 

Lorenzo was drafted in November 1943 and after completing his basic military training was sent to England probably in July 1944. PVT Cusumano was transferred from the replacement depot to I Company 116th Infantry on 7 Aug 1944 when the unit was in the vicinity of Vire, France. He was with I Company when he suffered a severe bullet wound to the jaw. Despite being evacuated to a field hospital and treated, PVT Cusumano died of his wound on 26 Aug 1944.

PVT Cusumano was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York. 

Blanche remarried and died in 1992 and she was buried with Lorenzo. Lorenzo's younger brother, Angelo, was also drafted and served about a year in the U.S. Army before being discharged for severe hearing loss which he apparently had prior to being drafted.

PVT Angelo Michael Guidice

PVT Angelo Michael Guidice was born 24 Mar 1916 most probably in Brooklyn, New York, son of Frank Guidice. His father was superintendent of a "dock company". His mother had died before 1920. The family lived with his father's brother and then his paternal grandfather.  In 1936, Angelo was serving as an ordinary seaman on the ship, American Siboney.

Angelo was married and working as a street car conductor when he was drafted in November 1943.  Trained as a rifleman he was then sent to Europe and on 7 Aug 1944 transferred from the replacement depot to I Company 116th Infantry.  He was wounded on or before 25 Aug 1944, evacuated to hospital and died of his wound(s) there on that day. 

PVT Guidice was repatriated and buried in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York. 

PFC William Arthur White

courtesy of Maryann

PFC William Arthur White was born 24 Jan 1914 in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was the youngest of the 3 children of Milton Burritt and Emily Elizabeth (Moffett) White. His father worked as a carpenter but apparently left the family before 1920 and his mother worked in a local hat factory to support her children. William's education ended with the 8th grade and he went to work in the printing trade. He married Marie Ruth Wachter in October 1935 and the couple would live at 81 Seaview Avenue in Norwalk. 

William was drafted in November 1943. After completing his basic military training he was sent to the European theater. PVT White was transferred from the replacement depot to B Company 116th Infantry on 17 Jul 1944 while the unit was near Saint-Lo, France. He fought with the unit through the liberation of Vire after which he was promoted on 13 Aug 1944. PFC White was still with B Company as the unit began the fight to liberate Brest. He was killed in action on 25 Aug 1944.

PFC White was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

Great-grandfather, Edward C. Moffett, served in D Company 7th Connecticut Infantry (USA) in the Civil War. Great-grandfather, Theoderich Platt, served in 6th New York Heavy Artillery (USA).

PVT James Theodore Weston

courtesy of Glenn

PVT James Theodore Weston was born 3 Jun 1925 in Morristown, New Jersey. He was the son of Francis (aka Frank) Holmes and Ada C. (Hockenberry) Weston. He may have been adopted. Frank was a blacksmith as were several other men in the extended family. Frank died at the age of 44 in August 1936 while the family was living in Bernards, New Jersey. Sometime after this James and his mother moved to Sussex County, New Jersey where they apparently lived with the farmer for whom James worked, Frank Johnson. 

James was probably drafted in late 1943. After completing approximately 5-months of basic military training he was sent to the European theater. PVT Weston was transferred from the replacement depot to C Company 116th Infantry on 18 Jul 1944 while it was in the vicinity of Saint-Lo, France. Serving as a rifleman, PVT Weston was killed in action on 30 Jul 1944. 

PVT Weston was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

PVT Michael P. Dziuma

PVT Michael P. Dziuma was born 26 Nov 1912 in the Bronx, New York to Nicholas and Apalonia (Mohylowska) Dziuma.  Both parents immigrated from Galicia i. e. southern Poland.  His father worked as a carpenter and furrier. 

Michael was drafted in February 1943. We don't know when but Michael was assigned to A Company 116th Infantry, apparently prior to the D-Day landings.  The only entry in the morning report is that he was killed in action on 18 Jul 1944.

PVT Dziuma was repatriated and is buried in Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

Michael's brother Edward also served during the war but lived until 1987. He is buried next to his brother.   

PVT Cornelius A. Ricker

Courtesy of Glenn

PVT Cornelius A. Ricker was born on 16 Jul 1912 in Passaic County, New Jersey. He was the 2nd of the 9 children born to William Henry and Grace (McKinnon) Ricker. His father supported the family as a blacksmith and truck drive. Cornelius lived in Oakland, New Jersey drove for Campbell-Morrell in Passaic.

Cornelius was living in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey when he was drafted in December 1943. After completing his basic military training he was sent to Europe in June 1944. PVT Ricker was transferred from the replacement depot to E Company 116th Infantry on 13 Jul 1944. Although initially reported as missing in action PVT Ricker was found to have been killed in action on 15 Jul 1944 just 2 days after joining the unit.

PVT Ricker was repatriated in 1949 and re-interred in Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

Brother, Harold Dennis Ricker, served in the European theater in the Army and brother William Ricker also served in the Army.

PFC Arnold James Reid Jr

PFC Arnold James Reid Jr was born 12 Mar 1924 in Mobile County, Alabama to Arnold James and Leonella Charlotte (Perez) Reid.  One of 7 children it appears that much of his immediate family moved to New York City by 1943 when he was drafted.

Our researcher was fascinated by this family because they are variously shown in census and other documents as "Negro" or "Mulatto" and Arnold served with this "southern" regiment at a time when segregation in the U.S. military was the rule.  How this happened can only be a matter of conjecture.  However, in her marriage record in Virginia his sister Cora is recorded as "white".  Clearly this family could "pass".  Thankfully this policy/regulation ended in 1948.

Assigned to B Company 116th Infantry prior to D-Day, PFC Reid was wounded on 12 Jul 1944, evacuated to hospital and died of wounds on 14 Jul 1944. Now and forever he will rest in Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

PFC Author Jackson Deel

PFC Author Jackson "Autie" Deel, b. 9 Mar 1921 - d. 12 Jul 1944. Son of Bart Fleming and Sybil Josephine (Owens) Deel of Buchanan County, VA. The Deel family has been in that area since at least 1800. He actually enlisted as "Autie J Deel" and was ultimately assigned to B Company 116th Infantry. He was buried in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, NY.

PVT Nicholas Niutta

courtesy of Glenn

PVT Nicholas Niutta was born 9 Oct 1924 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the oldest of 2 children and only son of Bruno and Maria (Diveno) Niutta. Both parents were natives of Italy, his father was born in Calabria, Italy. His father worked as a gardener who reported a 1939 income of $1500. In 1940 the family lived with Nicholas' maternal grandmother at 1926 East 3rd Street in Brooklyn.

Nicholas was drafted in June 1943. After basic training he was sent to the European theater and may have been assigned to G Company 116th Infantry before the amphibious landings at Omaha Beach on 6 Jun 1944. PVT Niutta was killed in action on 4 Jul 1944.

PVT Niutta was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

PFC Patrick J. Keefe

PFC Patrick J. Keefe was born 27 Jan 1924 in New Jersey the son of Patrick J. and Adelaide Lovett.  It appears that his father died in 1925 and his mother re-married in 1926.  His step-father farmed. 

After entering the service Patrick was sent to England and assigned to C Company 116th Infantry.  He trained with this unit for the amphibious landing/assault in which he took part on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944.  As a rifleman, he fought with the unit until 3 Jul 1944 when he was wounded in action.  Evacuated to the rear he died of his wounds. 

PFC Keefe was repatriated and now rests forever in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

PFC Adolph C. Noll

courtesy of Glenn

PFC Adolph C. Noll was born 11 Mar 1916 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the first of the 3 children born to Adolph Conrad and Frances (Vrba) Noll. His father worked as a stevedore and truck driver. Young Adolph did get married.

Adolph was drafted in May 1942. He might have been assigned to G Company 116th Infantry before the unit boarded the Queen Mary and sailed for England in September 1942 but he was certainly assigned to the unit and trained with it for the amphibious invasion of occupied Europe and took part in that effort on 6 Jun 1944. PFC Noll fought with the unit until killed in action on 21 Jun 1944.

PFC Noll was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

His great-gradfather, Christian Noll, had immigrated from Württemberg, Germany and served with D Company 103rd New York Infantry and was injured in the attack on Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina.

PFC Dominick Michael Montagino

courtesy of Glenn

PFC Dominick Michael Montagino was born 18 Sep 1919 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the 7th of 9 children born to Salvatore and Josephine (Miceli) Montagino. Both parents were natives of Italy. In 1940 his father was working as a street cleaner and reported a 1939 income of $1800. That same year, his brother Charles was working as a fireman and reported a $2400 income for 1939. The family home was valued at $4000.

Dominick was drafted in May 1942. He was probably assigned to M Company before the unit departed for England in September 1942. In England the unit trained for the amphibious assault on occupied France. He took part in the landings on 6 Jun 1944 and fought with the unit until wounded on 13 Jun 1944. Evacuated to hospital, PFC Montagino died of his wound(s) on 14 Jun 1944.

PFC Montagino was repatriated and re-interred in the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, New York.

His younger brother Carmelo Montagino served in the Army Air Force 1943-1946 and is buried in the Calverton National Cemetery.