A Tribute to SIA/A&D Veterans
World War II (1941-1945)
As the German Army was pushed back to its homeland, Benedetto and his company saw bitter fighting in cold winter conditions, often hunkering down in foxholes as German 88 mm guns fired on them. At the end of March, they crossed the Rhine and entered Germany, engaging in dangerous house-to-house, town-after-town fighting to clean out German soldiers; during the first week of April, they crossed the Kocher River, and by the end of the month reached the Danube.During his time in combat, Benedetto narrowly escaped death several times. The experience made him a pacifist; he would later write, “Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn’t gone through one,” and later say, “It was a nightmare that’s permanent. I just said, ‘This is not life. This is not life.'” At the war’s conclusion he was involved in the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp near Landsberg,where some American prisoners of war from the 63rd Division had also been held.
Benedetto stayed in Germany as part of the occupying force, but was assigned to an informal Special Services band unit that would entertain nearby American forces. His dining with a black friend from high school – at a time when the Army was still racially segregated – led to his being demoted and reassigned to Graves Registration Service duties.
Source: WikipediaARMY
Al Plastino
SIA Class of 1939
Sunrise: 12.15.1921 | Sunset: 11.25.2013
Eliscu served in the army in WWII from 1942 to 1945. He was first put to work on camouflage and maps for the Allied invasion. In 1943, he developed a unique technique used by the US Army to rehabilitate facial disfigurements from war injuries. According to his discharge papers, “Made drawings in the operating room of surgical procedures, modeling of features for reconstructive surgery, and carving cartilage for grafting in plastic surgery, pigmentation of skin in plastic procedures. Had three assistants working under him. Served at Valley Forge General Hospital in Plastic Surgery Department.”
Source: Wikipedia
NAVY
Albert A. Verber
Former SIA teacher
Sunset: 11.07.1943
Albert A. Verber who was a navy and test pilot died on November 7, 1943 in a plane crash upon take off in Virginia.
Post WWII
Korean War (1950-1953)
