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Rosario Scelso was
born in Santa Caterina, Amalfi, Italy in November 1923. At
the age of 5, he and his older sister along with their mother
boarded the SS Costa Grande in Naples, Italy. The ship
weighed anchor on June 15, 1929 and arrived in New York City
harbor on June 24th.
There they met
their husband and father, Salvatore Scelso who had already
established residence at 36 Hamilton Street, Staten Island, New
York. However, by the time of the 1930 Census ten months
later, the family had settled in at 413 E 174th Street in the
Bronx.
In 1943, now a
citizen of the United States, Rosario enlisted in the Army at
New York City, NY.
On August 7, 1944,
now a qualified parachutist, he was transferred from the 82nd
Airborne Division Replace Depot in Leicester, England to Company
E, 508th in Nottingham.
Rosario soon saw
action and was awarded the Bronze service Arrowhead for the
Holland campaign and Airborne operations.
On December 24,
1944 he was wounded in action in Belgium and evacuated. He
returned to duty on February 27, 1945. Eleven months later
he returned to the U.S. and was discharged on January 5, 1946.
Rosario died at
the age of 59 on July 31, 1982 and was laid to rest in the
Forest Green Park Cemetery, Morganville (Monmouth county), New
Jersey. |
