My Dad was a great man and a great father to me and I miss him very much. I thought some you guys might have known him.

OBITUARY:

Angelo F. Marchesi, a decorated Army veteran of World War II and longtime resident of Woburn's South End, passed away early Wednesday morning, November 1st, at the age of eighty-six. He was the loving husband of Ann V. (LaMalpha) Marchesi for over fifty-nine years.

Born in Winchester, Angelo was the son of the late Salvatore and Guissipina (Asaro) Marchesi. He was affectionately known as "Fiume" throughout his life, named for a river in Italy near which his parents immigrated from many years ago. He was raised in Winchester and attended schools there, and in early 1941 joined the Army. Stationed in Hawaii in the months leading up to our country's entry into the war, he was a member of the 25th Infantry Division, 52nd Field Artillery Battalion. Wounded by a Japanese machine gun during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, he was awarded a Purple Heart by Brig. Gen. D.S. Wilson for "a meritorious act of essential service in action at Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii." He was the first in Winchester to receive a Purple Heart during WWII, and one of the first six in New England to be awarded the medal at Pearl Harbor. Despite his wound, Private Marchesi rejoined his organization and later saw action on Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Munda, Luzon and Leyte. Over the next fifty years until 2001, he attended all the reunions of the 25th Infantry Division.

Following his honorable discharge from the service, he worked in a leather factory in North Woburn before accepting employment with the US Government Postal Service. A letter carrier out of the Federal Street office in Woburn for more than twenty-five years, he retired in the late 1980's.

Fiume was a member of the Winchester Sons of Italy and enjoyed golfing. He was a longtime member of the Immaculate Conception parish in Winchester.

Preceding him in death were seven sisters, Angelina Lionetta, Grace Anderson, Mary Nigro, Rosemary, Frances, Katherine "Katy" and Josephine "Dolly" Marchesi, and five brothers, Anthony "Nino", Ralph, Peter "Peter Fish", Joseph “Joe Fish” and Paul.

Surviving along with his beloved wife Ann are two sons, James P. and his wife Cecilia of Woburn and Stephen A. of Kent, Washington.

My Condolences for your loss. Your fathers sounds like he was a really great guy. My Great Uncle (also named Angelo, coincidentally) served with the 25th. 161 Infantry Brigade, L Company. He was also on Guadalcanal, New Georgia and Luzon. I guess they would have been in all the same places, though, since they were in the 25th. I wonder if they ever met and laughed because they had the same first name?

Mr. Marchesi,
My condolences on the loss of your father. I noticed that in his obituary a portion of it reads, "he was a member of the 25th Infantry Division, 52nd Field Artillery Battalion". The 52nd Field Artillery Battalion was part of the 24th "Victory" Division. The 24th and 25th Divisions were created from the old Hawaiian Division just weeks prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
There is a site about the 24th Infantry Division that shows the 52nd Field Artillery Battalion in their Order of Battle for WW II
http://home.att.net/~victory24/Divunits.htm#wwii
The history of the 24th Infantry Division http://home.att.net/~victory24/Divhistory.htm reads in part, "Two artillery battalions, the 52nd and 63rd were formed simultaneously with the new division."
I hope this information is helpful to you.

I was at schollfield barracks from 1962-1964,I was with the 7th how.batalion 11th artillery B battery.Just trying to find anybody from the unit,Thanks.........

Hi,

You would probably have better luck if you put up an entirely new message with a title that has your name and the year you were there and your unit. That way people will see it easily and you'll have better luck finding your buddies. Good luck and thank you for your service.

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Replying to:

I was at schollfield barracks from 1962-1964,I was with the 7th how.batalion 11th artillery B battery.Just trying to find anybody from the unit,Thanks.........

Thanks for posting this. I lost my father in 1999. He was 161st Infantry and served in every campaign your father did. My father, Leo J. Schmidt was seriously wounded on Jan 25, 1945 in the battle for San Manuel, Luzon.

I suggest you look for a book called "Across The Dark Islands" by Floyd Radike. Amazon should have it. I got mine at Borders. It will give you an even better idea what your dad went through.

Stay in touch with us and share any info you have.

Dale Schmidt

P.S. I live in Redmond, WA about 15 miles north of Kent (where I went to school for a while). Nearby is Tahoma Memorial Cemetery where my Father and Uncle were laid to rest. Maybe Stephen should visit the cemetery — it's quite nice.