Changes: Vince Speranza

Revision as of 00:57, 13 December 2017

Pvt vincent speranza501g — Vincent J. Speranza

Vincent "Vince" J. Speranza (born 23 March 1925 in Manhattan, New York) was a American Private in the United States Army during World War II.

Early life

Vince was born on March 23, 1925 in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. He grew up on Staten Island in a large and extended Italian family during the depression. His parents were Frank and Frances Speranza. He also had three brothers (Rocco, Joseph, and Albert) and three sisters (Nancy, Frances, Concetta, and Theresa). He graduated from high school in January 1943 and enrolled at the City College of New York.

Military service

Vince went to the draft board after he had turned eighteen. He was drafted into the United States Army on October 25, 1943 and officially entered the service on November 15, 1943. He was sent to Camp Upton in New York where he stayed until he was sent to Fort Benning in Georgia where he trained for the Infantry with the 87th Infantry Division. He volunteered for the Parachute Infantry and was sent back to Fort Benning for training. He was sent overseas with Company H, 3rd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division from Camp Shanks on board the Queen Mary. His unit arrived in France and would later fight in the Battle of the Bulge.

Life after the war

Personal life

Vince married Iva Leftwich in 1948 and they would go on to have a daughter and a son. Iva passed away on March 6, 2017.

Awards and decorations

Sources

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Vince Speranza and the edit history here.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 *[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] with 2 campaign stars
 *[[World War II Victory Medal]]
-*[[Croix de Guerre|Croix de Guerre (1939-1945)]]
+*[[Croix de Guerre 1939-1945|Croix de Guerre (1939-1945)]]
 *[[Legion of Honour]]
 *[[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Presidential Unit Citation]] with [[Oak leaf cluster]]