John Anthony Torchia’s story is a poignant reminder of the human cost of war and the valor of those who serve. He was born on 27 June 1922, in LaSalle, Illinois, to Anton and Angelina (Colmane) Torchia, immigrants from Parco, Sicily, Italy (now Altofonte). John’s father, Anton, had arrived in America in 1912 at age 16, and married John’s mother, Angelina, in 1920. John’s mother Angelina made her own journey of immigration from Italy to the U.S. in 1906 at age four along with her mother and younger brother Antonio. John’s early life was steeped in the close-knit, hardworking community…
Tag: LaSalle
PFC Batista J. Gillio, Service No. 36482154
PFC Batista John Gillio’s story is a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by many young Americans during World War II. He was born to Italian immigrant parents, Louis and Enrichetta Gillio, in Oglesby, Illinois, on 21 July 1921. Batista’s father, Louis Gillio, had come to the United States as a teenager joining his older brothers Antonio and August. He settled near them in the LaSalle/Peru/Oglesby area of LaSalle County, Illinois, and eventually met and married Enrichetta. Together, they had in addition to Batista, two older sons Charles and Louis Jr and two daughters Rose and Mary. Life was challenging…
CPL Bernard John Zawila, Service No. 425509
Bernard John Zawila was born on 24 August 1921, in LaSalle, Illinois, to Sophia (Swobodzinski) Zawila. At the time of his birth, Bernard’s mother was a widow having lost her husband, Paul Zawila, six months earlier. When Bernard’s father died, the family had been living in Chicago where his father had been working for the McCormick Reaper Works as a laborer. In late February 1921 when Sophia was pregnant with Bernard, Bernard’s father became sick with pneumonia. Within two days he had died from the illness. After her husband’s death, Sophia must have moved the family which included two sons…
STAFF SGT Anthony Thomas Piraino, Service No. 36433970
Anthony PIraino was born on 15 January 1921, in Lost Springs, Wyoming, to Gaetano and Rose Falica Piraino. He was the couple’s sixth child. Anthony’s father, Gaetano, grew up in Alcara, Italy, and left in 1903 for the United States when he was in his early 20s. Anthony’s mother, Rose arrived in the United States in the late 1890s. Gaetano and Rose met in Peru, Illinois, in the early 1900s and were married on 14 April 1907. At the time of Anthony’s birth, his family was living and farming in Lost Springs in Wyoming on property they owned. Anthony had…
SGT Joseph Piraino, Service No. 36981801
Joseph PIraino was born on 15 December 1918, in Lost Springs, Wyoming, to Gaetano and Rose (Falica) Piraino. He was the couple’s fifth child. Joseph’s father, Gaetano, grew up in Alcara, Italy, and left in 1903 for the United States when he was in his early 20s. Joseph’s mother, Rose arrived in the United States in the late 1890s. Gaetano and Rose met in Peru, Illinois, in the early 1900s and were married on 14 April 1907. At the time of Joseph’s birth, his family was living and farming in Lost Springs in Wyoming on property they owned. Joseph had…
Seaman 2c Joseph James Geraci, Service No. 8515544
Joseph James Geraci was born on 15 May 1924, to Dominic and Mary Theresa (Gerace) Geraci, in Illinois. Joseph’s father, Dominic, was about 29 years old when Joseph was born and was working in the local coal mine. He and Joseph’s mother had married almost nine years before on 25 July 1920 in LaSalle. They had only one other known child, John, who was born four years after Joseph on 18 July 1928. Joseph’s father, Dominic, was born in Caccamo, Sicily. He had left Italy to travel to America in 1911 when he was 16 years old. Eight years after…
Seaman 1C Stanley Joseph Iwanicki
Stanley Joseph Iwanicki was born 27 May 1919, to Xavier and Frances Koprowski Iwanicki. His parents had been married for 17 years when he was born and had 10 other children—4 boys and 6 girls—prior to Stanley’s birth. However, not all had survived—at least two children passed away before he was born. Xavier and Frances welcomed one more child after Stanley—a boy, John Iwanicki, who was born in January 1922 when Stanley was two. Xavier, Stanley’s father, was an immigrant who in his mid-teens left Poland for the U.S. in the mid to late 1890s. Stanley’s mother, Frances, was born…
2 LT Raymond C. Hopp, Service Number O-819812
Raymond C. Hopp was born on 11 June 1923, in LaSalle, Illinois, to Fred W. and Victoria Markiewicz Hopp. His mother, Victoria, was the daughter of Peter and Agnes Widlowski Markiewicz—a couple who had left Poland about 1892 with their first child, Josephine. Raymond’s father was a driver throughout his childhood first working for American Railway Express Company for several years and then for a bakery, possibly the one owned by Henry Hopp in Spring Valley. When Raymond was about 10 years old, his father became a driver for the LaSalle Fire Department. By that time, his parents had a…
SGT Robert James Hetherington, Service No. 36000529
Robert James Hetherington was born on either Christmas eve or Christmas day in 1908 in LaSalle, Illinois, to Thomas and Eleanor “Ella” Hanley Hetherington. His parents, both in their early to mid-twenties, married in October the year before his birth. His father, Thomas Hetherington, worked as a miner for the LaSalle County Carbon Coal Company in LaSalle. Robert’s grandfather, John Hetherington, worked at the same company as a supervisor. He had been there about 40 years and retired when Robert was about 16. However, the next year, in 1925, Robert’s grandfather died of a stroke. Soon after, Thomas, Robert’s father,…
PVT John Walter Gorczynski, Service Number 36775718
John Walter Gorczynski was born on 18 September 1920, in LaSalle, Illinois. He was the youngest child of John and Barbara Klimala Gorczynski. His father, John Sr. had immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1909. Two years later John’s mother, Barbara, left Poland for America with her two-year-old son Wladyslaw (Walter) to join her husband in LaSalle. By 1920, John’s parents had at least five more children including John Jr. John Sr. was working in the furnace area of the local zinc works, and he and his wife had bought a home at 222 Sterling street in the…