DOB/DOD: October 28, 1916 (Norwalk, CT) – June 18, 2006 (Leominster, MA); 89 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Margaret A. Nash (1924-2002).
CHILDREN: One daughter, Deborah (1950-). One son, David M. (1949-).
LOCAL ADDRESS: 22 Davis Street, Norwalk
ENLISTMENT: June 30, 1940
RETIREMENT: November 1, 1960, after over 20 years of service.
SERVICE NUMBER: 6150723
MOS: 1189, Forward Observer – Artillery; was also a Field Artillery Crewman and Field Artillery Chief.
FAMILY: Born to Giovanni “John” P. (1879-1955) and Devota Dal Colla Peretti (1885-1939). Four brothers, John A. (1908-1985), Joseph P. (1919-1960), Edward (1922-?), and Albert (1925-2010). Four sisters, Jennie Peretti Cocco (1911-1990), Rose Peretti Lavoie Makovy (1915-1975), Mildred Peretti Costabile (1919-1977), Josephine C. Peretti Carboni (1923-1994), and Anna Peretti Pecunia (1928-2019).
DECORATIONS: Recipient of the Silver Star Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, American Defense Ribbon, European-African, Middle Eastern Theatre Ribbon with 8 campaign stars.
OTHER: Graduated from Norwalk High School in 1934. Served in World War II and the Korean War.
Portrait contributed by daughter Deb Peretti. The photo was taken in 1954 when he was 38 years old.
From normandy-at-wars-tours.com
In the footsteps of 2nd Lt Bernaldo Marko Peretti
Anniversaries of D-Day are always special and meaningful events, but who you are with and who you meet are what make these events truly special.
This week, for the 79th anniversary of D-Day, I had the privilege of guiding David Peretti. David’s father was 2nd Lieutenant Bernaldo Marko Peretti. Lt Peretti served in WWII in the 32nd Field Artillery Battalion part of the 1st Infantry Division “Big Red One”.
A veteran of North Africa (he was awarded the Silver Star following the battle of El Ghettar) and Sicily, Bernaldo Peretti was still a Sergent when he landed on Omaha Beach soon after the first waves. His job on D-Day was to land with an advance party to be ready to organize the unloading of the battalion’s artillery pieces. Moments after he landed, his landing craft hit a German mine, broke in half and killed or maimed all that were still aboard, he was one of the only survivor. To make matters worse, by mid-morning on D-Day, the threat of German obstacles still on the beach as the tied slowly went up prevented the large LCT (Landing Craft Tanks) carrying the artillery pieces from getting close to the shore. Sgt Peretti found himself stranded on one of the most dangerous sector of Omaha beach for hours, first taking cover under the broken up wreck of his landing craft before joining infantry elements to get off the beach.
Sgt Bernaldo Peretti would not only survive D-Day but receive a battlefield commission to 2nd Lieutenant in recognition of his extraordinary heroism and leadership in Normandy. He survived the war, having been awarded a Silver Star, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Clusters.
As we were making our way along Omaha, and only a couple of hundred yards from where Lt Peretti landed, David and I encountered a contingent of active members of the US military. To our surprise and amazement, they were the leadership elements of the current 1st Division, lead by Major General John V. Meyer III. Gen. Meyer took a lot of time out of what I imagine was a busy schedule to listen to David talk about his father and showed not just genuine interest but seemed truly humbled by the story of Lt Peretti.
From valor.militarytimes.com
CITATION TO ACCOMPANY THE AWARD OF THE SILVER STAR MEDAL
Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division, General Orders No. 18 (April 20, 1943)
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Staff Sergeant Bernaldo M. Peretti (ASN: 6150723), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with Battery B, 32d Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, in action against the enemy in North Africa, during the period from January to April 1943. When communication lines were severed by enemy fire, Sergeant Peretti voluntarily crossed terrain consistently exposed to heavy enemy artillery and machine gun fire and repaired these lines, thus enabling his battery to complete its mission successfully. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.
From The Norwalk Hour October 6, 1943
NORWALKER GETS THE SILVER STAR
Staff Sgt Bernaldo Peretti Cited For Gallantry In Action In Africa
Another hero has been added to Norwalk’s honor roll. He is Staff Sergeant Bernaldo M. Peretti, son of John Peretti of 22 Davis Street, who has been cited for gallantry in action and awarded the Silver Star. The citation follows:
For gallantry in action in the vicinity of El Guettar, Tunisia, on March 23, 1943. When communication lines were severed by enemy fire, Sergeant Peretti voluntarily crossed terrain constantly exposed to heavy enemy artillery and machine gunfire and repaired those lines, thus enabling his battery to complete its mission successfully.
Sgt Peretti, who entered the Army in June 1940, received his training at Fort Devens, Fort Ethan Allen, Fort Bragg [Fort Liberty as of 2023], and Camp Blanding, Florida. He went overseas in July 1942, has been in England, Scotland, and Africa, and is now in Sicily. He was formerly employed at the Meyers Manufacturing Company. Mr. Peretti has two other sons in the service, Edward of the U.S. Navy, received his training at Newport, Rhode Island, and was formerly employed by Magraw and Company in New London, and Albert, who entered the Merchant Marine service in June, and who was formerly employed by the Manhattan Shirt Company. He received his training at Sheepshead Bay and is on sea duty at the present time.
From the Sentinel & Enterprise, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, June 7, 1994
He’d volunteer all over again
Leominster Man’s unit took heavy losses in fighting in Normandy
By George W. Barnes II
Leominster News Director
LEOMINSTER — If World War II came again, Bernaldo “Bernie” Peretti of 23 Hale Street would volunteer. “I know they wouldn’t take me, but I would go for a desk job or something,” he said. Some would say he’s done enough. During World War II, he saw 4,325 of his comrades in the 1st Infantry Division, known by its nickname “The Big Red One,” die in battle. He was wounded and returned home covered in medals. Later, he went to Korea and caught the tail end of the Korean War. But he would volunteer to go again because he believes it is the right thing to do. By the time Peretti climbed aboard a landing craft that would take him to the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, he was already a decorated veteran. The Leominster resident, who was originally from Norwalk, Connecticut, knew what he was facing and what to do to stay alive when the shooting started. Many of the soldiers with him in the 1st Division’s 18th Regimental combat team were not as sure of themselves. Listening to the sounds of fighting already underway on Omaha Beach filled them with fear. “I was in charge of a group on the (landing craft). The kids, they couldn’t see too much over the bow of the boat, but they sensed what was happening,” he said. “You could feel it. They were scared.” Some of the men crawled under trucks to hide. “You had to kick them in the rump to get them out,” he said. His unit’s landing was easier than some because the fire was more heavily directed at units that had landed ahead of them. It was still brutal fighting, with many units losing 70 or 80 percent of their men. “I don’t remember much, but it was hell to pay,” he said. “It took us three days just to go in three miles.” The memories come hard for Peretti, who saw many friends and comrades die in battles in Africa and Europe. The recent focus on the 50th anniversary of D-Day has helped bring back those memories, many of them painful. In Africa, Peretti fought in two of the most difficult battles against German General Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps. He first faced the Germans at Kasserine Pass and later El Guettar, both in Tunisia. It was at El Guettar that he won a Silver Star for bravery. In the middle of the battle, his unit was surrounded and cut off from headquarters. Without being asked, Peretti left his unit in the middle of the night and followed a damaged communication line through enemy-held territory back to headquarters. He was able to re-establish communications, which prevented his unit from being overrun. Peretti later won the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart during the Normandy campaigns, as well as 11 other medals, including the French Croix de Guerre. Despite his war record, which also included a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant two days before the start of the Battle of the Bulge, he said he doesn’t consider himself a hero. “I’m one of many, and actually, the heroes are still there,” he said. At El Guettar, Lieutenant General George Patton, commander of the Third Army Corps, drove through the 32nd Field Artillery Battalion’s position with flags flying. The Germans, seeing the vehicle, shelled and bombed Peretti’s unit, knocking out two of their four artillery pieces and killing several men. Among those killed, Peretti said, was a man from Worcester, Sergeant Wadislaw Wesgan. Just prior to D-Day, another incident occurred, and Peretti said he’d just as soon forget. To prepare for the invasion, troops were loaded on landing craft and were supposed to practice landings. Instead, they were attacked by a German submarine, and several boats went down with men onboard. “After that, they put us in a holding pen until it was time to head to Normandy,” he said. After Normandy, Peretti fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where his unit held its ground against the German’s last best effort to turn the tide of the war back in their favor. The unit fought its way across France and into Germany across a bridge at Remagen, the only bridge over the Rhine River the Germans left standing. He ended the war west of Berlin.
From The Norwalk Hour October 3, 2002
BERNALDO PERETTI, WORLD WAR II HERO
It’s probably the case after 60 years away from Norwalk that few of his classmates at Norwalk High School in the early 1930s even know he’s alive. It’s probably a safer bet they don’t know the Norwalk native was one of the nation’s most highly decorated fighting men during World War II. Bernaldo M. Peretti of Leominster, Mass., was awarded the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart and received a Battlefield Commission during the Battle of the Bulge. He also merited the French Croix de Guerre and more than the usual number of campaign ribbons covered with eight Battle Stars. These achievements were more than enough for the Norwalk High School Alumni
Association to invite Peretti to Norwalk to accept installation to the NHS Wall of Honor. “It was certainly a surprise to hear about this so long after leaving high school in my sophomore year,” the 86-year-old Norwalk native recalled this week from his home. “I’m
looking forward to it, but I’ll be using a cane to get around.” Quite a contrast to the
strong young man who crawled one night and day in 1942 through enemy lines in North Africa to connect his company’s telephone line to headquarters and other units from a surrounded position. “It was a matter of crawling through the sand and stone, following the telephone line and feeling for breaks with the palms of my hands and, after feeling a break, fixing it and calling back to headquarters,” he recalled. The exercise exposed him
to intense enemy fire, especially during the day, but he completed the unassigned mission preventing his battalion from being overrun, and it eventually broke out. “I was young, and I felt lucky,” he remembered. The effort at El Guittar brought him the Silver Star for gallantry, the third highest in the military order of merit. As a radioman with the 32nd Field Artillery Battalion of the First Division (Big Red One), Peretti next engaged the enemy in the invasion of Sicily, where they landed in Gela on July 9, 1943. They found much success there but were soon pulled out and sent to Broadmayre, England, to prepare for the invasion of Europe the next year. He was placed in charge of two machine gun crews, four 2.5-ton trucks, and 15 men with the 18th Regimental Combat Team of Big Red One which was chosen to spearhead the invasion on Omaha Beach. “I had a group of much younger men without previous experience with enemy guns,” he explained. “The kids couldn’t see over the bow of the boat, but they sensed what was happening. I knew they were scared.” Some of the kids crawled under trucks to hide. “I had to kick them in the rump to get them out,” he said. “Then it was a case of moving forward. Men were dropping as they jumped from the landing craft. You had to ignore the enemy fire, make yourself blind to it, and keep moving to the first line of pillboxes. We were pinned down several times for hours but always regrouped and continued.” Peretti received his first Bronze Star for leading his men that day. His unit withstood the massive German counterattack of December 1944 at the Battle of the Bulge, where Peretti stood out once again and was awarded his second Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for the wounds of the nose, thigh, and leg. A battlefield commission followed. Peretti and his 12 siblings had left school early to keep food on the table. As a middle child, he reached sophomore year at Norwalk High School with the Class of 1934 before leaving for a steady job. All he could find was a job at Meyers Manufacturing on High Street, where he made women’s handbags. But that work was seasonal, leaving many weeks of each year payless. “I finally decided to enlist in the Army,” he said.
From The Fitchburg (MA) Sentinel June 18, 2006
Bernaldo M. Peretti, 89, of 23 Hale St., died Sunday, June 18, in his home. He was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, on October 28, 1916, the son of Giovanni and Devota (Dal Colla) Peretti and had lived in Leominster for over 50 years. He was a member of Norwalk High School Class of 1934. Mr. Peretti retired in 1960 from the United States Army after serving for 20 years. He was a World War II and Korean War Veteran. Mr. Peretti landed on Omaha Beach in the early morning hours of the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944. He received a Silver Star, a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star with Cluster, and a Battlefield Commission during World War II. After retiring from the military, he worked as a Security Guard at Leominster Hospital. He was a member of Pilgrim Congregational Church in Leominster and was the former Chairman of the Board of Deacons. He was a life member of the Disabled American Veterans Association, a member of the Leominster Senior Center, and the Order of Odd Fellows. He had volunteered at the Leominster Red Cross and at the Leominster Public Library. Mr. Peretti was inducted into the Wall of Honors Society at Norwalk High School in 2002. Mr. Peretti is survived by a son, David M. Peretti and his wife, Gail Peretti, of Winchester; a daughter, Deborah M. Peretti of Leominster; a brother, Albert Peretti and his wife, Tillie Peretti, of North Carolina; a sister, Anna Pecunia and her husband, John Pecunia, of Norwalk, Conn.; two granddaughters, Christina E. Peretti and Diana K. Peretti, both of Winchester; and many nieces and nephews. His wife of 54 years, Margaret A. (Nash) Peretti, died on Jan. 19, 2002.
Buried in Evergreen Cemetery, 257 Main Street, Leominster, Massachusetts; Section 21, Lot 577. Photos from FindAGrave.com.
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