DOB/DOD: January 1, 1926 (Norwalk, CT) – January 10, 2004 (Alexandria, VA); 78 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Rose Greco (1925-2011) on June 6, 1950, at West Point, New York
CHILDREN: Four daughters, Donna Genuario Hart (1951-), Christina Genuario Aiello (1953-), Marina Genuario Nagler (1954-), and Debra Genuario Whitt (1956-). Two sons, Arthur (1955-) and Louis V., Jr. (1958-).
LOCAL ADDRESS: 40 Myrtle Street, Norwalk
ENLISTMENT: Army Air Force on September 22, 1943
DISCHARGE: June 27, 1946
WEST POINT START DATE: July 1, 1946
WEST POINT GRADUATION DATE: June 1, 1950
SERVICE NUMBER: 11138595 (Enlisted), O-0066936 (Officer)
UNIT WHEN WOUNDED: 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division
FAMILY: Born to Arthur J. (1900-1986) and Gemma O. DiDomenica Genuario (1903-2004). One brother, Vincent L. (1928-1993). One sister, Maria C. Genuario Sikes (1934-).
DECORATIONS: Recipient of the Combat Infantryman Badge, Silver Star Medal, and Purple Heart Medal. In the National Purple Heart Museum’s Roll of Honor. The tribute page can be seen HERE.
Norwalk High School Class of 1944
Family photo courtesy of Ancestry.com
Norwalk High School Soccer team 1941-1942. Front row, 4th from the right. The Captain of the team holding the ball is Harold Hyatt who was killed in action during WWII.
United States Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1950
From The Norwalk Hour March 24, 1951
LT GENUARIO GETS SILVER STAR
Award Made To Norwalk For Gallantry In Action In Am-Sin, Korea
Second Lieutenant Louis V. Genuario of this city, who was wounded in action in Korea on September 23, has been awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action, according to an announcement made today by Major General Keiser, Commanding the Second Infantry Division. Lieutenant Genuario is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Genuario, 40 Myrtle Street.
A graduate of Norwalk High School, the lieutenant graduated from West Point Military Academy last June and was sent to Japan in August. He entered combat as a platoon leader in Korea on September 1 and was wounded during a fierce battle on the west side of the Naktong River on September 23.
He is recuperating in the U.S. Naval Hospital in St. Albans, Long Island. Previous to the award of the Silver Star, he earned the Combat Infantryman Badge and Presidential Unit Citation and was awarded teh Purple Heart.
The official citation follows:
“Second Lieutenant Louis V. Genuario, a member of Company G, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, displayed gallantry in action against an armed enemy on September 12, 1950, in the vicinity of Am-Sin, Korea. On the afternoon of September 13, Lieutenant Genuario, a rifle platoon leader, was assigned the mission of leading his platoon as a holding force in tactics involving the encirclement and ambush of a superior number of enemy troops. When the primary stages of the mission had been accomplished, and the initial attack launched, the platoon received the brunt of the enemy’s attempt to escape the encirclement. When the success of the mission was threatened due to a tweaking of our line, Lieutenant Genuario, with complete disregard for his own personal safety, charged the enemy positions with hand grenades and automatic weapons fire. An enemy breakthrough was averted, and approximately 100 enemies were annihilated. His gallant action on this occasion reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.”
From The Norwalk Hour January 16, 2004
Louis V. Genuario, a Norwalk native and retired U.S. Army officer highly decorated for gallantry in the Korean War, died Saturday in Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. The husband of Rose Greco Genuario was 78. Mr Genuario, scheduled for a back operation on January 8 to relieve pain related to the battle wounds he had received 54 years before in Korea, suffered a cranial hemorrhage on December 17 and hadn’t regained consciousness, his family said. Norwalk has sent many men to war, but none more gallant than Mr. Genuario, who was called upon only a few weeks out of West Point to lead his company against a superior enemy force. The North Koreans were pushing United Nations troops into the sea when Mr. Genuario and 140 other classmates were thrust into action. All of them would be wounded, and 41 would die, making their class one of the most storied in the history of the U.S. Military Academy. Mr. Genuario was leading his Rifle Company G, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, outside Tague near the Naktong River during an encirclement and ambush of a superior enemy force on that September 12 day. “When the success of the mission was threatened due to a weakening of our line, Lt Genuario, with complete disregard for his own personal safety, charged the enemy position with hand grenades and automatic weapons fire. The breakthrough was averted, and approximately 100 enemies were annihilated.” The citation accompanied the award of the Silver Star, one of the nation’s highest awards for valor. Some comrades that day believed his action had merited the nation’s highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, but Lt. Genuario never mentioned it, such was the modesty that was a personality trait throughout his life. Last fall, when his name was installed on Norwalk High School’s Wall of Honor, he recalled that “beautiful
autumn day” in Korea: “That was until I felt as though someone had hit my right foot with a sledgehammer.” he said. “I knew it was a burp gun and [ turned around to give my men some direction when I was hit a second time in the back by a round that went into my abdomen and shattered my hip.” Three days would pass before military doctors became optimistic about his survival, and 20 months of hospitalization — much of it in a body cast passed before he would be free of an emergency colostomy and walking aids. “The mental stress was the worst part of it,” he remembered. Lt. Genuario was also awarded the Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
Mr. Genuario was allowed to remain in the Army, but the wounds forced a transfer to the Army Corps of Engineers, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and obtained a master’s degree in civil engineering from Harvard University. His most pleasant engineering assignment was the supervision of the conversion of the historic Riding Academy at West Point into an academic building. He had fond memories of the Point from his years there as captain of the soccer team and catcher on the baseball team. He ranked fifth athletically out of a class of 670. “Those three years back at the academy (1957-59) were the most pleasant of my military career,” he related last fall. While rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Mr. Genuario saw service at the Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and with the Army Chief of Staff in the Pentagon. After retirement in 1966, he became an area engineer for the Washington, D.C., Highway Department, where he supervised the construction of the Mall Tunnel and the Reflecting Pool below Capitol Hill.
Four years later, he started his own construction and land development company in Northern Virginia, which produces two dozen large, quality homes annually. The Northern Virginia Building Industry Association, a group of 200 companies and 400 other individual members voted him Builder of the Year in 1996. In 1999, the association made him a life director and awarded him the Emil Keen Award for outstanding contributions in 2000. He had also been Vice President of the association.
Although his outstanding second career in construction lasted much longer than his heroic military career, Mr Genuario never disconnected from West Point, remaining a historian of his celebrated class until his death. Mr Genuario was equally involved in civic affairs, among his pursuits being director of the Fairfax County Development Board and member of both the Fairfax County Disability and Affordable Housing Advisory Boards. He was also a lay leader of Good Shepherd Catholic Church as a lector, lay minister, and parish council member.
Born January 1, 1926, in a home on Fifth Street, he was the son of Gemma DiDomenica, who celebrated her 100th birthday last year at Mediplex of Westport and the late Arthur J. Genuario. The parents owned and operated a dress and bathing suit manufacturing company off Water Street for three decades. The editors of the NHS Class of 1944 yearbook noted next to Mr. Genuario’s picture: “Good nature is one of the richest fruits of personality.” Noted was that in addition to playing varsity soccer and baseball, he was a member of the National Honor Society Nominating Committee. Surviving in addition to his wife and mother, are two sons, Arthur Genuario and Louis Genuario, Jr., both of Alexandria, Virginia; four daughters, Donna G. Hart and Marina G. Nagler, both of Fredericksburg, Virginia; Christina G. Aiello of Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Debra G. Whitt of Richmond, Virginia; a sister, Maria Genuario Piro Sikes of Norwalk; 14 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. A younger brother, Vincent L. Genuario, a cofounder of Genuario’s Floor Covering Center at 106 Main Street, died in 1993.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at noon today in the Church of the Good Shepherd, 8710 Mt. Vernon Highway, Alexandria, Virginia, with the Rev George Griffin, pastor, officiating. Among the eulogists will be Colonel William DeGraf, valedictorian of the West Point Class of 1950. Among those present will be General Vollmer Warner, a classmate and friend. Interment with full military honors will take place at 3 p.m. on February 5 in Arlington National Cemetery. The DeMaine Funeral Home, 520 South Washington Avenue, Alexandria, Virginia, was in charge of arrangements.
Memorial contributions may be made to Good Shepherd Housing & Family Services Inc, PO. Box 15096, Alexandria, Virginia, 22309.
Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Drive, Arlington, Virginia; Section 54, Site 11. Photo from ANCExplorer.com.
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