DOB/DOD: May 28, 1925 (Brooklyn, NY) – May 15, 1983 (Blooming Grove, NY); 57 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Gloria Gisolfi (1931-2020) on October 1, 1949, in Norwalk, CT
CHILDREN: Four sons, Ernest A. (1953-2003), twins Anthony L. & Arthur A. (1957-), and Christopher D. (1962-). One daughter, Alberta L. Crisci (1950-1994)
LOCAL ADDRESS: 13 Walter Avenue, Norwalk
ENLISTMENT: July 22, 1943
SERVICE NUMBER: 32988590
DISCHARGE: January 14, 1946
UNIT: D Company, 3rd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Division
FAMILY: Born to Ernesto (1896-1988) and Filomena Olinda Maria Laudato Crisci (1895-1976). Both parents were born in Italy. One brother, Frank “Pinky” (1923-2005). Four sisters, Frances “Fay” (1920-2014), Marion “Mary” Crisci Gentile (1932-), Rose “Rosie” Crisci Vitale (1934-), and Yolanda Crisci Passarelli (1938-).
Eastern District High School (Brooklyn, NY) Class of 1943 yearbook
Circumstances surrounding the award of the Purple Heart Medal contributed by son, Chris Crisci.
In 1944, my father was serving under General Douglas MacArthur’s command with the 41st Division in the jungles of New Guinea. During his campaign to return to the Philippines, capture airdromes capable of landing B-24 Super Fortresses, and support Admiral Nimitz’s operations in the Pacific, MacArthur undertook to take Biak Island, located at the northernmost point of New Guinea. Its crushed coral surface, along with its proximity to the Philippines and Japan, made it ideal for the latter. For those reasons and as it protected the entry to the Netherlands, the Japanese troops there were ordered to “delay the Americans at all costs.”
After taking Biak Island, the Mokmer Drome was taken without much trouble, and engineers began regrading and improving the field to create landing strips for the B-24s. In the meantime, Japanese troops had pulled back into the jungle and taken up positions in caves around the drome. From those hidden positions, the Japanese continued shelling the runway as fast as it could be repaired, thereby forcing the 41st Division to engage in a difficult operation of finding and eliminating them.
As a forward observer, on 15 June 1944, my father, along with Technical Sergeant John Trozelle, were ordered to locate Japanese mortar positions around Mokmer Drome. In the course of this mission, they were eventually spotted by the enemy, who had begun ranging in with mortar fire on their exposed position on a ridge.
Pinned down, they dug a foxhole and radioed the rear for assistance. By the time backup arrived, Trozelle had been hit by shrapnel. From beneath the canopy, troops from the 41st called for the two men to roll out and make their way to better cover. My father refused to leave Trozelle, though, and after some time, both were finally able to roll out together.
In the intervening time, a Japanese sniper had made his way toward their location on the ridge. My father, probably believing he was safe, had, for some reason, removed his helmet. The sniper, positioned behind felled coconut trees from an elevated position of about 30 yards, fired a round that grazed the top of his head.
Back at the rear, my father was among the walking wounded but still in the makeshift hospital when his best friend, Roscoe Graves (Tallahassee, FL), had come in with a serious wound he had received investigating a sumphole on another part of the island. The two young men, both replacements, had grown very close during the time leading up to this day and had plans to start a business together in New York after the war. Graves’ wound turned out to be mortal, however, and he died in my father’s arms.
From The Norwalk Hour May 18, 1983
NORWALK — A Mass of Christian burial for Anthony Crisci will be celebrated at 11 am.
Thursday in St. Philip Church. Interment will follow in St. John Cemetery with military honors. Mr. Crisci, 57, of 13 Walter Avenue, husband of Gloria Gisolfi Crisci, died Sunday. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he had been a local resident most of his life and was a retired U.S. Postal Service letter carrier who was last employed as a printer with Coats and Clark of Stamford. Friends may call from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Raymond Funeral Home, 5 East Wall Street. The family requests that contributions be made to Bibles for the World Inc., Box 805, Wheaton, Illinois, 60187, or to Good Shepherd House, 56 South Main Street, South Norwalk 06854.
Buried in St. John Cemetery, 223 Richards Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut; Section and Plot number are unknown.
Photo pending
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