Angelo J. Schiraldi

Angelo Schiraldi was born in 1941 in Manhattan, New York. He served in the US Army, 159th Transportation Battalion, from November 1958 to November 1960. Schiraldi served stateside during his time as a soldier. 

Growing up in New York, Schiraldi was the son of an Italian immigrant who had served in the Army of Italy. Schiraldi worked from the age of nine and attended school. When he was graduating high school, he was still working part-time jobs and was looking for full-time but lacked the experience needed. Schiraldi knew he was susceptible to being drafted. So instead of waiting for the draft, he enlisted into the US Army at the age 17 by having his mother give her signed permission.

Schiraldi was flown from Fort Dix in NJ to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he did his Basic Training. Basic was eight weeks long. During basic, he faced the reality of what he had gotten himself into. After four weeks of Basic, he was given a couple of days’ leave, where he experienced what discrimination in the South looked like. When Schiraldi and a couple of other soldiers went into Louisville for lunch, one of the guys, being of color, was told he would not be served, so they all left. Schiraldi was outraged.

Fort Knox housed an important finance building which soldiers would rotate guarding. Schiraldi had guard duty one night, where he had to walk the perimeter with a weapon not loaded and make sure anyone who would approach identified themselves, and their purpose. This night Schiraldi was on duty, an inspection officer approached, did not identify himself, and kept walking even after Schiraldi had halted him. Schiraldi had to actually load his weapon, which made the officer stop. For following correct procedure, he was congratulated by the section officer for doing his job correctly. After his eight weeks were up, Schiraldi was assigned to Fort Eustis, Virginia.

There, Schiraldi volunteered for the 159th Transportation Battalion, where his job was to type. He went to Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) School, where he was trained on defense and how these weapons and equipment worked, and their procedures. After attending the CBR School, Schiraldi taught classes. CBR could become heavily guarded if the Army came out with new weapons, and this happened during Schiraldi’s time there.

During Schiraldi’s time at CBR school, other than teaching he would occasionally recalibrate the radiation meters. He would fly up to Fort George to reset them. Fort George had all the electronic equipment. Schiraldi would travel there quite often in an L19 two-passenger plane, and they even crash landed while traveling to Fort George one day! When a piston went through the engine block, the pilot and Schiraldi glided down into a field and waited for someone to rescue them. No one was hurt.

After Schiraldi’s time was up with the CBR school, he became a Chaplain’s Assistant. Being religious was known to him, having attended Catholic schooling, and serving as an altar boy when he was younger. His experience as a Chaplain Assistant exposed him to people and allowed him insight into how the Army could get to some of these young men.

Even though Schiraldi never left the United States during service, he still had drills and exercises. This was to make sure that he and others were ready for war if they were needed.

When Schiraldi’s time was up, he chose to not reenlist but instead go home to work and to earn money. He became an accountant, and he used his GI benefits to go to Brookdale Community College. Schiraldi eventually became an international banker and held the position of Executive Vice President in different banking establishments, including Cariplo, from where he retired.

Schiraldi received a Good Conduct Medal and a Sharpshooter Medal during his time serving. The Catholic War Veterans of Asbury Park post he not only joined but was elected Commander. 

Angelo J. Schiraldi died at the age of 76 surrounded by his loving family on February 24, 2017.