Patrick P. DelliGatti

Patrick P. DelliGatti was born in August 1924, in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City and grew up there with his two sisters. During World War II, he served as a metalsmith and aviation mechanic with the US Marine Corps from October 1943 until November 1946, and served in the Marine Corps Reserve following the war. Using the GI Bill, DelliGatti received a degree in Business Management from the City College of New York.

Before the war, DelliGatti had acquired extensive technical expertise in the aircraft mechanics’ field. Because of that skill, he was deferred from the draft, yet he still wanted to enlist. As a result, DelliGatti had to persistently request leave from Eastern Aircraft, which at the time was building a torpedo bomber. When the draft board eventually relented, DelliGatti immediately enlisted and joined the Marine Air Corps in 1943. He went straight to boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, where he made many friendships and heard stories that influenced his perspective forever. DelliGatti spent thirteen weeks at boot camp, where the training regimen was extremely difficult and intense.

Following his training, DelliGatti was assigned to work in repair and design hangars at Cherry Point, North Carolina, for eight months mostly on modifications on aircraft designs. He then was sent to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, California, and then to Hawaii and Guam, where he joined Marine Air Group 31 in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

Upon arrival in Guam, DelliGatti was assigned as an aircraft mechanic to Marine Fighter Squadron 542. About a month after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the subsequent Japanese surrender, his unit was sent to Japan. The journey there was a bit strenuous, as an error led to the ship docking at Iwo Jima without food or water. The trip from Guam to Japan took a total of forty-seven days.

During his service, DelliGatti developed two illnesses. Tinnitus from the excessively loud planes he constantly was around, and a skin condition he developed upon arrival at the airbase, when he and other Marines were instructed to fill up tanks with the toxic DDT insecticide. 

After returning from war, DelliGatti accomplished much throughout the rest of his life. He established his own company, Dalemark Industries, held forty patents and was a keynote speaker at the prestigious Washington Press Club as well as at the International Trade Organization at the World Trade Center. DelliGatti received several export awards from the U.S. Department of Commerce, as well as the President’s Award for his contributions to the U.S. export program. He also served as a public speaker at the International Club in Washington DC, as well as at many other International Trade Shows and symposiums across the nation. Along with his awards and achievements, DelliGatti served on several committees at national and state level. He was a counselor to the Department of Commerce International Trade Committee, a member of the Department’s Advisory Council, and of the New Jersey District Export Council. In addition, DelliGatti served in the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration.

At the age of eighty-eight, DelliGatti authored Airdales of Guadalcanal, a historical novel based on the missions of World War II Marine pilots who flew Grumman Avenger torpedo bombers (TBF-1s) and Dauntless dive bombers (SBDs) from Henderson Field in Guadalcanal.

Discharged as a corporal, DelliGatti received various war decorations, including the American Campaign Medal, Medal of Victory for WWII, Good Conduct Medal, and Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal. In 2001, he was presented with a New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal.

Patrick P. DelliGatti passed away on December 27, 2016 at the age of 92.

Additional Resource:

• Newspaper Article by Lois Kaplan