Honoring Service: Veteran Anthony J Grimaldi, WW II
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Anthony Joseph Grimaldi was born in New York in 1916. In Rye, his family lived at 29 Grapal St. and were members of the Church of the Resurrection. Anthony was a Rye High School Graduate, Class of 1934. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. In the early 1940s, Anthony served as a state trooper in Rye, N.Y. until his enrollment with the Army Air Corps during World War II. Awards he accumulated across his lifetime include a Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Medal with Five Oakleaf Clusters.
Date of Birth: August 29, 1916
Died On: November 23, 1998
Street Address: 29 Grapel St.
Service Number: 104201359
Branch of Service: U.S. Air Force
Grimaldi was a first lieutenant and a B-17 navigator with the 546 Bombardment Squadron, 384th Bombardment Group H, stationed in England. He participated in 25 combat missions over Germany and survived two crash landings. Anthony’s Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was named the “Doris Mae.”
The 546th Bombardment Squadron arrived at its combat station, RAF Grafton Underwood on 6 June 1943. Anthony primarily flew missions in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, striking air bases and industrial targets in France and Germany. The squadron participated in a raid on aircraft factories in Germany on January 11, 1944 for which it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).
Anthony’s squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing campaign to fly air support and interdiction missions. It attacked targets along the coast of Normandy to support Operation Overlord, continuing these attacks through D-Day, when it attacked airfields and communications facilities beyond the beachhead. It also supported Operation Cobra and Operation Market Garden in 1944, as well as the Battle of the Bulge and the Allies’ attack across the Rhine in Germany in 1945.
After his military service, he was a superintendent with Intecounty Construction Company, where he played a significant role in the growth of this small, family-owned construction concern into a significant privately-held pipeline and subway project entity based in Hyattsville, Maryland. From 1978 until his retirement in 1982, he served as a project cost estimator for Cardinal and Sons Construction in Reisterstown, Maryland.
Anthony Joseph Grimaldi died Monday, November 23, 1998, at his home from complications of heart bypass surgery. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife of 45 years, Ragnihild ”Ronnie” Grimaldi; a son, Christopher Grimaldi of Eldersburg, MD.; a daughter, Joan Alagna of Ellicott City, Md.; three beloved grandchildren, David Anthony Grimaldi, Kelly Marie Alagna and Jason Michael Alagna; one brother; and three sisters. He was 82.
Anthony Grimaldi is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA. More on Grimaldi.
