took the brunt of it. I knew he
was gone.”
His lieutenant told him to get
back to the river to get help, so
he took a chance and made his
way back, amidst the gunfire
whizzing around him. Along the
way, he saw a soldier “bounce a
foot off the ground,” hit by shell-
fire. Instead of heading straight
to the river for help, he detoured
to help the downed soldier, and
found out that it was his lieuten-
ant who had been injured. He
summoned another soldier and
they carried him in a raft across
the river and to the field hospital,
saving his life.
“When I first read his mem-
oirs, I couldn’t believe what I was
reading,” says Vacula. “It brought
me to tears.”
DeFazio received his Purple
Heart for his actions that day
and, six decades later, the Bronze
Star.
After DeFazio recuperated, he
was able to take a leave to travel
into the town of Avellino, where
his parents were born. He found himself in a
canteen, where he encountered his mother’s
cousin. Shortly after, he was given a two-day
pass to explore his family’s village, Altavilla
Irpina. After making the miles-long trek up a
mountain, he came across an old farmhouse.
He stopped and asked the Italian man who
answered the door if he knew of the DeFazio
family and said that his mother’s name was
Giuseppina Galasso. The man exclaimed, “Oh
my God, you’re my sister’s son!”
“Who travels to a different country to fight
a war and ends up meeting up with family
you’ve never met before?” asks Vacula. “That
story gives me chills every time I hear it.”
Upon his discharge from the Army, DeFazio
returned to the Pittsburgh area. Ten years
later, he met his wife Freda, and they had two
children: Valerie and Albert. When Valerie
was 11 years old, she told her dad she wanted
to be a majorette and march in a drum and
baton corps. They couldn’t find one that she
liked, so DeFazio started one for her: Stars
and Stripes, which he directed for 27 years.
“Those times with Stars and Stripes were
the best times of his life,” Vacula says. “And to
think that he started that just because I wanted
to be a majorette. He was and still is a really
good dad.”
“The Italian Campaign” is available for
purchase on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com,
and in Barnes & Noble stores in Monroeville
and at the Waterfront. n
“Once he learned that 2,000
World War II vets are
dying each day, he decided
that the time was right to
share his story. He didn’t
want it to be forgotten.”
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