Alfio V. Girgenti
Biography: Alfio Vincent Girgenti was born on January 6, 1922, in Albany, New York. He was the son of Antonino Girgenti and Rosina “Rose” Materia who had both been born in Sicily. Alfio graduated from Philip Schuyler High School in Albany and then found work at Capitol City Container Company as a cardboard machine operator.
Service Time: Alfio entered the service on November 5, 1942, at Albany, NY and after he completed his basic training was assigned to the 602nd Tank Destroyer Battalion. Records indicate that he would serve in both Reconnaissance and A Company during the war.
The unit was originally equipped with M10 tank destroyers, but was re-equipped with M18’s before leaving the U.S. They trained at a number of military facilities, including Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Camp Forest, Tennessee and Fort Sam Houston, in Texas. The 602nd shipped out from the New York port aboard the S.S. Bergensfjord on July 18, 1944, and arrived in Scotland on July 29. It was less than a month later, on August 26, that they landed at Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France.
The 602nd was committed to battle along the Moselle River on September 9th and supported operations leading to the capture of Metz, France, in November. They were then transferred to Belgium during the Ardennes Offensive, arriving at Neufchateau on December 21st, and supported operations against the Bulge in January, 1945. The unit fought through the Siegfried Line in February and returned to the Moselle River area in March, before crossing the Rhine River at Boppard, Germany, on March 26th. They finally advanced through Gotha, Eisenach, and Zwickau in April.
The 602nd received credit for four campaigns including Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. At some point while serving with A Company, Alfio was wounded and received a Purple Heart. He was discharged on December 24, 1945, at the rank of Private.
Alfio returned to Albany and on June 1, 1947, he married the formed Esther Nina Reinhart who was born in Albany and was the daughter of Jay C. and Elizabeth Reinhart. The new couple would make their home in Albany and Alfio would work as an upholsterer in the wholesale furniture repair industry as indicated by the 1950 census. By 1957, the census has him back at the Capitol City Container Company. In his spare time, Alfio enjoyed horse track races. He passed away on August 28, 2008, and was buried in the St Agnes Cemetery in Menands, Albany County, New York. I want to thank Alfio’s grandson Vincent for providing the information and photos of Alfio used in this tribute. Thank you also to Find A Grave contributor, Peter Brosnan, for the use of the grave marker photo.