PVT Frank L. DiLazzero

Today we honor and remember PVT Frank L. DiLazzero of the 101st Airborne Division.

Private (PVT) Frank Louis DiLazzero of Charlie Battery, 81st Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion (AAA), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Wheat Road, Atlantic County, New Jersey, to Frederick and Mary DiLazzero on November 16, 1914. Frank was their firstborn. He had two brothers, Louis F. and Joseph L. DiLazzero, and one sister, Caroline C. DiLazzero. 

Frank attended Vineland High School, a public high school located in Vineland, Cumberland County, New Jersey. He registered for the draft in 1940. At the time, Frank and his brother Louis operated a farm in the vicinity of Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina.

While in North Carolina, he met Jessie Mae Carter in Wilmington, and the couple married on August 14, 1941. Frank enlisted into the United States Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on March 13, 1942. 

After finishing his stateside training with the 81st AAA, Private DiLazzero left for England on September 5, 1943, when the HMS Samaria pulled away from one of New York Harbor’s piers. Besides the 81st AAA, other units of the 101st Airborne Division on board the ship included the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion, and the 326th Airborne Medical Company.

The ship docked at Liverpool, England, on September 15, 1943, and the 81st AAA men were moved by train to Basildon Park, Berkshire, England. After their arrival, the training was intensified, getting the men ready for their first battle, which would be on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

PVT DiLazzero’s first combat operations took place in Normandy, France. Together with the 401st GIR, Charlie Battery went across the English Channel with the seaborne elements due to the shortage of tug aircraft for the gliders. PVT DiLazzero would fight in Normandy until the 81st AAA returned to England on July 11, 1944.

On September 19, 1944, Charlie Battery, together with Able and Baker Battery, left England by glider for operations against the enemy in the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden.

At the beginning of October, the 81st AAA moved to a small strip of land in between two big rivers that was dubbed “The Island.” Here, Charlie Battery provided anti-tank protection for the parachute regiments. Most of the battery’s activities took place around Opheusden and Dodewaard, and in all probability, PVT DiLazzero paid the ultimate sacrifice while fighting the Germans at one of these towns.

Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅

Courtesy of Mary Ann Missimer-Moore

PVT Frank DiLazzero was 29 years of age at the time of his death, on October 10, 1944. 

He was initially buried at a temporary military facility in the Netherlands. PVT DiLazzero’s body returned home at the Pennsylvania-Reading Railroad Depot at Vineland on Tuesday, May 3, 1949. Two days later, on Thursday, a Solemn Mass of Requiem celebrated his life at Our Lady of Victories Church, Landisville, Atlantic County, New Jersey, after which he was interred at the church cemetery. His Military Veteran’s Headstone is placed alongside the DiLazzero Family Headstone. 

PVT DiLazzero was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal. Together with his brother Louis, he is remembered at the Paxinosa American Veteran Heroes Wall of Honor of the Easton Area School district, Easton, Pennsylvania.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Frank. 

Lest we forget! 🇺🇸

The sources used for this article are known to the author and available on request.