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Pfc John Pergolizzi

60th Engineers Combat Battalion - Company B

John Pergolizzi, the son of John and Anna Pergolizzi, was born in Brooklyn, NY on December 22, 1912. He enlisted in the Army February 8, 1943 at New York City, NY and was assigned to the 60th Engineers Combat Battalion. He departed the U.S. on May 12, 1944 and landed in England two weeks later where the 60th Engineers were based at St. Tudy, Cornwall. On July 5 he embarked for Normandy, France landing on Omaha Beach July 7, 1944.

The night of October 10, 1944, the 60th Engineers Combat Battalion was laying down a mine field near Ajoncourt, about 18 miles northeast of Nancy, France. Trucks carrying the mines were parked along the river just south of town. At about 11 PM that night one of the trucks exploded, causing another truck and nearby stacks of mines and other ammunition to also explode. Pfc John Pergolizzi was one of 33 men who died in that explosion. He is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.

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Coast Guard Seaman 1st Class Stephen Pergolizzi, their mother Anna and Pfc John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi	Armed Forces Service Certificate - February 15, 1943
State of NY Birth Record, December 22, 1912	Pfc John Pergolizzi	Pfc John Pergolizzi Temporary Grave Site, Andilly, France	Left to right: John Pergolizzi, unknown, Angelo Porcaro (John's brother-in-law)
Pfc John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi, Sr. at his son's grave	Pfc John Pergolizzi, far right (other man unknown)	Left to right: first 2 are unknown, Sally, Stephen and John Pergolizzi
Pfc John Pergolizzi	John and his sister Barbara	Left to right: brothers Joe and John Pergolizzi	Pfc John Pergolizzi
Pfc John Pergolizzi	Funeral Card	John Pergolizzi and his mother Anna	Pfc John Pergolizzi
John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi	Pfc John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi
Pfc John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi	Pfc John Pergolizzi	Pfc John Pergolizzi Temporary Grave Site, Andilly, France
Pfc John Pergolizzi Temporary Grave Site, Andilly, France	John Pergolizzi	Letter to father from Commanding Officer, 60th Engineers	Left to right: John, Sr., John, Anna,  and Stephen Pergolizzi
Left to right: Stephen, Joe and John Pergolizzi (brothers)	John Pergolizzi and his mother Anna	John Pergolizzi	Pfc John Pergolizzi
Pfc John Pergolizzi Temporary Grave Site, Andilly, France		Pfc John Pergolizzi Grave,  Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn NY	Pergolizzi Family Grave Site, Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn NY
John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi	John Pergolizzi
John Pergolizzi	Headstone Application	Draft Registration Card, front	Draft Registration Card, back
Obituary, December 12, 1948	Obituary	Pfc John Pergolizzi	Obituary,  May 4, 1945
Gold Star Flag from his parent's home	Badge from reunion his brother Stephen attended
Top Row (left to right): Sally, Fred, Joe, Yolanda, Ellen - Bottom Row: John, Anna, John Sr, Barbara - Stephen is baby next to Barbara	Left - John Pergolizzi, name of soldier on right is unknown		Pergolizzi grave site

Thanks to Pam Thomsen, Pfc. John Pergolizzi's granddaughter, and John's niece Stephanie Hilton, daughter of his brother Stephen, for this information and these photographs. Please contact Pam Thomsen at phlk2211@yahoo.com if you have any information about her grandfather or the explosion at Ajoncourt, France where he was killed in action.

Read more about the 60th Engineers Ajoncourt mine explosion disaster.