2014 VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT
As an intern for the Kemper Memorial
Park Preservation Fund (KMPPF), Jacklyn
DeVito, MHS Class of 2014, interviewed
World War II Veterans for the Library of
Congress’s Veterans History Project.
Jacklyn interviewed three local veterans
who were raised in Mamaroneck and were
all graduates of Mamaroneck High School:
Tony Marsella, who served as an
interpreter for the U.S. Army, Dom
Rigano, who served as airplane mechanic
for the 93rd Bombardment
Group and Tom Santoro, who served as a
U.S. Marine in Guadalcanal, Okinawa and
China. Coincidentally, all three
veterans are of Italian American descent
and their interviews reflect the
important role the Italian American
youth of Mamaroneck played in World War
II. Jacklyn also interviewed Jack Burke
in Richmond, Virginia via Skype. Jack
participated in the D-Day landings on
Omaha Beach, the attack on the Maisy
Battery and the Irsch-Zerf Raid.
Fortunately, Jacklyn was able to make
videos of all these interviews and these
have been sent to the Library of
Congress and are on our website,
kempermemorialpark.org. She also
prepared books about each veteran’s
family and his service in World War II.
These books were given to the veterans
and copies are available at the
Larchmont Public Library.
In addition, Jacklyn gathered photos and
memorabilia from Irene Stone, a World
War II veteran who served in the SPARS,
the women’s section in the U. S. Coast
Guard. These items were also sent to the
Library of Congress, are on our website
and are available at the Larchmont
Public Library.
We are grateful to Jacklyn for all of
the work she did and to the veterans who
were kind enough to allow her to
interview them. The interviews were both
enjoyable and informative. We are hoping
to do more!
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