Former POW recalls the action of World War II

With a view overlooking the commemorative festivities, Gino D’Ambrosio calls it an honor to be recognized for his service to America.

The 99-year-old is a World War II veteran who attended The War Memorial’s 80th anniversary of D-Day ceremony in June. He was one of four World War II veterans who attended the commemoration, receiving a special shoutout from War Memorial President & CEO Maria Miller.

He described it as a great time adding that the Rhythm Society Orchestra, the entertainment for the night, is a favorite of his.

D’Ambrosio, who turns 100 in November, was drafted into the Army in March of 1943. His unit, the 423rd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, trained in Liverpool, England until the D-Day invasion. Within the unit, he was a platoon leader. 

As a paratrooper, D’Ambrosio arrived behind enemy lines in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944.  

“I was about 14 miles in and the paratroopers served as disruptors prior to the Army landing,” he said. “The paratroopers were dropping bombs. My 32-year-old captain was killed on the way down, before the glider touched the ground. We thought he was an old man.” 

His next combat experience came in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in the winter of 1944. 

It was during the battle, when he was in St. Vith, Belgium, when D’Ambrosio was taken prisoner.  

“The bomb came down and a German officer picked me up and I was captured,” he said. “I woke up in a Red Cross in Germany.” 

His discharge papers reveal that D’Ambrosio was wounded in action when the fragment of an aerial bomb cut a toe on his left foot leaving a scar.  

Once taken prisoner, D’Ambrosio went to Prüm, Germany. He spent the next six months as a prisoner of war, held in camps including Stalag III-A at Luckenwalde, Germany.  

“They didn’t treat the Americans bad, but the food was very poor,” he said, describing conditions like in the camps. “We were starved. There was a lot of lice. We were eaten up by that. We didn’t get it off until the war was over, and they hosed us off. You couldn’t believe how much there was.” 

It wasn’t until near the time that Germany surrendered, in May of 1945, that D’Ambrosio was released, a morning he will never forget. 

“One day we got up and my prison camp was empty and quiet,” he said. “All the guards were gone, and then a Russian tank came. There was a female Russian machine gunner. The camp emptied out.”   

D’Ambrosio, of Warren, was discharged from the military in November of 1945, with the rank of staff sergeant. His wife, Patricia D’Ambrosio passed away in 2003. He has three children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.   

*This story originally was published in the September-October edition of Live Inspired Magazine, a War Memorial publication.