Charles Delicci

When Charles was born in Salerno, Italy, his given name was Angelo DiLisi. He and his parents, Domenico and Giuseppa, and younger brother, Carmine, changed their names when they arrived in New York in 1916. The image above is from this family photo, probably taken just before or after they immigrated. They settled in Philadelphia, just a few blocks south of Mount Moriah on Glenmore Avenue. It was a thoroughly Italian neighborhood, which meant they received the help they needed to adjust to a new language and culture. 

Domenico became Dominick and worked at Baldwin Locomotive Works in nearby Eddystone. Charles’ mother, who took the name Josephine, gave birth over the next few years to three daughters. The children would have often played at Connell Park, two blocks down the street. It was named after George C. Connell, one of the founders of Mount Moriah Cemetery.

Charles completed one year of high school, then sometime later he found his bride, Helen May Ferrell. They were married just after the stock market crashed in late 1929. He was employed as a drill press operator as they started their lives together, living temporarily under his parents’ roof. By 1935 they were renting their own home just down the street and had Helen’s brother, John Ferrell, living with them.

When he registered for the draft in 1940, Charles was working for Westinghouse Electric near the airport in Essington. He was 34 years old and married for more than a dozen years without children by the middle of 1943. Then he was drafted on July 24 and served in Company I, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. The 39th landed at Utah Beach four days after D-Day, on June 10, 1944, then fought through the French countryside.

Charles was killed in action from artillery fire on July 24 in France, exactly one year after his enlistment. He was originally buried in the American Cemetery in Normandy, shown with this marker. In 1948, his body was returned home aboard a ship that carried 5,863 others to their final resting place. On September 18 he was reburied here in Section 29, which is not yet cleared of overgrowth.

His wife received notification in March, 1945 that the Purple Heart medal was awarded him posthumously, along with a certificate and this printed message from President Roosevelt: “He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increase its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, he lives – in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men.”