Henry Joseph Caruso was born July 30, 1924 in Utica, NY to Guiseppe "Joseph" Caruso (1896-1982) and Lucia "Lucy" Corrente (1896-1959). His parents were married on December 3, 1921 in Utica, NY. His mom and dad were from Italy. His dad came to the U.S. in 1914. His mom came to the U.S. in 1911. He was the second of their six children which included Phillip (1922-1988), Orellio (aka Harold, aka "Ray") (1926-2013), Mario (1928-1991), Mary (1932-2007) and Sylvia. His dad worked in construction, He attended Conklin School and graduated from Proctor High School in 1942. He played football and helped manage the basketball team while there and later was employed by American Emblem Company. When he registered for the draft on December 11, 1942 in Utica, NY he was 5'-11" tall, weighed 180 pounds and had brown hair and brown eyes. He was living at 1215 Kossuth Ave., Utica, NY at the time. Henry was drafted into the service through Utica, NY on January 27, 1943 with service number 32854813. He was a big man for his time, weighing in at 215 pounds on his draft day.

He did his training at St. Petersburg, Florida and then took a special engineering course at William and Mary College where he was for nine months. While there, in September 1943 he was admitted to the hospital and released the next day back to duty. The MR doesn't specify why. When this program closed he went to infantryman training at Indian Gap, Pennsylvania. We know from Hospital Admission records that while at Indian Gap, in February 1944, he was admitted to the hospital for treatment on a broken hand that required surgery. He was released and went back to duty in March 1944.

He was sent overseas to England in August 1944 and served with the 378th Infantry Regiment in France and Germany. He was awarded the Expert Infantryman Badge in November 1944. In December 1944 he was promoted to Private First Class and was later promoted to Sgt. A December 24, 1944 Morning Report record the position of Company E, 378th Infantry Regiment as Oberherrn France, Nord de Guerre Zone which is just across the Rhine River from Germany. A few weeks later, in January 1945 the 378th Regiment was on the Saar front in Germany, near the Saarlautern bridgehead. Although it wasn't a time of major movement for the 378th they were engaged with the enemy. Sergeant Caruso was killed in action in Germany on January 20, 1945. His family had only just received some letters from him expressing that he hoped it "would be all over soon."

Employees of American Emblem sponsored a mass in his memory at the St. Anthony of Padua Church in Utica. In the fall of 1948, during the government's body recovery program, Sgt. Caruso's remains were escorted home aboard the USAT Carroll Victory. A military funeral was held at St. Anthony of Padua Church and he was buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Utica, NY, section 5.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

"2 Area Soldiers Killed in Action, 3 Other Men Reported Wounded", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, February 6, 1945, pg. 8.

"3 Area Men Reported Killed; 4 Others Wounded in Action", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, May

"22 War Dead Honored At St. Anthony Rites", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY. Date and page illegible but article can be found by searching for "Henry Caruso" at fultonhistory.com.

Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

"Bodies of Three More Rome War Dead Arrive", Rome Sentinel, Rome, NY, August 23, 1948, pg. 3

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/261936761/henry_j-caruso: accessed 6 Sep 2026), memorial page for SGT Henry J. Caruso (1924–20 Jan 1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 261936761, citing Calvary Cemetery, Utica, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by PaPasgirl (contributor 48623246).

National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 05582; Reel: 222

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

"Sgt. Caruso's Body to Arrive Home Tuesday", Utica Observer-Dispatch, Utica, NY, September 18, 1948, pg. 3

"Utican Killed in Action; 5 Area Men Wounded", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY. Date and page not captured. Search for "Caruso killed Utica 1945" at Fultonhistory.com.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 0134; FHL microfilm: 2341356

Year: 1940; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02862; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 67-78

Supporting Documents