Thomas Frank Aquino was born July 23, 1922 in Rome, NY to Rocco Aquino (1877-1947) and Domenica Renzelli (1884-1966). His parents came to the United States from Italy in 1902 and 1903 respectively. His mom was from Rolano, Italy and she married his father a year after coming to America in 1904. His dad owned a grocery store in Rome, NY. He was the youngest of their 10 children which included Joseph (abt. 1905-), Genaro (1906-1967), James (1908-1977), Nicholas (1909-1984), Albert (1911-2001), Sara (1913-1977), Rose (1915-1943), Carmen (1918-1986) and Frank (1920-1981). The family lived at 102 Mill St. in Rome, NY.

He attended the East Rome School and the Columbus School. While at the Columbus School he was part of Boy Scout Troop 21. He graduated from Junior High in 1937 (he was pictured in the schools new library in an article that ran in the local papers in May 1937) and later from Rome Free Academy in 1940. His name appeared often in the local papers while growing up in Rome, NY for getting better than average grades and for being a Boy Scout. He was employed at General Cable in Rome, NY after graduating.

He registered for the draft on June 30, 1942 in Rome, NY. He had brown eyes and brown hair at the time and was 5'-9" tall and weighed 158 pounds. He didn't wait to be drafted and enlisted in the Army Air Corp on January 31, 1943 through Atlantic City, NJ. His service number was 12198703.  He did his training at Scott Field, Illinois and then Hunter Field, Georgia. In September 1944 he was sent from Hunter Field, Georgia to the Floridian Hotel in Miami along with the rest of his B-25-J crew and then overseas to the CIB (China, India, Burma) theater.

For the next nine months or so he flew missions in China with the 341st Bombardment Group. In May 1945 he unexpectedly ran into another Roman, Sgt. Emillio Cannarozzi while in China. Newspapers reported the meeting and that they had a "grand get-together". On June 20, 1945 he was aboard B-25-J, "Carolyn K", #43-27807 out of Luliang on a combat mission to Quang Tri when they crashed. It was believed his plane was hit with anti-aircraft fire. He had 48 missions with the 11th Air Force at the time and only need two more to come home on rotation. The pilot on this mission was 1st Lt. James C. Carey O-822375. Eyewitnesses reported that

"The plane came in on a Glip* bombing run at 110o [sic] across a 2 span bridge at Quang Tri. At the end of the run, as the plane started to come out of its dive, the place rocked twice then straightened out 50 ft. to 75 ft. above the bridge. The left wing went down, the plane rolled over on its back, flew across the bridge and crashed upside down, nose first, approximately 30 ft. to the left and 100 ft. past the bridge. Since no bombs were dropped on the target they must have exploded on impact. There was a terrific explosion as the plane hit the ground, and black smoke and flames rose 500 ft."

In August 1945, only days after the war ended, his brother Joseph was interviewed by the local paper. "I'm thrilled that the war is finally over. My one regret is that my brother, Sgt. Thomas Aquino who is missing in French Indo-China, isn't here to see the celebration." Sgt. Aquino's body was eventually recovered and returned home aboard the USAT Private John R. Towle in the summer of 1949 during the government's body recovery program.

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

*Glip was a bombing technique which involved a shallow dive that prevented the bombs from skipping over the target. It was mainly used in the China, India,Burma theater during WWII on bridges.

Sources

"6 Area Dead Brought Back", Utica Observer-Dispatch, Utica, NY, pg. 2-A, June 16, 1949.

The B-25 'Bridge Busters", by Dario Leone, Dec. 26, 2018, accessed at https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-b-25-bridge-busters-and-the-glip-bombing-technique/ on September 16, 2025.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21056366/thomas-aquino: accessed September 11, 2025), memorial page for SSGT Thomas Aquino (23 Jul 1922–20 Jun 1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 21056366, citing Saint Johns Cemetery, Rome, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by Mark Peebles (contributor 46514135).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21056356/domenica-aquino: accessed September 14, 2025), memorial page for Domenica Aquino (1884–23 Apr 1966), Find a Grave Memorial ID 21056356, citing Saint Johns Cemetery, Rome, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by Mark Peebles (contributor 46514135).

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

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Air Force Award Cards [Air Medal]: Antoniuk, Henry – Arnette, William, NAID: 138679730; Record Group 64: Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Air Force Award Cards [Purple Heart]: Aaronson, Samuel – Barlow, Elmer, NAID: 148219372; Record Group 64: Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration.

National Archives at Washington DC; Washington DC, USA; Applications for Headstones For U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941; NAID: 596118; Record Group Number: 92; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General

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: 01021; Reel: 95

"Roman Listed As Missing", Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, July 10, 1945, pg. 2

"Two Former Romans Now Overseas Meet by Chance", Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, June 16, 1945, pg. 6.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Rome, Oneida, New York; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 0042; FHL microfilm: 2341354

Year: 1940; Census Place: Rome, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02701; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 33-48

Supporting Documents