Rome, NY WWII Fallen

SSgt. Armand Cingranelli

U.S. Army 6980430

22nd Bombardment Group

Armando “Armand” Cingranelli was born April 29, 1918, in Rome, Oneida County, New York. Armand was the fifth child of Luigi “Louis” (1884-1948) and Vincenza Cicconi (1888-1938) Cingranelli. Louis and Vincenza were born in San Felice, Italy, and emigrated from Naples, Italy, to the United States on the vessel Micarro, arriving in New York on April 9, 1912. Louis listed laborer as his occupation. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, Louis worked at a steel mill and Vincenza was a housewife.

Two of the Cingranelli children, Anna Petricca (1907-2001) and Frank (1911-?), were also born in San Felice, Italy, and emigrated with their parents. Armand’s other siblings were all born in Rome, New York, and included Albert (1913-1987), Angelo “Pete” (1916-2011), Salvatore (1920-1921), Nancy Guida (1921-1991), John (1924-2009), Dominick (1925-2005), Norma Frank (1928-?), and Louis (1930-2013).

Armand attended schools in Rome, New York, and was a member of St. John the Baptist Church. He was a graduate of the Casey Jones Aeronautical School in Newark, New Jersey. Armand was an auto mechanic operating his own garage prior to enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps in October 1939. Armand received his basic training at Mitchel Field, Long Island, New York. He was also based at Langley Field, Virginia, and Marsh Field, California, before his transfer to Australia on the first convoy after Pearl Harbor.

Three of Armand’s brothers also served in WWII. Pfc. John Cingranelli enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 21, 1942, and was a tank operator in Patton’s 3rd Army. On May 8, 1945 (VE Day), John went to the aid of a buddy who had stepped on a shoe mine and was half submerged in the Rhine River. John put the buddy on his shoulders and started back across the minefield. Unfortunately, he set off a mine, which knocked him unconscious and wounded three others.

John’s commanding officer carried him to safety. The severity of his wounds necessitated the amputation of his left leg. Pfc. Angelo “Pete” Cingranelli enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942, and trained as a mechanic. Pete served in the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. He was able to visit Armand’s grave in Port Moresby, New Guinea, on his way to his assignments in the Pacific. While in Manila, he met up with his brother-in-law, SSgt. Sam Guaspari. Sam was decorated with a Silver Star “for a one-man attack on a Japanese pillbox on Luzon.” Pvt. Dominick Cingranelli served in WWII from March 20, 1944, to December 18, 1945, in an infantry unit. He also was wounded while serving in Germany.

Armand was a flight crew chief on a bomber in the Pacific Theater for two years and had not been home for three and one half years. On March 12, 1944, a B24 Liberator took off from Garbutt Airfield at Townsville, Queensland, Australia, heading for Port Moresby, New Guinea. The plane was piloted by 1Lt. Robert Laurie with a crew of four, and SSgt. Armand Cingranelli and Sgt. Carl Tomlinson listed as passengers. The B24 arrived over Port Moresby in darkness and a blinding rainstorm and circled, looking for an opening in the clouds. The pilot was in touch with the control tower and made two approaches, both too high. He was last heard to say, “I see the runway” but crashed at 9 p.m. into a valley at Burns Peak near Port Moresby. All on board died on impact. The official cause of the crash was listed as weather, with ceiling zero and heavy rain. The seven servicemen were buried in Port Moresby; all were later transported to the U.S. for permanent burial.

On March 18, 1944, Louis Cingranelli received a letter from Armand written on February 28. He received the official telegram from the War Department on March 23, 1944, stating that Armand had been killed in a plane crash.

SSgt. Armand Cingranelli was the thirteenth Roman officially listed as dead in WWII. His body was one of 2792 brought back to the United States from the Pacific Theater on the USAT Cardinal O’Connell. The ship arrived in Oakland, California, on February 12, 1948.

The body of SSgt. Cingranelli was transported to the Schenectady, New York, Distribution Center, arriving on March 8, 1948. On March 9, 1948, full military rites were held at the Teller Funeral home, and a solemn requiem high mass at St. John the Baptist Church, with interment at Saint John’s Cemetery in Rome, Oneida County, New York. Arrangements for the military funeral were made by the Combined Veterans Council for Return of War Dead.

Louis Cingranelli, Armand’s father, succumbed to a heart attack at his home on March 22, 1948, just two weeks later. SSgt. Armand Cingranelli was posthumously awarded the Rome Medal of Honor.