DOB/DOD: September 8, 1925 (Saranac Lake, NY) – March 13, 1945; 19 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
ENLISTMENT: May 30, 1944, in Albany, New York
SERVICE NUMBER: 983042
UNIT: Company C, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0746; Automatic Rifleman 5
NOTE: There is no evidence that shows Private Sorcinelli ever lived in Connecticut. His sister Mary and her husband, Joseph Bargnesi, lived at 300 Jefferson Avenue, New London, Connecticut. It’s likely that Private Sorcinelli was added to the Iwo Jima Monument in Connecticut because of a request from his sister, Mary.
FAMILY: Only son of Italian-born parents Giovanni “John” (1886-1950) and Giovanna “Jennie” Sorcinelli (1891-1969). One sister, Maria “Mary” Theresa Sorcinelli Bargnesi (1912-2003). 1 Mary was the Superintendent of Norwich Free Academy. Worked at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise newspaper before the service. 2
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in the Summer of 1944. Assigned to the 17th Replacement Draft after infantry training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. His final assignment to the 4th Marine Division, 24th Marines, 1st Battalion came in January 1945. 8 Died of multiple wounds to the face and chest. 6 Private Sorcinelli was in the same company as PFC Lorrin Lane of Norwalk and Private Karl Watcke of Bridgeport. Private Sorcinelli and Private Lane died on the same day, and Private Watcke died 12 days prior.
OTHER: Served in the New York Army National Guard, 6th Regiment, Company L, December 29, 1942 – June 7, 1944. Received an honorable discharge to enter the Armed Forces.
Saranac Lake High School, Class of ’43. Contributed by Michele Tucker, Curator, Adirondack Research Room (ARR), Saranac Lake Free Library.
Saranac Lake High School, Class of ’43. Safety patrol. Contributed by Michele Tucker, Curator, Adirondack Research Room (ARR), Saranac Lake Free Library.
From Ancestry.com, taken in May 1944. 3
From The Enterprise Tuesday, April 8, 1945
Pvt. Aldo Sorcinelli of this village has died of wounds received in action in the Battle of Iwo Jima, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Sorcinelli of 17 James Street, were notified this morning.
Pvt. Sorcinelli, who was fighting with the Marines, was the first Saranac Lake serviceman killed in the Iwo Jima operations. The War Department telegram merely stated that he had died of wounds received in action and that a letter would follow with details.
Pvt. Sorcinelli left Saranac Lake on May 29, 1944, for service with the Marines. He trained at Parris Island, S.C., and Camp Lejeune, New River, N.C.
On completion of his training, he was ordered to join combat troops overseas and, last November left this country for the Pacific Theater of War. The battle of Iwo Jima was the first action in which this Marine had engaged.
He is the third member of the newspaper staff to lose his life in World War II. Pvt. Alfred Vaughn, Jr., was killed in action in Italy, and Seaman Carl Blumenthal died of a virus infection while at his base in Philadelphia, PA.
I used to deliver some of those telegrams by bicycle after school, as did my pal Manny Bernstein. However, thank God, I never had to deliver one where the parents had not already been notified by telephone.
There was then a full-time Western Union Telegraph Company (adjacent today to the Blue Line Sports Shop) office at 90 Main St., operated by Thomas Leahy.
From an unknown newspaper, but likely the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
Private Aldo L. Sorcinelli of Saranac Lake lost his life in action while fighting on Iwo Jima with the Marines. He had been in the service since May 29, 1944. At the time of his induction, he was employed as a linotype operator by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Sorcinelli of 17 James Street.
May 15, 2021, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Howard Riley, Local history columnist; used with permission
WWII STORIES – KILLED IN ACTION
The Enterprise — my inspiration since 1942, when the ink first leaked into my veins — is still the only daily newspaper published in the Adirondacks.
The Enterprise in the 1940s was not just about the brave men and women in service but also stories such as “the Food Sale of the Saranac Lake Women’s Motor Corps,” “Bond, Torch Tour Rally Sparks 5th War Loan Drive,” “7th Bond Sales in Saranac Lake Mount to $180,000” or “The Annual June Festival of the Rouge and Robe Club of the Saranac Lake High School will be held Friday evening, June 10 on the grounds of the school.”
When the war ended in Germany in 1945, I was not yet 15. I did not have close family in the war, so the death of Aldo Sorcinelli hit me hard.
He was working at the Enterprise in the composing room and the circulation department, age 18, and was so friendly and goofing around with us newsboys that we just loved him.
Back then, most 18-year-olds didn’t pay much attention to 13- and 14-year-olds, so when Aldo was killed in his first battle in Iwo Jima, it stunned and saddened a bunch of us newsboys [there were 26 of us] and brought us to a new reality.
I gave a Memorial Day address in Riverside Park in the 1960s when I was mayor and told Aldo’s story.
Initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Plot 1, Row 33, Grave 1629. His father requested his remains be repatriated to a permanent American military cemetery overseas. On February 24, 1949, 7 he was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), 2177 Puowaina Dr, Honolulu, Hawaii; Section O, Site 446; photo from Ancestry.com 4
1 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
2 – https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238
3 – https://ancestry.com
4 – https://findagrave.com
5 – https://1-24thmarines.com/personnel/aldo-l-sorcinelli/
6 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request
7 – https://www.interment.net
8 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/