DOB/DOD: July 11, 1920 (New Haven, CT) – March 2, 1945; 24 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 165 Greene Street, New Haven. The house is no longer there and was likely torn down to build Interstate 91.
ENLISTMENT: June 28, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut.
SERVICE NUMBER: 987729
UNIT: 31st Replacement Draft, 5th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0311, Rifleman
FAMILY: Born to Andrew (1888-1962) and Giuseppina “Josephine” Nazaria Amarone (1890-1970). Andrew was born in Atrani, Italy, and Josephine in Minori, Italy. One of seventeen children. Siblings are John (1913-1994), Antoinette Amarone Poleshek (1914-2001), Caroline (1916-1953), Carmelina (1918-1928), Lucille Amarone Beletsky (1921-2017), Della “Stella” Amarone Muzzi (1923-2012), Deargio (1925-?), Madeline “Madge” Amarone Mondrone (1926-2011), Raffaelo “Rae” Amarone Doebrick (1927-2017), Pasquale [twin of Fannie] (1928-2013), Fannie [twin of Pasquale] Amarone Testa (1928-2024), Troffimina (1929-?), Carmella “Millie” Amarone Anastasio (1929-2019), Andrew (1931-2004), Joseph (1932-2010), Pamela Amarone Follo (1933-2022), Nicholas (1935-2008). The Amarones were featured in an article in the New Haven Register on April 10, 1938. At that time, they were the largest family in New Haven with 15 children! 1, 2, 4 Private Amarone worked at American Brass Company in Ansonia when he registered for the WWII draft. 5
Frank Fisco, also in this book, lived on the same street in New Haven as Benny Amarone – 191 Greene Street and 165 Greene Street, respectively. They ended up in the same unit, the 31st Replacement Draft of the 5th Marine Division. They died in the Battle of Iwo Jima 11 days apart.
Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, then training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 9 The 5th Marine Division’s first combat action was on Iwo Jima when they landed on February 19, 1945. They were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Private Amarone died from a gunshot wound. 8 He had been in the Marine Corps for 9 months.
From The Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 17676] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] 5
THE AMARONE FAMILY
HONORABLE ROSA L. DeLAURO
of Connecticut
in the House of Representatives
Friday, September 21, 2001
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is my great honor to rise today to pay tribute to a truly amazing family of my hometown neighborhood: the Amarones of New Haven, Connecticut. Now over two hundred strong, the Amarones have long been a legend in the Wooster Square neighborhood and have held the distinction of having the largest family in New Haven since 1938. Their story begins in 1911 when twenty-one-year-old Josephine arrived in the United States and met Andrew Amarone on Wooster Street. It was there that they were married and there that they made their home. It was also where their seventeen children were born and where two of their children died. Twenty-two years separate the oldest son, John, from their youngest son, Nicolo, and one can only imagine the schedule Josephine and Andrew kept. Raising seventeen children through the hardest of economic times, I am still amazed at all they were able to accomplish living on the wages Andrew received as a polisher at Sargents, an architectural hardware factory where many immigrants were employed–averaging between fourteen and twenty-five dollars a week. Throughout this last century, the Amarones have lost a number of their loved ones, like Benny, who was killed at Iwo Jima, for which he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Many others will be remembered this weekend when New Haven will be host to an Amarone family reunion, where over one hundred and twenty family members from across the United States are expected to attend. The Amarones are an incredible family with a rich history and a reflection of times past. Generations to come will continue their strong traditions and will be a bright beacon for the future. In a time when family values are under close scrutiny, it is families like the Amarones that we look to for inspiration. It is my honor and privilege to recognize the Amarone family as they gather to celebrate their first family reunion and to extend my very best wishes to them all.
From an unknown newspaper. Contributed by Andrew Poleshek.
PVT B.R. AMARONE IS KILLED DURING IWO JIMA BATTLE
Private Benny Ralph Amarone, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Amarone of 165 Greene Street, was killed in action on Iwo Jima, March 2, while fighting with the Fifth Marine Division, according to word received by his family. He enlisted in the Marines on June 28, 1944, and received his training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He graduated from Columbus School and attended the N.Y.A. School. He was a former [New Haven] Register newsboy and a member of the New Haven Friends of Boys. He was a member of the Maple Leafs basketball team, which won the boys’ championship in 1943. Before entering the service, he was the manager of the Skateland Skating Rink in Stamford and worked at the same time for High Standard Manufacturing Co. in Hamden. Besides his parents, Private Amarone leaves five brothers, John, Pasquale, Andrew, Joseph, and Nicholas, and nine sisters, Mrs. A. Poleshek, Mrs. L. Beletsky, Misses Carolyn, Stella, Madelyn, Rae, Fannie, Carmel, and Palmine. A memorial high mass will be held at St. Michael’s Church at 8 A.M. Friday in honor of Private Amarone.
WEBMASTER NOTE: Benny Amarone’s nickname was “Swish” in a newspaper picture of the Maple Leafs basketball team referenced in the previous article. The photo was too grainy to include.
Letter from Private Amarone’s Marine friends to his sister, Stella. Contributed by Andrew Poleshek.
April 20, 1945
Friday night 11:00 P.M.
My Dear Stella,
Please, Stella, whatever you do, Please Please – do not think you are of any trouble to me or to John. At any time you feel you need our help, no matter what, please do call on us. We live to serve the kin of Amarone.
John Tarducci asked me to write because of the fact that we three, your brother, John, and myself, have been buddies since boot camp. He felt I should write because I am older.
To say what I must is the most difficult job I have ever undertaken.
Benny was about the best Marine ever to come out of the Marine Corps. He was a good egg. He’d help most anyone out of a tight spot.
How we’d fought when Ben would get a letter from his girl with the lip prints of his girls on them. He’d have to kiss them every time he’d get a letter with the kiss on it. Things like this stay with us fellows always to remind us of his deeds.
Benny, John, and myself fought together, slept together, and together, we were known as the Three Italians.
The way it happened could only happen to one like Amarone, by saving a buddy’s life, he gave his own. No, it’s no lie to make you feel good.
We were entrenched in a foxhole in what we four boys felt was the best one of the Company. Shortly after midnight, we found out that it wasn’t.
A couple of them dirty….. Japs, infiltrated through our lines and somehow got above us and threw grenades into it. The first couple fell short. One wasn’t short. Benny picks it up in an attempt to throw it out. As he did so, it went off.
A couple of weeks later, before leaving this island that the “devil made,” John and I stopped at the cemetery. It’s a pretty little place, with small white crosses forming one large cross. A large entrance forming one large cross. A large entrance made of rock is the entrance. To the left of the entrance is a bronze plaque with the names of the lads who gave their lives so that this world may remain free.
There wasn’t much we could do except to say a few prayers.
In a crude way, I formed a clay monument and inscribed a passage from the Bible:
“He leadeth me beside the still waters.”
I’m sorry we could not do more. With our love and friendship.
Rick and John
AUTHOR NOTE: John Tarducci was born in 1926 in New Haven, Connecticut. He survived the war and died on November 14, 1972, at just 46 years old. The “Rick” who wrote and signed the letter is unknown. Searches of Muster Rolls didn’t result in anything definitive.
Plaque at Memorial Playground, Wooster Memorial Park, 213 Wooster Street, New Haven, CT. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
Honored on the 11th Ward Veteran’s Memorial in Wooster Square Park, 562-548 Chapel St, New Haven, Connecticut. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
Initially buried in the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Plot 5, Row 2, Grave 1030. At his father’s request, his remains were repatriated via the SS Dalton Victory in 1948 and repatriated and buried in 1949 in St. Lawrence Cemetery, 280 Derby Avenue, West Haven, CT; Section P, St. Andrew, Lot 42. 8Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1940 census at https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
2 – 1930 census at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/
3 – Congressional record
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2001-pt12/html/CRECB-2001-pt12-g17676.htm
4 – Email from Edward Surato, Whitney Library, New Haven Museum on March 26, 2021.
5 – WWII Draft Cards: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238/
6 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request
7 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/