DOB/DOD: August 31, 1971 (New Haven, CT) – January 17, 2005; 33 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Engaged to be married to Nerina A. Giolli (1976-).
LOCAL ADDRESS: Meloy Road; West Haven
ENLISTMENT: May 30, 1990, in the Marine Corps, then later transferred to the Army.
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 11B30; Infantryman
UNIT: C Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment; Fort Carson, Colorado
FAMILY: Born to Gaetano T. [U.S. Navy veteran] (1933-2012) and Inger L. Stang Vitagliano Severine (1932-). One sister, Tammy Vitagliano Ronan (1969-). One brother, Erik (1973-).
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Silver Star Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with device, Army Achievement Medal with device, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal with device, Southwest Asia Service Medal with device, Global War on Terrorism Medal (Expeditionary), Global War on Terrorism Medal (Service), Korean Defense Service Medal, Army NCO Professional Development Ribbon with “2” device, Army Service Ribbon, Army Overseas Service Ribbon with “2” device, Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, Kuwaiti Liberation Medal (Emirate of Kuwait), Combat Infantry Badge, Parachutist Badge (Basic), and the Navy Unit Commendation.
CIRCUMSTANCES: Staff Sergeant Vitagliano was killed in Ramadi, Iraq, when a bomb in a vehicle detonated near his position. Also killed in this incident:
Army Private First Class George Geer; Cortez, CO
Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, VA) Class of 1989
Citation to accompany the award of the Silver Star Medal
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously)
TO
Staff Sergeant Thomas E. Vitagliano
United States Army
FOR
Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2d Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 17 January 2005 in Iraq. On that date, Staff Sergeant Vitagliano saved two of his Soldiers’ lives by selflessly placing himself between the Soldiers and the blast of an explosive-laden taxi. His heroic actions are in keeping with the highest standards of selfless service and reflect great credit upon himself, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment, Multi-National Corps Iraq, and the United States Army.
From The Record-Journal (Meriden, CT) on January 28, 2005
WEST HAVEN, Connecticut — About 300 mourners gathered Thursday to remember the life of Staff Sergeant Thomas E. Vitagliano, who died last week in a bombing in Iraq while living the military life he dreamed about as a child. Vitagliano, 33, of New Haven, was buried with full military honors at St. Lawrence Cemetery in West Haven following a funeral service at Holy Infant Roman Catholic Church in Orange. After a 25-vehicle cortege led by a military and police motorcade arrived at the church, six Marine reservist pallbearers carried Vitagliano’s flag-draped casket inside for a private Mass. At the church, military officials presented Vitagliano’s family with four medals awarded posthumously to Vitagliano, said Lieutenant Colonel John Whitford, a spokesman for the Connecticut National Guard. The medals included the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, and Combat Infantry Badge. “He touched a lot of people,” Whitford said. The church deacon, John Hoffman, quoted family members in a eulogy. “Even in all our pain, we can’t help but remember his smile. He had a childlike side that was contagious, magnetic, bigger than life,” he said. Hoffman quoted Vitagliano’s mother, Inger Lise Severine, as saying, “You always looked out for the underdog … I thank you for trying to make this a better world.” The soldier’s father, Gaetano Vitagliano, added, “My pride in who you are cannot be hidden, even in my heartbreak.” At the cemetery, Army reservists presented American flags to Vitagliano’s mother and father, who once served in the military. Vitagliano was killed on January 17 when a car bomb detonated near his position in Ramadi, Iraq. Private First Class George Geer, 27, of Cortez, Colo., was also killed. He and Vitagliano were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, based at Camp Casey, South Korea. During the funeral, an e-mail from Colonel Gary Patton, Vitagliano’s brigade commander, was read. It describes Vitagliano’s bravery just before his death. Patton wrote that when Vitagliano realized an approaching vehicle was manned by a suicide bomber, he pushed one soldier to safety. The soldier was injured in the attack, but because of Vitagliano’s actions, he will live, Patton said. “Even in his last breath and action, Tommy was taking care of his soldiers,” he said. Vitagliano was the 23rd person with Connecticut ties killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since March 2002 and the first this year. Stars and Stripes, which covers the military, reported that Vitagliano’s unit has been working on civil projects, handing out food, and trying to avoid suicide bombers in Ramadi. The soldiers have suffered frequent attacks from insurgents in the city of 400,000, which is in the volatile region sometimes called the Sunni Triangle. At least 10 soldiers in Vitagliano’s battalion have been killed in Ramadi since November. Vitagliano, who grew up in Orange and West Haven, went to Notre Dame High School in West Haven until his sophomore year, then transferred to a military school. He went on to join the Marines and fight in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. He later left the Marines, worked briefly for American Express, and returned to teach Marine cadets for a year. He then joined the Army.
From The Associated Press
By Hugo Kugiya
Sergeant who saved lives remembered as ‘Superman’
Thomas Vitagliano was Sergeant V to some, Superman to others, and Kindergarten Sarge to a few who had occasion to notice his rapport with small children. To his nephews and nieces, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound uncle was a moveable jungle gym. All four would grab a leg or climb up an arm as Vitagliano walked, all of them clinging to him like he was a carnival ride. He joined the Marines after one year of college. He enlisted in the Army five years later, joining the Rangers. He was born to the military, his family said. He was a military history buff growing up, played military board games, and attended the military academy. But at age 33, he was looking at retirement when he might work in his family’s real estate business and start a family of his own. Superman was a principled guy who showed his heart with actions more than words. He did not exactly have “the gift of gab,” said his wife, Nerina Giolli. When the collection plate came his way at church, he always left a roll of bills, never letting Nerina see exactly how much he gave. When others passed by a stalled car with an elderly driver, he stopped, pushed the vehicle into a lot, and gave it a jump start. While on patrol in Ramadi on January 17, he noticed with suspicion a taxi circling the area oddly, apparently headed toward a group of 36 soldiers, said his sister, Tammy Ronan. Vitagliano approached the taxi with two other men. Realizing it was a suicide attack, he tried to protect and shield his men and lost his life. For this, he was awarded the Silver Star [Medal]. “He surprised that car bomber,” Ronan said. “That bomb wasn’t intended for him. The car was heading up the street for the other guys. If it weren’t for my brother, 36 men would have died.”
At that moment, and always, he was Superman.
From an unknown newspaper or press release
Portion of Route 34 To Be Named in Honor of Fallen Hero
Staff Sergeant Thomas E. Vitagliano Highway To Be Dedicated At Ceremony In Orange
ORANGE – On January 17, 2005, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Thomas Vitagliano made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of his country. Killed in action in Ramadi, Iraq, by an improvised explosive device, the New Haven soldier became the 23rd person with Connecticut ties to lose his life in Iraq or Afghanistan since March 2002. He was thirty-three years old. This week, a portion of Route 34 will be named in honor of Vitagliano in a brief ceremony at the Orange Town Hall. Staff Sergeant Vitagliano grew up in Orange and West Haven… “It is a small gesture, but an important one that says we will never forget Thomas Vitagliano or the sacrifice he made in the defense of our freedom,” said Representative Themis Klarides, who introduced the legislation naming the portion of the highway. The ceremony will take place at Orange Town Hall at 1:00 p.m. on August 31st. Vitagliano’s family will be presented with a replica of the Route 34 sign.
Memorialized with a monument on West Haven Town Green, Main and Campbell Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut.
“V,” as we called him, Marine Corps boot camp was my bunk mate; he slept on the bottom and myself on the top bunk. If you know anything about the Marine Corps and our boot camp, “V” was our platoon guide. I retired from the Marine Corps in 2010 and was in Iraq when “V” died in 2005, although I was in the Baghdad area at the time. Obviously, he was a big dude, but he wasn’t a bully, although, with his size, he surely could have been one. It saddens me to think back on the times, conversations, and memories that I still have of him. What he did in saving lives doesn’t surprise me. Hopefully, one day, he and I will meet again and share our memories of a summer spent in South Carolina!! By the way, in these times when people of different political stripes are at each other’s throats, “V” was from the North, and me from the South. We never spoke about that or questioned each other; I had his back, and he had mine. I miss the big guy.
— Stephen “Corey” Davis
Staff Sergeant Vitagliano is buried in Saint Lawrence Cemetery, 280 Derby Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut; Mausoleum Level 1W, Row R, 18.
