Patch Profile: Frank DePergola, Grand Marshall of Memorial Day Parade

Editor's Note: This article was written by representatives of the Merrick American Legion.

Frank DePergola was born on May 11, 1923 in Manhattan.

He entered military service when he was 19 years old. DePergola was a Company F, 5th Division, 10th Battalion, Infantry Staff Sergeant during World War II. He served in the armed services from February, 1943 to July, 1945. He fought in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, Central Europe and the Ardennes.

DePergola received the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, and the European, African, Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with five Bronze Stars and three overseas bars.

DePergola landed on Utah Beach on “D-day” plus 10. He saw his first battle at Saint Lo in France. In Luxemburg, DePergola received wounds in combat, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

On an assignment from headquarters to retrieve maps, DePergola encountered two German soldiers in the woods in Metz, France. He took them captive with a German Luger pistol he had taken off another German officer in a previous battle, since he forgot his regular issued rifle at headquarters and returned to base with these two captives.

In his campaigns in Germany and Poland, he was involved in surrounding what was later determined to be an abandoned German building housing captive, emaciated, prisoners, containing Jews, Catholics and Muslims. The stench coming from the building was intense and unforgettable.

The word “Holocaust” was not known at that time but Frank DePergola was a witness to part of it. DePergola was involved in these prisoners liberation.

Frank DePergola turned 90 on May 11. He has three daughters, seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.