Auburn Mayor Mike Quill has issued a proclamation honoring 60 young men from the city who landed on the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion 78 years ago.
They were seniors at Auburn High School who were drafted in March 1943. They reported to Fort Niagara to begin their service and were assigned to the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion. The Battalion was among the first units to set foot on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. They became known as the Auburn Boys.
The Mayor proclaimed today D-Day National Remembrance Day and 299th Combat Engineer Battalion Day in the city. From the Mayor’s proclamation:
WHEREAS, the following men who became known as the Auburn boys served as part of the 299th Combat Engineer Battallion’s mission on June 6, 1944: John Brannick; Claude Brown; James Burke; Anthony J. Butera; Giacomo Cappello; Anthony T. Contrara; Steve Cook; Joseph M. Costello; Joseph H. Coyle; Daniel G. Cristodero; Nicholas Vincent DeAngelis; Dominick A. DeBenedetto; Anthony N. DeTomaso; Chester W. DiBari; Sam J. DiFabio; Byron E. Dustman; Nicola A. Falcicchio; Wallace F. Filkins; Edward Galbally; Anthony N. Gasparo; John H. Gleason; Harold E Green; Charles W. Hawelka; Charles W. Hurlbut Jr.; Leo A. Indelicato; Melchior LaRosa; Joseph C. Leonti; Harry L. Lull; Angelo Manna; Frank J. Morabito; Joseph J. Morabito; Richard L. Nash; Wilson J. Near Jr.; Larry Netti; Thomas J. Netti; William L. O’Brien; James F. O’Byrne; Thomas G. O’Connell; Carmen D. Ottaviano; Raymond C. Painter; Henry J. Pearson Jr.: Anthony A. Petrosino; Thomas Phillips; James B. Ramage; Carl H. Reese; Lawrence A. Roberts; Steven Rusinko; Sam V. Scolaro; William J. Secaur; Carmelo Signorelli; Charles W. Smith; Dominic A. Spano; John Spinelli; Herbert M. Steigerwald; Bruce A. Stigner; Anthony Surace; William J. Titus; Saverio G. Trinca; Samuel J. Vella; James Walter; Francis C. Weirich; and George J. Wilson Jr.; and
WHEREAS, on D-Day, the following Servicemen from the Auburn, NY area gave their lives on the beaches of Normandy in the liberation of Europe: Claude D. Brown; Nicholas Vincent DeAngelis; Leo A. Indelicato; Thomas J. Phillips; Lawrence A. Roberts; and John R. Spinelli.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Michael D. Quill, Mayor of the City of Auburn, New York, on behalf of members of the City Council and the citizens of Auburn, do hereby do proclaim June 6, 2022, as
D-Day National Remembrance Day and 299th Combat Engineer Battalion Day
in the City of Auburn, and we encourage our citizens and visitors to take time to remember our fellow Auburnians and all who fought and died so men and women they had never met might know what it is to live in freedom.
