Wednesday, November 11, 2015
YOUNGSTOWN
For 72 years, the family of Army Pfc. Ralph R. Lazazzera, of Youngstown’s Smoky Hollow area, mistakenly believed he was killed during World War II aboard a hospital ship when it was sunk in the Pacific.
Carolyn Mirdo, formerly of Youngstown, was about a year old when her grandparents were notified Aug. 18, 1943, that her maternal uncle was “missing in action, presumed dead.”
A 1937 graduate of The Rayen School, Lazazzera, son of Alex and Caroline Lazazzera of Emerald Street in Smoky Hollow, was 23 when he was killed July 18, 1943. He was drafted in May 1942 and was shipped overseas that October.
Mirdo, who lives in Georgia with her husband, John, said she was told by family members that her uncle was killed when the hospital ship he was on was sunk by the Japanese.
She accepted that story until another Lazazzera, her cousin Felix of Austintown, sent her information that contradicted the family’s version of her uncle’s death.
Felix worked with Jerry Nunziato of Springfield Township compiling the “Smoky Hollow Memorial,” a 1,300-page bound collection of profiles and research notes of veterans listed on the memorial, including Ralph Lazazzera.
According to their research, Ralph could not have died on a hospital ship because there is no record of a hospital ship, or any ship, being sunk in that area on that particular day, Nunziato said.
Instead, U.S. Department of Defense records say that Lazazzera, a member of the 43rd Infantry Division, 172nd Infantry Regiment, Co. H, was among 32 killed July 18, 1943, when the USS LST-342, a tank-landing ship, was sunk about 50 miles southeast of Rendova en route to there from Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Only three on board survived.
Mirdo’s quest for a definitive answer on how Ralph died was triggered last May when she received the collection of profiles of those listed on the Smoky Hollow Memorial.
“When I read my uncle’s profile, I was confused and angered that they had gotten the information about his death all wrong,” said Mirdo, daughter of Mary and Peter Mortellaro. A 1960 graduate of Chaney High School, she owned and operated Carolyn’s Styling Salon in Boardman. Mary is Ralph Lazazzera’s sister.
The memorial profiles collection says that Ralph Lazazzera fought in Operation Toenails, the invasion of New Georgia in the Southwest Pacific, and includes pictures of a cemetery in Manila, Philippines, where it suggests he is buried.
Determined to get the truth about her uncle’s death, she called two cousins to see if they knew what had happened.
“One said he died on a hospital ship, just as I was told. The other said he died on a small boat,” she said.
Mirdo delved further into the mystery.
“My mother kept all her brother’s letters. I read the last six letters to try to piece it all together, and sure enough, it all started to make sense,” she said.
The story that Lazazzera had died on a hospital ship bombed by the Japanese may have emanated from his childhood friend Anthony Guarnieri, who was in the same Army unit. Guarnieri said Ralph was hit in the foot by shrapnel from a grenade and was sent to a hospital ship for treatment.
But before Lazazzera left for the hospital ship, he wrote about Guarnieri’s being transferred because he could not take the weather in the Southwest Pacific. In another letter, Lazazzera mentioned that he was back with his unit.
From the letters, it is clear that when Guarnieri saw Lazazzera was when he went to the hospital ship; but unknown to him, Lazazzera was sent back to his unit, she said.
Now convinced her uncle did not die on a hospital ship, she had a new concern: Had he been a prisoner of war and possibly tortured?
To find out where her uncle is buried, Mirdo contacted the Army Human Resources Command, where she said she “found an angel” who steered her to the right place, the Past Conflicts Repatriation Branch. There she learned he was not buried in Manila but was memorialized there because his remains were not recovered.
“I started to shake and cry hysterically. It seemed my worst fear was about to come true. I asked if Ralph had been a prisoner of war and was told ‘most likely.’ At that very moment, my heart broke,” Mirdo said.
She was asked if she would consent to a DNA test, along with her daughter, which they did. Once it was determined they were next of kin to Lazazzera, they sent Mirdo his military file, which she received Aug. 4.
From his service record, to Mirdo’s relief, she learned that her uncle had not been a prisoner. It also confirmed when and how he was killed and that his remains were not recovered.
“I am thankful to my cousin Felix and Jerry Nunziato for the huge undertaking of writing the “Smoky Hollow Memorial” profiles. Without their hard work and painstaking research, I would have never found the truth,” she said.
“I truly hope this inspires other families who have not recovered their loved ones from war and wonder what happened to them to search for the information,” Mirdo said.
“My Uncle Ralph received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. I am so very proud of him,” she said.