Coventry, RI – Today U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Rhode Island Representative Lisa Tomasso presented medals and awards to World War II veteran Anthony D’Abrosca at Coventry Town Hall before D’Abrosca’s family and friends.
D’Abrosca, a Coventry resident, served in the Army’s 38th Infantry Division in the Philippines and Japan during World War II, earning a number of military honors that he never received. Whitehouse and Tomasso helped to secure delivery of the actual awards.
“It was an honor to bestow these awards on a member of our nation’s Greatest Generation,” said Whitehouse. “I thank Mr. D’Abrosca for his service, and congratulate him and the entire D’Abrosca family on this long overdue recognition.”
“It’s our duty to honor our veterans and observe their sacrifice,” said Tomasso. “I was proud to help bring this deserving member of the Coventry community the honors he earned in service to our great nation.”
During today’s ceremony, D’Abrosca received honors that include:
- The American Defense Service Medal
- The American Campaign Medal
- The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- The World War II Victory Medal
- The Philippine Independence Ribbon
- The WWII Honorable Service Lapel Pin
- The Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar
The Army recruited D’Abrosca shortly after his 18th birthday and four months shy of his graduation from Lockwood High School in Warwick. Following infantry training in Georgia, D’Abrosca joined the 38th Infantry, which was traveling north from Manila to track down the remaining Japanese troops left behind after Japan’s retreat from the Philippines. He later joined American forces massing on the island of Okinawa, Japan, in preparation for a ground assault on the Japanese mainland. When the ground assault was no longer necessary due to Japan’s surrender, D’Abrosca returned to the Philippines to help combat a militant group of Filipino communist guerrillas called the Hukbalahap, which had began terrorizing farmers and villagers in the Filipino countryside.
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