Private of the US Army First Class Anthony J. Gallo honored with ceremony on the 80th anniversary of death

A wreath ceremony took place on May 23 in the Lorain County Gold Star Family Family Memorial, 308 Second St. in Elyria, in honor of the 80th anniversary of the death of the US Army Privacy Class Anthony J. Gallo.

According to Tony Gallo, President and CEO of the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, Gallo, who came from Lorain and part of the 32nd infantry regiment, was killed on May 23, 1945 in Okinawa, Japan.

Tony Gallo, who is nephew of Anthony Gallo, said his uncle died in Europe after the armistice. However, measures still took place in the Pacific.

“It is a powerful legacy to be named after a veteran of the Veteran of the Second World War,” said Tony Gallo. “It has a deep feeling of honor, memory and it has established my connection to a larger group of service and victims that our veterans have experienced.”

Anthony Gallo was one of 11 children born by Filippo and Rosemary Gallo.

For a short time, Anthony Gallo served in the Second World War with two of his brothers Thomas and Phillip, according to Tony Gallo, who is also named after his uncle.

Anthony Gallo was killed just eight days before his 24th birthday, and Rosemary Gallo, who was a widow at the time, posthumously received a purple heart who honored her son for what he did and the ultimate victim said, said Tony Gallo.

“We not only want to honor those who served in World War II, but also the parents who raised these men and women in World War II,” said the mayor of Lorain, Jack Bradley, who took part in a ceremony and read a proclamation. “I encourage all citizens to remember and honor the life, the victim and the permanent legacy of a young man, whose dedication to family, community and country is the highest ideals of the American service and patriotism.”

Bradley also announced on May 23, 2025 as a private first -class Anthony J. Gallo Day in Lorain and Lorain County.

Daniel Gonska, veteran of the US Navy, was recognized as the first recipient of the Chamber of Commerce of Anthony Gallo Memorial Chamber of Commerce, which was founded in partnership with the Lorain County Veterans Service Commission, which supports the chamber to help veteran companies.

Jacob Smith, executive director of the Lorain County Veterans Service Commission and the US Army veteran, insisted that the scholarship was named after Anthony Gallo, said Tony Gallo.

“This not only continues his name and heritage, but because I happen to have the same name, I will be inseparable from my retirement after the end of the year,” said Tony Gallo.

Tony Gallo also received an antiques -32. Infantry division courses, which Anthony Gallo was part of a victory medal of the Second World War and an American flag with 48 stars for which the flag fought in World War II.

Smith said there are two rainbows on both sides of the band that are attached to the victory medal, with a thick, red strip through the center and a picture on the medal itself, which is a sword broken on Mars, the Greek god of war.

“On the back there are (President Franklin Delano) Roosevelt's four freedom, for which these men and women fought and for which over 400,000 Americans have died so that we can be here today,” said Smith.

Stephen Bansek, representative of Lorain County's veteran service, also took part in the event.

“We would like to present this to you with our extreme appreciation for what your uncle has done for all of us who are here,” said Bansek to Tony Gallo.

Smith also recognized Rosemary Gallo for the victims she provided during World War II, and read a message letter that would have been written at the time to simulate what it was like to be notified.

“This monument in which we stand today is not a soldier, a sailor, everyone else,” said Smith. “This monument is for Rose Gallo, so we are here today.”

Tony Gallo closed the ceremony by reading a line from a letter to his father Phillip of Anthony Gallo on February 7, 1945, three months before his death.

“I'm over, the battle is over,” reads Tony Gallo. “Don't worry about me, I just have to write mom more often.”