Honoring Veterans: Army Air Forces Veteran Joseph A. Abbondondelo

Joseph A. Abbondondelo was born in January 1924 in Rosalind, Long Island. His father, Nicholas, worked in the building construction line, and his mother, Carmella Alvin Dandello, was a homemaker. Joseph had an older sister and two younger brothers, both of whom also served in the military. One of his brothers served in the medical corps in World War II, and the other was drafted during the Korean War.

Before joining the military, Abbondondelo had just finished high school and was working odd jobs, including at golf courses in New York. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces out of an interest in flying, narrowly avoiding the draft. He trained to be a flight engineer, learning aircraft mechanics and the systems of the aircraft. He also attended a gunnery school in Florida and underwent overseas training at Langley Field, Virginia.

Abbondondelo served as a technical sergeant in the Army Air Forces during World War II, specifically in the 455th Bomb Group of the 15th Air Force. His service was primarily located in Italy and the European Theater from 1942 to 1945. The 455th Bombardment Group was engaged in the bombing of strategic targets, such as factories, marshaling yards, oil refineries, storage areas, harbor and airdromes in Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and the Balkans.

During his service, Abbondondelo flew more than 40 missions against the Germans. He was wounded in his left arm and took shrapnel in his head when his plane was hit and caught fire. Following this incident, he was captured and spent nine months in a prisoner-of-war camp in northern Poland called Stalag 4. The conditions in the camp were harsh, with poor diet, cold temperatures and inadequate medical care. Despite these challenges, Abbondondelo formed close bonds with his fellow prisoners.

After being liberated from the camp, Abbondondelo was hospitalized until December 1945 due to his injuries. Upon his return to the United States, he was received at Halloran Hospital near Staten Island and then transferred to Valley Forge General Hospital near Philadelphia. He spent another three to four months in England General Hospital in Atlantic City before being discharged.

For his service, Abbondondelo was awarded a Purple Heart. After the war, he got married in 1949, and had two sons. He also worked for a bank for 20 years and retired in 1988. He made two trips back to Europe with his son and daughter-in-law.

Abbondondelo died in May 2019 at the age of 95 at the VA Community Living Center in Northport. He was buried at the Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, Suffolk County, New York.

We honor his service.

Nominate a Veteran for Honoring Veterans

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s Honoring Veterans social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

Veterans History Project

This Honoring Veterans profile was created with interviews submitted to the Veterans History Project. The project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Find out more at http://www.loc.gov/vets/.

A portion of this story was generated by AI. None of the data we reported included personal or sensitive information, and it was fact-checked and edited by a human copy editor prior to publishing.

Prompt Engineer: Joseph Torralba

Editor: Tayler Rairigh

Researcher: Jacoryn Whatley

Graphic Designer: Raquel Ortega