On this Veteran's Day, as on every Veteran's Day, I will take some extra time to remember my maternal grandparents, Dina Licciardi Bellan and William Bellan. Both served during World War II. My grandfather, a child of Croatian immigrants, was in the U.S. Army, 37th Infantry Division, 134th Field Artillery. He fought in the Bougainville Campaign in the South Pacific during the War.
 |
| William Bellan |
 |
| William Bellan with some of his fellow infantrymen, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1944. |
My grandmother was born in northern Italy and immigrated to the U.S. with her parents when she was about six years old. Her father served in the Italian Army during World War I. She joined the U.S. Coast Guard SPARS, which was a women's division of the Coast Guard created in 1942. She spent most of her time working and training in Florida.
 |
| Dina Licciardi Bellan |
My grandmother kept a wonderful photo album documenting her time in the Coast Guard. There are photos of her and many of her fellow SPARS and visiting servicemen, as well as photos of their training drills and facilities in Florida. Many of the photos in the album are labeled with individuals' names and where they were from. I tell myself that someday, if I ever get the time, I am going to use my "awesome" genealogy skills to track down the descendants of her friends pictured. I do know that she kept in touch with a few of her Coast Guard friends until she passed away in 1997.
 |
| Page from Dina's Coast Guard Photo Album. |
After the war, they both returned to live with their parents in their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. They met each other at a local USO event and were married in 1947. Here is their engagement announcement from the local Catholic War Veterans newsletter dated 2 Feb 1947:
Lovely post Emily.
ReplyDelete