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Searching for Private LaGrotteria: Part 1

Contributed by: Gerard Spicer on 12/29/2006

Who in the world was Private Bill LaGrotteria? The question was etched in my mind as I drove home on a recent trip from Wichita. As we crossed into Colorado, I turned to my wife and asked, "Do you think we'll find LaGrotteria?" She tilted her head around our 85-pound pit bull poised on her lap and replied, "Hopefully, but let's first find our way home before the snow storm."

It was the day after Christmas when I was first introduced to the story of Bill LaGrotteria. I was at the home of my sister-in-law, Melissa Hayden, when she said that she had something to show me. She placed an old military style canteen in front of me and said, "It's a WWII canteen I found on Guam."

"Oh yeah," I replied, as I tried to seem interested in the dinged-up piece of metal. She picked up the canteen and said, "Look, it has a name and words scratched into it: Bill LaGrotteria, Fort Dix, Pine Camp, Camp Pickett, Valley Forge, and Stone Man."

My inquisitiveness was awakened. A canteen by any other name is a canteen; however, an old canteen with a message inscribed is a historical curiosity piece. She explained that after having done some initial research, she had come to a dead end. I picked up the canteen and began to examine it. "All I want," she said, "is to find him, if he is still alive, or his family, and give them an opportunity to have a small piece of their family history. Will you help me?"

Being a sucker for mysteries and a big supporter of our military personnel, I accepted the challenge. "How did you come across this?" I asked. She told me it was found in the mid 1980s while she was hiking with her father through a jungle on Guam. "I am not exactly sure how far down we went when we came upon a make-shift campsite in which we found a plate, military helmet, and canteen. The thick jungle had protected it from the elements so that the cooking area looked as though it had just been used that morning. My dad decided to keep the canteen and leave the rest undisturbed."

She went on to explain that after her family moved to America the canteen was put in storage and forgotten. "When I was older, I became more interested in my grandmother's stories of her experiences on Guam during WWII. She was a nurse who was taken prisoner by the Japanese to tend to their wounded. She would recount in detail the stories of the Japanese attack three hours after Pearl Harbor, the occupation, and the American liberation in 1944. Recently, my dad gave me the canteen and it was then I noticed the words scratched into the metal."

I asked Melissa what she has uncovered so far. She said, "Some of the names were processing and training camps for the soldiers and the other names were transport ships." This would mean that he was at the camps and on the ships engraved on the canteen. However, she had done an Internet search for "Bill or William LaGrotteria" and found no solid information.

"Let me give it a shot," I said (thinking I might solve the mystery in five minutes). I surfed through numerous search engines, genealogy sites, and government databases, however, I could find no Bill or William LaGrotteria with a WWII connection. Even the online National Archives WW II Enlistment Records revealed no positive results.

"Wait a minute, what's this?" Melissa said. "There is more writing on the bottom of the canteen." She made out the numbers 32305215. I told her it might be a Social Security Number. However, it was one digit short for a S.S.N. Perhaps, in the 1940s, the numbers were only eight digits long? After some research, we concluded that it could not be a Social Security number.

After another review of the database from the National Archives, I realized we were looking at the digits of a military serial number. We tried a search of this serial number, and once again, it ended with zero results. Melissa informed me that in 1973 a fire had destroyed millions of Army personnel records. Perhaps, LaGrotteria's information was lost in the fire.

By using his coded serial number of 32-305-215, we were able to uncover the following about our mystery soldier:

He was a resident either of NY, NJ, or DE
His parents resided either in PA, MD, VA, or DC
He was drafted into the war
He entered into the Army branch as a Private

We have also concluded (from his canteen stamped with 1942) that Private LaGrotteria was not involved in the initial fighting on Guam in 1941, but he came in 1944 as part of the battle to regain the island. The Battle of Guam pitted twenty thousand Japanese soldiers against a U.S. force that was twice as large. In the end, the Americans were victorious, but heavy casualties were taken on both sides. Was LaGrotteria one of the fallen heroes? Perhaps, he is still alive? To be continued...

To read the conclusion of Gerard's story, click here.









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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
Submitted By: Erin Feese
posted on 1/5/2007 @ 1:22:37 PM
Rated Story
Update: Gerard Spicer has been able to contact Private Lagrotteria's family members and plans to post his findings soon.
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: E Lagrotteria
posted on 1/4/2007 @ 1:41:34 PM
(Not Rated)
Mr. Spicer - please look no further. Private Lagrotteria was my father-in-law. We have his discharge papers with the exact serial number. please contact me at lagrotteria@comcast.net ASAP.
[Report as objectionable]
Submitted By: Denver Admin
posted on 12/29/2006 @ 11:01:01 AM
Rated Story
Great story. Eagerly awaiting to read what you found out.
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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Gerard Spicer

Lakewood , CO

Gerard Spicer has posted 5 stories and 0 comments since joining on 1/25/2006. Gerard Spicer 's average story rating is 4.73.
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