Obituary of Arnold J. Ceglia

Arnold J. Ceglia Sr., of Locust Valley, NY on May 12th, 2016 age 97. Proud WWII Army Veteran 77th Division. Beloved husband of the late Margaret F. Loving father of Rose and Arnold J. Jr. (Debra). Dear brother of Evelyn Mercadante. Proud grandfather of Kelly (Edward), Halley, A.J. III & Ava. Special great grandfather of Carlin, Shea & Joseph. Also survived by Linda, nieces and nephews. His parents immigrated from Italy - Rose and Carlo. He had 6 brothers and 2 sisters. Arnold grew up in Locust Valley; worked several construction and maintenance jobs and spent 20 years with LV Central School District, as bus driver and in maintenance, retiring June, 1985. He was a member in the American Legion, Howard A. Van Wagner Post 962, and a 2 time Commander, House Chairman for many years and was awarded Life Membership. Also a member of the VFW in Glen Cove. Arnold entered the service March 25, 1942, at Camp Upton, New York (Army, Private rank, 77th Infantry Division) at the age of 19. The 77th Infantry Division was re-activated on March 25, 1942 as one of the first three reserve divisions to be re-born in preparation for World War II. Arnoldʼs basic training was in Fort Jackson, South Carolina where he was in charge of the communication section of 13 men whose job was to connect all telephone lines and howitzer batteries to headquarters and the field. Arnold continued in communications throughout the duration of the war. January 1943, a hardened and partly trained team en-trained for the Louisiana maneuver area where for eight weeks the 77th learned war with its sister division, the 90th. In March (1943) the 77th moved west to Hyder, a water-stop in the heart of the Arizona desert, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, built a tent camp called Camp Hyder, and learned to get along on less of everything and in temperatures well past the 100 degree mark for the next two months. After a short stop back east, early in March 1944, troop trains carried the Division to Camp Stoneman, California, where they embarked for the Hawaiian Islands. Three busy months were spent on Oahu where small unit and amphibious training was reviewed, new combat equipment issued and plans were set to fight for Guam. The troops were sent to liberate Guam, where Arnold first saw action, and was engaged in fighting the Japanese. The troops then moved on to Leyte (Philippines), then Kerama Retto (Japan). The Division came out of the Leyte campaign considerably understrength and the replacements arrived too late to permit field training on Leyte. Actually not yet enough replacements arrived to bring it up to strength, and it left for Kerama Retto, 900 enlisted men short. The Kerama Retto was used by the Japanese as an operating base for Special Sea Raiding,(suicide boats) units, which patrolled the waters of the southwest coast of Okinawa. The US used Kerama Retto as a staging area for assaults on Okinawa. The next assignment was the liberation a very important little island - Ie Shima (Japan). Ie Shima was important because the land was needed to build a runway to allow military planes to mobilize and attack Japan and other islands. On Ie Shima, the 77thʼs losses were 239 killed, 897 wounded, and 19 missing. Among the killed was Ernie Pyle, a well known war correspondent. After Ie Shima was secured, Arnold was sent to Okinawa, Japan which was the final blow to Dai Nippon, the Japanese. Shortly after Japan was bombed, the Japanese surrendered . . . and the rest is history. Arnold returned to the states in the Fall of 1945. During Arnoldʼs three years of service he was promoted in rank and received an honorable discharge from the army, as Sergeant Arnold J. Ceglia, Sr., on December 15, 1945. Arnold and the other GIʼs shared the good days, the bad days and the sad days - unfortunately, too many of them were sad. But winning the war made it all worthwhile. Saturday May 14, 2016, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home Click for Map and Directions Sunday May 15, 2016, 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home Click for Map and Directions Monday May 16, 2016, 11:00 AM at Locust Valley Reformed Church Click for Map and Directions Monday May 16, 2016 at Locust Valley Cemetery Click for Map and Directions