SGT Albert Balducchi
Honored by: David Balducchi
This brick honors the memory of our father, Sergeant Albert Balducchi, U.S. Army, 1942-1945, in the centennial year of his birth, 2016. Albert served with Company D, 411 Special Shop Battalion, which included 34 months in Australia (Cairns), New Guinea (Milne Bay), and the Philippine Islands (Batangas). Albert was born in Carney, Iowa, May 15, 1916, and died November 18, 1962, at his home in Urbandale, Iowa. He did not talk much about his World War II experiences. After Albert’s discharge in December 1945, he went home to Des Moines, and married his sweetheart, Maria Dinelli, of Plainfield, Iowa. Their surviving wartime correspondence (letters, post cards, and v-mail) and pictures provide a rich historical memory. Albert said that he saw comedian Joe E. Brown and actress Marilyn Maxwell at USO shows in New Guinea. He recalled watching the movie, Gone with the Wind, sitting “on the side of a hill.” Unexpectedly during overseas duty, Albert reunited with two brothers, Guido Balducchi, U.S. Army, and Joseph Balducchi, U.S. Navy. Joseph spent Christmas 1944 with Albert at the 411 Engineer’s camp in New Guinea. Albert met Guido twice; first, in the Philippines at the 411 Engineer’s camp in mid-1945, and second, in an oceanic ship-to-ship transfer. Albert’s scant personal archive of wartime memorabilia includes a tissue copy of a letter congratulating members of Company D, 411 Engineer Battalion on winning the Softball League Championship. Albert played in the outfield. The winning team was awarded fifty-one pounds of ice cream mix. During Albert’s short life, he bought and paid for two homes, worked as a quality control manager at the Ford Implement Plant in Des Moines, and had three children, David Eugene, Raya Jeanne, and Albert John. David E. Balducchi November 21, 2016
