Proclamation: June 6, 2020 is D Day National Remembrance Day & 299th Combat Engineer Battalion Day
One of the more profound stories to come out of History's Hometown is that of the Boys from Auburn.
Pictured here is a photo from the 1994 50th reunion of the 299th Combat Engineers as it appeared in The Citizen newspaper. There are memorials to the 299th that may be viewed in person at the front entrance of the Cayuga County Office Building, Veterans Memorial PArk and MArket Street park in Auburn.
The following is a Proclamation from Mayor Quill...
WHEREAS, June 6, 2020 marks the 76th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy, and is the day that marked the beginning of the end of World War II; and
WHEREAS, on D-Day an estimated 156,000 American, British and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of the Normandy region of France for what would be one of the largest military assaults in history; and
WHEREAS, our service men showed courage, dedication, compassion and self-sacrifice as they fought for freedom for the world and the end of the horrors of the Holocaust; and
WHEREAS, more than 400,000 Americans gave their lives in service to their country during World War II with 6, 600 casualties on D-Day alone; and
WHEREAS, in March of 1943 over sixty young men from the Auburn area missed the final months of their senior year of high school as they were drafted to join the U.S. Army reporting to Fort Niagara to begin their service, eventually assigned to the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion; and
WHEREAS, the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion was comprised of these service men from Auburn, New York and hundreds others all from towns and cities from across upstate New York; and
WHEREAS, the service men of the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion were some of the first American soldiers to set foot on the beaches of Normandy; and
WHEREAS, the following men who became known as the Auburn boys served as part of the 299th Combat Engineer Battallion’s mission on June 6, 1944: John Brannick; Claude Brown; James Burke; Anthony J. Butera; Giacomo Cappello; Anthony T. Contrara; Steve Cook; Joseph M. Costello; Joseph H. Coyle; Daniel G. Cristodero; Nicholas Vincent DeAngelis; Dominick A. DeBenedetto; Anthony N. DeTomaso; Chester W. DiBari; Sam J. DiFabio; Byron E. Dustman; Nicola A. Falcicchio; Wallace F. Filkins; Edward Galbally; Anthony N. Gasparo; John H. Gleason; Harold E Green; Charles W. Hawelka; Charles W. Hurlbut Jr.; Leo A. Indelicato; Melchior LaRosa; Joseph C. Leonti; Harry L. Lull; Angelo Manna; Frank J. Morabito; Joseph J. Morabito; Richard L. Nash; Wilson J. Near Jr.; Larry Netti; Thomas J. Netti; William L. O’Brien; James F. O’Byrne; Thomas G. O’Connell; Carmen D. Ottaviano; Raymond C. Painter; Henry J. Pearson Jr.: Anthony A. Petrosino; Thomas Phillips; James B. Ramage; Carl H. Reese; Lawrence A. Roberts; Steven Rusinko; Sam V. Scolaro; William J. Secaur; Carmelo Signorelli; Charles W. Smith; Dominic A. Spano; John Spinelli; Herbert M. Steigerwald; Bruce A. Stigner; Anthony Surace; William J. Titus; Saverio G. Trinca; Samuel J. Vella; James Walter; Francis C. Weirich; and George J. Wilson Jr.; and
WHEREAS, on D-Day, the following Service men from the Auburn, NY area gave their lives on the beaches of Normandy in the liberation of Europe : Claude D. Brown; Nicholas Vincent DeAngelis; Leo A. Indelicato; Thomas J. Phillips; Lawrence A. Roberts; and John R. Spinelli.
NOW THEREFORE, I, Michael D. Quill, Mayor of the City of Auburn, New York, on behalf of the City Council and the Citizens of Auburn, do hereby do proclaim June 6, 2020 as
D-Day National Remembrance Day
and
299th Combat Engineer Battalion Day
in the City of Auburn, and we encourage our citizens and visitors to take time to remember our fellow Auburnians and all who fought and died so men and women they had never met might know what it is to live in freedom.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Auburn to be affixed this Sixth day of June 2020.
_________________________
Michael D. Quill, Mayor
City of Auburn, New York