REMARKABLE ROCHESTERIANS

In recognition of their service during World War II, let’s add the names of these brothers to the list of Remarkable Rochesterians that can be found at RocRoots .com . The Fedele brothers: Eight of Philip and Angelina’s 11 sons served in the military during World War II, perhaps the most of any family in the United States. Two were injured during the war; all returned safely to the Rochester area. Pictured with their parents in the middle are (clockwise from noon): F. August, Antho­ny, Nunzio, Gerald, Sam, Patrick, Joseph and Vincent. Two other brothers, William and Michael were exempt because they worked in defense plants. Another brother, Victor, too young for World War II, was in the military dur­ing the Korean War, as were Anthony and Sam. All the brothers are deceased.

Remembering when eight brothers from Rochester fought in WW II

The eight Fedele brothers who served during World War II surround their parents, Philip and Angelina, in this photo.
Anthony Fedele was the first to go, enlisting in the Marines in 1939. He would be at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed in 1941, and he was there at Midway, Tu­lagi and Guadalcanal.

And as time went on, seven of Anthony’s broth­ers would follow him into military service in World War II. All eight of the brothers would make it out alive. Newspaper reports at the time said it might have been the most brothers from one family to serve for the United States dur­ing the war.

Certainly, eight was more than enough, a fact that was noted in newspa­per accounts then, a fact that would be remem­bered in the future when Veterans Day came up on the calendar, as it will be here. Youngest to oldest, the eight Fedele brothers who served during World War II were Sam, Gerald, Patrick, Anthony, Vin­cent, Nunzio, F. August and Joseph. Two other brothers, William and Michael, were deferred from ser­vice in World War II be­cause they worked in de­fense plants. Victor, the youngest of the family’s 11 brothers — there were also three sis­ters — was not old enough for World War II, but served during the Korean War, as did Anthony and S am.

“Father Waits Return of His 8 Service Sons,” headlined a story in the Democrat and Chronicle

of Nov. 12, 1944. The picture accompa­nying the story shows the father, Philip Fedele, in his home at 290 Simpson Road in Irondequoit. He is surrounded by photographs of his sons in the military, the pictures taken down for the occa­sion from their place on the mantle. “We’ll be so glad when our boys come home,” Fe­dele told the reporter. “Boy, then you’ll see a cel­ebration. It will be the big­gest and best we’ve ever had in the family — a reg­ular feast for all of them.”

By this time, Fedele was a widower, his wife, Angelina, having died in 1936. His daughter Jose­phine Bianchi and her family lived with him on Simpson Road. As the 1944 story notes and as her son, Angelo Bianchi of Waterloo, Seneca County, recalls, Josephine would write her brothers in the service daily. She would repeat her­self on the basic news, but she would include infor­mation specific to each brother. “It is a lot of writ­ing, but I love it,” Jose­phine, who is now de­ceased, told the newspa­per. “The only thing is that they do not write home of­ten enough. … We worry so, and then a letter comes.” Against the odds, of the eight bothers, only two were injured during the war. Joseph was hit by gunfire in Okinawa; Pat­rick was hurt in a plane crash in Texas and did not go overseas. The brothers settled into their lives here after the war. All the brothers are gone now, but their chil­dren are close, united by their fathers’ patriotism and service. Some of them came together at Red Fe­dele’s Brook House res­taurant in Greece last week (Red’s father was William Fedele).

Phyllis Fiorica of Iron­dequoit, the last survivor of the 14 children of Philip and Angelina Fedele, also came to share memories of her brothers.

At the gathering, Ange­la West of Chili wore a military-style jacket that her father, August Fedele, had brought back from the Philippines nearly 70 years ago.

In uniform, out of uni­form, the Fedele brothers stood tall, making their family and their commu­nity proud.