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name
ROTUNNO, James - Date of
birth
23 June 1917 -
Age
28 - Place of
birth
New York City, New York -
Hometown
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
32204944 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
unknown -
Unit
K Company,
3rd Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment,
45th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Silver Star,
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
22 January 1946 - Place of
death
Reipertswiller, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal -
Tablets of the Missing
* This soldier has been accounted for. A rosette has been placed next to his name.
Immediate family
-
Members
Seccono Rotunno (father)
Lucy Rotunno (mother)
Christine Rotunno (sister)
Michalena Rotunno (sister)
Amelia Rotunno (sister)
More information
S/Sgt James Rotunno attended high school for one year before he enlisted at Fort Dix, New Jersey on 26 January 1942.He was officially declared death one year and one day after he went missing and was presumed death.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 4 October 2022 that S/Sgt. James Rotunno was accounted for on 27 September 2022.
The unit was engaged with German forces during the Battle of Reipertswiller in France and was surrounded, along with four other companies. The surrounded companies were given the order to attempt a break-out on 20 January 1945, but only two men made it through German lines. The rest were either captured or killed. Rotunno was among those killed in the aftermath on 21 January but his body could not be recovered because of the fighting.
Further information will follow (information added October 2022).
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census, http://www.45thdivision.org, www.newspapers.com - The Brooklyn Daily Eagle New York 18 September 1945
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Have Paws will travel, DPAA