Robert Ceci of Joliet recalled the day he told his first grade teacher, “Miss Rose, my dad just went off to war,” to which Robert said his teacher replied, “Well, I hope he comes back safely.”
“And that’s the only thing I remember,” Robert said. “I don’t even remember him coming back, to be honest with you.”
Robert’s father, Pvt. David L. Ceci, served in the Army during World War II. So did four of David’s brothers. Cpl. Frank Ceci, California; Cpl. Henry Ceci, France; Pfc. Daniel Ceci, England; and Staff Sgt. Emil Ceci.
A dateline of Nov. 10 from The Herald-News, exact year unknown, said a Nov. 5 report from the Army said “an additional 1,875 killed in European area and 112 Illinoisians on new casualty list.” One of those casualties was Emil.
Henry Ceci was a prisoner of war. Robert’s father, David, was wounded in action.
The other Ceci siblings also lived in Joliet: Edward, Louis and Richard, and Louise Affrunti. Online genealogy records suggest the family had 12 brothers and sisters in all. These may have died in infancy or early childhood, according to the records.
Robert’s knowledge of his father’s military service came from a few Herald-News newspaper clippings that Robert’s mother Eleanor [deceased] had kept.
“My wife put plastic over them,” Robert said.
Robert said the men of that generation often didn’t talk about their war experiences. And that was true of Robert’s father and his uncles.
Nor did Robert get any details from his grandparents, although the Herald-News stories always mentioned his grandmother: Mrs. Leopold [Mary] Ceci of 5 Clyde Ave. in Joliet. Leopold, Mary’s husband, died in 1942.
“My grandmother and grandfather were from Italy and neither one of them spoke English,” Robert said. “My grandmother died, probably, when I was about 4 years old.”
Robert said his grandfather died in his 60s and his grandmother died in her 80s. She eventually did learn some English.
“Enough to become a U.S. citizen,” Robert said.
Robert’s wife, Diana, contacted The Herald-News and asked if The Herald-News would share the Ceci brothers’ stories. Many people today don’t have five brothers from one family serving in a war at the same time, Robert said.
“Me and my wife, we just feel it’s important,” Robert said.
Frank Ceci
Most of what’s known about Frank is from his obituary, which was published in The Herald-News in 2001 after his death at the age of 88.
It said Frank was a World War II Army veteran and lifetime member of Stone City VFW Post #2199. He retired from Illinois Bell Telephone after 43 years of service and was an avid sportsman and gardener.
One Herald-News clipping said Frank spent two and a half years in Alaska during his service. Other clippings said Frank was also in California and Oklahoma.
At the time of Frank’s furlough in the above photo, Daniel was in the Army 15 months and was stationed with the medical corps in Fort Jackson, South Carolina; David was in service a month in the infantry at Camp Blanding, Florida; Emil had served three years and was in England; and Henry was in service 10 months and was in the field artillery in Fort Riley, Kansas.
Daniel Ceci
Daniel served in the Army with the medical corps in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and was stationed in England for a time.
David Ceci
According to reports, Pvt. David L. Ceci graduated from Joliet Township High School and was a tool press operator for the Moore Corporation, presumably in Joliet. He and his wife Eleanor lived at 529 Gardner St.
David enlisted in the Army in March 1944, trained at Camp Blanding, Florida, and went overseas in August. He was seriously wounded in action on Jan. 2 of the same year Emil was killed and Henry went missing.
Shell fragments had gone into his left shoulder and back from an enemy shell as his unit advanced towards a Belgium town. He was 30 and subsequently awarded the Purple Heart. Robert was 6 at the time and Robert’s sister Beverly was 5.
“As my unit was advancing towards this town in Belgium, I was assigned to patrol duty,” David recalled in a Herald-News story. “We were probing the outer defenses of the German lines, and our movements must have been sighted by an enemy observer. Their artillery began to pepper our position, and I was hit when a shell exploded about 20 yards in front of my position.”
A jeep took David to receive aid. He was transferred to an evacuation hospital, where he was treated, and then flown to England.
Emil Ceci
Emil graduated from Washington Grade School and worked at American Stone Quarry.
He enlisted in the Army on April 22, 1941; trained at Camp Livingston, Florida, and Camp Pickett, Virginia; and went overseas in July 1943.
A staff sergeant, Emil had been in France about a month before his death.
Mary received a telegram that he was killed in action. Emil was 33 and had served three years. At the time, Frank was in California, Henry was in France, Daniel was in England and David was somewhere in transition.
A memorial Mass was held for Emil at the Church of St. Anthony.
Henry Ceci
Henry graduated from Joliet Township High School and then enlisted in the Army on July 26, 1943. He trained at Camp Rooker in Alabama and Fort Riley in Kansas. His last furlough was in April; he was sent to Europe in July. At some point, Henry married Lillian and lived at 702 Davis St.
His mother later received a telegram from the war department that Henry, 19, had been missing in action since Oct. 8.
The telegram did not report where Henry was last seen when he went missing. But his last letters, dated Oct. 2 and Oct. 5, were both written in France. Emil was killed in France in August earlier that year.
At the time, Henry had three other brothers in the service. Daniel was in England, David was in France and Frank was in Oklahoma.
Another prisoner of war, Cpl. Mario Vangelisti of Marseilles, wrote to his sister-in-law Margaret Vangelisti of Joliet and said he met a boy by the name of Ceci from Joliet in a German prison camp.
Mario wrote that the boy said he knew the parents of the Vangelisti family. Several of the Ceci boys had, in fact, worked for Margaret’s father.
Henry returned home and retired from Commonwealth Edison after 33 years of service. He died in 1998 at the age of 73, according to his obituary in The Herald-News.
Former Herald-News columnist John Whiteside [deceased] interviewed Lillian in 1994 about Henry’s homecoming. Lillian clearly recalled the months of uncertainty, not knowing if Henry was alive or dead.
“Those were the longest months I ever felt in my life,” Lillian said in the story.
But Lillian described the day Henry stepped off a train in Joliet as “the best ever spring.”