Portrait of Antonio Testaverde
Board September 5, 1920 in Gloucester
Rank: Chief. Service: US Navy. Division/Ship: LST. Theater: Pacific. Dates of Service: 1941 - 1946

Tony Testaverde left school at 14 to do what so many did at his age in Gloucester - join his father as a fisherman. At 21, he shifted to different kinds of ships when he joined the Navy. He was posted on LSTs in the Pacific where he and his crewmembers were attacked by Japanese kamikaze planes. Manning the ship's guns, he helped bring down three of the planes. One bombed his ship nearly blowing him into the ocean. He suffered hearing loss as a result. Testaverde returned to fishing and married Rose Asario, and the couple raised three children before she died in 1980. In 1986, after meeting at a singles dance, he married his current wife, Jean. They live at Central Grammar in downtown Gloucester.