Portrait of Frank Mondello
Born May 20, 1925 in Gloucester
Rank: PFC. Service: US Army. Division/Ship: 80th Division 317th Battalion, 3rd Army (Patton's Army). Theater: Europe. Dates of Service: 1943 - 1945. Specific Battles: Bastogne. Special Citations: Purple Heart, Legion of Honor

The son of a cobbler, Mondello was one of 14 children born and raised on Mondello Square. He and his siblings slept three to a bed. Of the eight sons in the family, five served in WWII, including his brother Joseph. He entered the US Army in 1944 and was assigned to the 80th Division, 317th Battalion of Patton's 3rd Army, and while he landed in France just after the initial invasion of Normandy, he spent 8 1/2 months on the front lines in a near constant state of combat - often as a scout. It was on one of those scouting missions in France that a German artillery shell landed, hitting him with shrapnel, some of which still remains in his hand today. During a battle in the town of Erfurt, he and five others were captured by German SS troops. The next day while being held as POWs, US troops from the 4th Armored Division retook the town. They were mistaken for German soldiers and while their captors were killed, two of the captured Americans were also killed. Mondello survived and returned to action. Back home, his family followed his journey across Europe - as best as they could - based on cryptic letters home, and plotted his steps on a large map. Today it is framed, and has pride-of-place in the kitchen. He returned home to Gloucester following his discharge in 1945 and marred his wife of 60 1/2 years (at the time) in 1947. Together hey had four children. In 1959 he opened Mondello's Texaco.