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Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Arrangement
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Preferred Citation
  • Content Description
  • Conditions Governing Use

  • Contributing Institution: Center for American War Letters Archives
    Title: Louis E. Castagna Second World War correspondence
    Creator: Castagna, Louis E. , Private First Class, 1925-1945
    source: Pietraallo, JoAnn
    Identifier/Call Number: 2018.156.w.r
    Physical Description: 0.1 Linear feet (1 folder)
    Date (inclusive): 1944 August 14 - 1945 April 11
    Abstract: This collection contains correspondence from PFC Louis E. Castagna, USA to his family during the Second World War. Also included are photographs and a disk containing all of this material.
    Language of Material: English .
    Container: WWII 5
    Container: 14
    Container: 1

    Conditions Governing Access

    This collection is open for research.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    Gift of the Castagna and DeBernardo Family, donated by JoAnn Pietraallo.

    Arrangement

    This collection is arranged by material type and chronology.

    Biographical / Historical

    Private First Class Louis E. Castagna, United States Army (11/17/1925 - 4/17/1945) was born in Westerly, Rhode Island to Italian immigrant parents. He joined enlisted in the Army on January 17, 1944 and trained in multiple locations, including Camp Robinson in Little Rock, Arkansas, with the 656 Engineer Topographic Battalion in the 4th Army. He then served in France with a Survey Platoon and served in France and Germany, moving to the 7th Army, until he was killed in action on April 17, 1945 when the jeep he was in went over a land mine in Ippesheim, Germany, possibly on a mine sweeping detail (according to donor).
    From the donor; "He attended local schools and worked in a factory prior to being drafted. According to my late mother's recollections he was very hard working - helped his parents around the home - also turned over his pay to help his family. His parents were Italian immigrants - his death nearly destroyed them."

    Preferred Citation

    [Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Louis E. Castagna Second World War correspondence (2018.156.w.r), Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
    For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

    Content Description

    This collection contains three correspondence from PFC Louis E. Castagna, USA to his family during the Second World War. Also included are one photograph of PFC Castagna, six copies of photographs of him and his unit overseas, his headstone, obituary, and a photograph of him in uniform, as well as all of this material on CD-ROM. One of the photographs was used as a cover to the CD-ROM case.
    PFC Castagna's correspondence mentions his frequent movement, going on a date with an Italian girl while in Paris, Easter Mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and crossing the Rhine River into Germany. German towns mentioned include Nancy, Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Frankfurt.
    The photocopies are of PFC Castagna's survey platoon and some of the drivers. The photograph of him chopping wood was taken while he was 16 or 17 years old (according to donor).

    Conditions Governing Use

    There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
    World War (1939-1945)
    Italian Americans.
    Pietraallo, JoAnn