AUBURN - Tony DeTomaso celebrated his 20th birthday in a ditch in France while serving with the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion. Next week, he'll be celebrating his 84th birthday in Auburn, which now has a street that officially bears the name of that company.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
A wreath memorializes the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion Friday afternoon at the Cayuga County office building in Auburn. The local battalion took part in the invasion of Normandy during World War II, and local officials are designating a section of Genesee Street as the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion Memorial Highway.
A wreath memorializes the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion Friday afternoon at the Cayuga County office building in Auburn. The local battalion took part in the invasion of Normandy during World War II, and local officials are designating a section of Genesee Street as the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion Memorial Highway.
DeTomaso and fellow 299th member Dominick DeBenedetto were both present Friday during a ceremony commemorating the battalion's role in the Allied invasion at Normandy during World War II.
During the event, state and local officials announced that a portion of Genesee Street in Auburn would be named after the group to honor the six Auburn residents who fought in the battle. The 299th Engineer Combat Battalion
Memorial Highway will run from the Market Street Park to Veterans Memorial Park at James Street.
“I'm glad that we can see all these people who came,” DeTomaso said of the 75-plus crowd that attended the ceremony.
The ceremony is held every year around the anniversary of D-Day on June 6. It takes place in front of the county office building, where there is a monument dedicated to the battalion.
Auburn City Council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday at its weekly meeting to designate the road a memorial highway. The council had previously voted to name a stretch of the Arterial after the battalion. However, that portion of road had already been dedicated as the Purple Heart Highway by the state transportation department.
City Councilor William Graney said after the ceremony that Genesee Street is a perfect location anyway, as it runs along the city's war memorial.
“This is their hometown,” Graney said. “It's a long time coming.”
Many of the men in the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion were from Cayuga County and upstate New York. Nicholas DeAngelis, John Spinelli, Leo Indelicato, Tom Phillips, Claude Brown and Lawrence Roberts, all from Auburn, died during the invasion.
DeTomaso said he first thought of a memorial route in Auburn when he saw a highway named after the battalion in the Buffalo area.
“I saw one of those signs and said we need to get one of those here, too,” DeTomaso said.
DeTomaso and DeBenedetto worked with city council, as well as state legislators Michael Nozzolio and Gary Finch, to find a place for the road.
“We've been waiting on this for two years now,” DeBenedetto said. “It's good to have it.”
City Councilor Thomas McNabb read a proclamation, county Legislature Chairman Roger Mills said a few words, and both Finch and Nozzolio spoke during the ceremony. DeTomaso's grandson, Tony, played taps on the trumpet.
“This will keep the spirit of the heroism of this great unit alive,” Nozzolio said after the ceremony.
Signs for the memorial route have not yet been erected. DeTomaso and DeBenedetto are currently working on the passage that will commemorate the battalion, DeTomaso said.
“We don't want to leave anyone out,” he said.
Staff reporter Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
During the event, state and local officials announced that a portion of Genesee Street in Auburn would be named after the group to honor the six Auburn residents who fought in the battle. The 299th Engineer Combat Battalion
Memorial Highway will run from the Market Street Park to Veterans Memorial Park at James Street.
“I'm glad that we can see all these people who came,” DeTomaso said of the 75-plus crowd that attended the ceremony.
The ceremony is held every year around the anniversary of D-Day on June 6. It takes place in front of the county office building, where there is a monument dedicated to the battalion.
Auburn City Council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday at its weekly meeting to designate the road a memorial highway. The council had previously voted to name a stretch of the Arterial after the battalion. However, that portion of road had already been dedicated as the Purple Heart Highway by the state transportation department.
City Councilor William Graney said after the ceremony that Genesee Street is a perfect location anyway, as it runs along the city's war memorial.
“This is their hometown,” Graney said. “It's a long time coming.”
Many of the men in the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion were from Cayuga County and upstate New York. Nicholas DeAngelis, John Spinelli, Leo Indelicato, Tom Phillips, Claude Brown and Lawrence Roberts, all from Auburn, died during the invasion.
DeTomaso said he first thought of a memorial route in Auburn when he saw a highway named after the battalion in the Buffalo area.
“I saw one of those signs and said we need to get one of those here, too,” DeTomaso said.
DeTomaso and DeBenedetto worked with city council, as well as state legislators Michael Nozzolio and Gary Finch, to find a place for the road.
“We've been waiting on this for two years now,” DeBenedetto said. “It's good to have it.”
City Councilor Thomas McNabb read a proclamation, county Legislature Chairman Roger Mills said a few words, and both Finch and Nozzolio spoke during the ceremony. DeTomaso's grandson, Tony, played taps on the trumpet.
“This will keep the spirit of the heroism of this great unit alive,” Nozzolio said after the ceremony.
Signs for the memorial route have not yet been erected. DeTomaso and DeBenedetto are currently working on the passage that will commemorate the battalion, DeTomaso said.
“We don't want to leave anyone out,” he said.
Staff reporter Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
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