Frank D. Scordino

rancis “Frank”Scordino was born on October 1, 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts to Carmello and Antonette Scordino. He passed away on December 9, 2016 at Largo Medical Center in Largo, Florida. 

Life Before the War

Frank grew up in the 1930’s in Roxbury, Massachusetts when the times were tough. Frank held a job selling newspapers and shining shoes in the Jackson Square neighborhood before he was eights years old. When Frank wasn’t working he was attending the James P. Timothy School and the old Mechanic Arts High School. 

World War II

Frank joined the United States Army at the age of 18 in 1943 and received his training at Camp Wheeler in Macon, Georgia. Frank was assigned to Bravo Company in the Army’s 42nd Rainbow Infantry Division which saw extensive combat in Europe. PFC Scordino found his unit in the Ardennes forrest, better known as the Battle of the Bulge, in December of 1944. This was the last stand of the Nazi’s resulting in 81,000 American casualties. Frank’s job in the 42nd Infantry was as a point man with his Browning Automatic Rifle. His job was to keep the Germans from overrunning the American foothold and protecting their position. For his heroism, PFC Scordino was awarded two Bronze Stars. According to his daughter Jeanne of Poway, California,

“He never talked about what he did specifically, he kept it to himself.”

Life as a POW 

Shortly after the American’s pushed the Nazi’s out of the Ardennes forrest, Frank and his squad found themselves surrounded by the Germans. They were overwhelmed and out of ammunition. Frank and his men were taken capture by the Germans and made POWs on January 9, 1945. Frank recalled this incident from memory saying,

“We were facing tanks with their guns trained on us, only thirty feet away. They could have easily killed us but for some reason they allowed us to live. Others in the same situation were not so lucky.”

Frank ended up in the Stalag Concentration Camp in Muehlberg, Germany. The camp was originally meant for captured British Air Force Prisoners. Frank and his squad were the first Americans they had.

“The camp was pure hell,” Frank said.

According to Frank the Germans treated the British soldiers much better than the Americans. Frank and his men had to sleep on the concrete floor with no heat. Frank said the food was so bad that they, “fed us turnip soup just without the turnips. Occasionally they would make soup from the potato peelings but we never saw a potato.” Frank had been there a total of 5 months, racked with dysentery and trenchfoot and had dropped weight down to 95 pounds. 

Rescue

Franks fate turned for the better when, by all people, he was helped by a German lieutenant. The German took pity on his physical condition and drove Frank in his Jeep to a hospital in Leipzig, Germany where they gave him enough food, eggnog specifically, to keep him alive. Frank later said, “To this day, I don’t know why he saved me…I like to think it was one human being helping another. Strange things happen in war.” After the Germans officially surrendered, Frank and a few of his men hitchhiked with a Russian truck driver to an American base where it still was a longtime before he arrived home safely. 

Life after the War

Frank’s homecoming was not so joyous. It was then that he learned that his older brother, Lt. Anthony J. Scordino, was killed in action. He was a fighter pilot. After all this Frank was determined to make something of himself and enrolled in Northeastern University to study accounting. It was then that he met the love of his life, Dorothy. Frank first worked for the city of Boston in the Civil Defense Agency and later with the Department of Revenue.

Services

A memorial service will be held privately in Boston, Massachusetts, where Frank will be laid to rest next to Dorothy.  

Friends and family are invited to share a memory and sign his guestbook below.