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Overcast WWII veteran, wife celebrate 70 years of marriage in East Rockaway
“He gave up his blood for me,” said Gladys Chiaffitelli about her husband, Sal.
In 1944, when he was 23 years old, he was stationed in Virginia to serve his country during World War II. But he never forgot about his fiancee, Gladys, who lived in Brooklyn. To see her, Sal often donated his blood, because the Navy rewarded his generosity with a weekend off.
Now in their 90s, Sal and Gladys have shared the same Carman Avenue home in East Rockaway for the past 50 years. On Nov. 3, the two celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary at a brunch with their family.
Their life together was not without hardships. The couple’s daughter, Nancy Chiaffitelli, remembers a time when the family struggled with finances. “They sacrificed a lot,” she said. “We didn’t grow up with a lot monetarily.” In fact, Sal was always working three jobs: as a mechanic for the New York City Fire Department, as a parking lot owner and as a car dealer. Gladys also worked for an electronics company in Rockville Centre.
Their work did not leave Sal and Gladys much time to socialize. Any free moments they had revolved around family activities. “They never did much as a couple unless it involved their children,” Nancy recalled. “I think their hobby, in a sense, was being with the family.”
Today, the family is still close. In fact, Nancy lives on Grant Street, a few blocks from her parents, and her brother, Christopher, lives near Bay Park. Every weekend, Nancy visits her parents to take them out to eat or run errands. Otherwise they would not leave the house, she said.
Christopher also spends time with his parents, and went over to their house to watch the Super Bowl on Feb. 5. “They were wonderful parents,” he said. “They did sacrifice a lot and … they were sort of role models.”
Sal and Gladys’s life together almost did not happen. On May 28, 1945, Sal was serving on the USS Drexler in Okinawa, Japan, when it was bombed by kamikaze pilots. He jumped off of the ship to join about 10 other men on a lifeboat, where they watched the Drexler sink in minutes.
They were not safe yet, however. Crude oil coating the surface of the water had caught fire, and one of the men on the raft, the ship’s chef, had grease on his clothes. The men feared that his jacket would catch fire and sink the lifeboat. So, Sal sprang into action and cut his jacket off.
That day, 164 men died, including Sal’s best friend, who was with him below deck when the bombing occurred. The two men saw flames coming from above and heard alarms. Sal remembered what he had learned in boot camp and jumped overboard immediately. His friend gambled and decided to gather some money first. He was never seen again.
Sal and Gladys said the tragedy helps them realize how fortunate they are to have lived together for 70 years. “It’s been a good run, and the Lord has blessed us,” Gladys said, “because if you read the story about Sal, we’re lucky he’s here.”
