Alfred H. "Al" Latini
T/5 in 603rd Engineeer Camouflage Bn : Co C
ASN#33464650
Born 1921 in PA, Died 2004
Artist
Other residence(s): Paterson, NJ in 1998
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: art student
College education before the war: Pratt 2 years
College education after the war: Pratt
Alfred Henry Latini was born on May 2, 1921 in Sayre, Pennsylvania. His parents were both born in Italy, and he was the fifth of seven children.
He graduated from Sayre High School and went on to study at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. His studies were interrupted after two years or so; he was drafted on February 15, 1942 (where his draft form indicates he is a Pratt student) and enlisted on March 14, 1943. He was promoted to PFC in May.
He was overseas with the Ghost Army from May 2, 1944-July 2, 1945, and discharged from the Army with the rank of T-5 on November 19, 1945.
A September 1944 article in The Evening Times (Sayre NJ) says that "PFC Albert Latini, in France, says his experiences are interesting—too interesting to get by the censor. We should think they were." Three of his brothers were also in the service during World War II.
In June 1946 he received his degree from Pratt.
He married Lillian Cilento in October 1953 in her hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, and that's where the newlyweds settled. He and Lily would go on to have two children.
Al worked as a commercial artist for the advertising agency Riedl and Freed from some time after its founding in 1950 to some time in the mid-sixties, when he went to work as an illustrator for Kearfott, a New Jersey defense equipment manufacturer. At the time he went to work for them, they were the largest airborne computer producer in the US. He stayed there until his retirement.
His daughter, who also found work as a graphic designer, was quoted in his obituary as follows: "When I was a kid, he used to paint. He was always in the basement painting. I would go downstairs and watch him and that's how I got interested in art. I used to watch him mixing his paints and I wanted to do it, too."
He was a member of Riverside Veterans of Hawthorne.
He died on April 21, 2004 and was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey. His Ghost Army friend, Tom Cuffari, said of him that he was a "well-liked and highly respected man."
Sources:
1942 Draft Card
1943 Enlistment Record
1943 article in The Evening Times (Sayre NJ) re his promotion to PFC
https://www.newspapers.com/image/96229160/?terms=alfred%2Bh%2Blatini
1945 article in The Evening Times(Sayre NJ) re his discharge from service mentioning rank
https://www.newspapers.com/image/352943425/?terms=alfred%2Blatini
1946 article in The Evening Times (Sayre NJ) re his graduation from Pratt
https://www.newspapers.com/image/353532404/?terms=alfred%2Bh%2Blatini
1950 Pennsylvania Veteran Compensation File
1953 New Jersey Marriage Index
1953 article in The Evening Times (Sayre NJ) re his marriage
https://www.newspapers.com/image/96803741/?terms=alfred%2Bh%2Blatini
2004 Obituary in The Record (Hackensack NJ)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/499998331/?terms=thomas%2Bp%2Bcuffari
2004 Find a Grave record