Joseph F Accardi Sr.

Joe Accardi was born on August 10, 1916 in Brooklyn, NY, the sixth of seven children. Both of his parents had been born in Italy. His father worked as a carpenter in a cabinet shop and two of his older teenage sisters worked as seamstresses, doing fine embroidery to help support the family.

By 1940, Joe had completed two or three years of high school and was working as a cutter in a cellophane factory. He registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, and enlisted on March 13, 1943. At that time his occupation was listed in the category of "machine shop and related occupations." Like a number of other March 1943 enlistees from New York and New Jersey, he was assigned to a unit which eventually became part of the 406th Engineer Combat Company. Along with other men of the 406th, he served in Europe with the unit.

Somewhere along the way, Joe had gotten interested in music. By all accounts he was a fine singer, performing "Night and Day" at the "Blarney Breakdown," a live show put on by the men of the Ghost Army over three days in late October, 1944.

After the war, and before his discharge from the Army, Joe was briefly stationed in Mississippi, and was involved in a show there as well, put on by Ghost Army soldiers and others at the Front Street USO in Hattiesburg in October, 1945. Joe performed, and numerous members of the 603rd were involved in set design and scenery painting.

Other evidence about his musical inclinations comes from a 1945 newspaper article in a Hattiesburg, MS newspaper stating that "Private Accardi hasn't yet decided to go back to work as a lens grinder or start his orchestra again after he is discharged."

After his discharge, with the rank of PFC, on November 4, 1945, Joe returned to his family home in Brooklyn. He eventually married a woman named Rosaria and they had three children: Frank, Rosann, and Joseph Jr. But nothing else is known of his life or work, so we don't know which career path he chose.

Joe was living in Jamaica, Queens, NY when he died on October 29, 1976, and is buried at the Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale, NY.

Sources:

1920 census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/75751472:6061?tid=&pid=&queryId=8f2a9e3f00561d48fdde23c5388ce4f6&_phsrc=Wqj8&_phstart=successSource

1940 census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3612780:2442?tid=&pid=&queryId=8f2a9e3f00561d48fdde23c5388ce4f6&_phsrc=Wqj7&_phstart=successSource

1940 draft card

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/193376024:2238?tid=&pid=&queryId=59452e641fc0a7bd8c91a613b659f66e&_phsrc=Wqj2&_phstart=successSource

1943 enlistment record

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2757766:8939?tid=&pid=&queryId=cd61817a1289e5865223a811729366a4&_phsrc=vWE5&_phstart=successSource

1945 article in the Hattiesburg American (MS) re his appearance in a show there

https://www.newspapers.com/image/278151069/?terms=joe%20accardi&match=1

1945 article in the Hattiesburg American (MS) re his time in military

https://www.newspapers.com/image/278151185/?terms=406th%20engineers&match=1

1947 Letter from George Rebh (references Brooklyn address)

1976 Find a Grave record

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/253564/joseph-f-accardi?_gl=1*4u4hfu*_gcl_au*MTY5NDk3NDIxLjE2OTI0NjcwMjg.*_ga*MzE3NDkzMTk2LjE2OTI0NjcwMjk.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTQ1NDY1NmMtZmYxYi00MWZkLTg0ZDYtZGYyNmQ5MDQ3NTQwLjYuMS4xNjkyNTY3NTIxLjU5LjAuMA..

1976 US Veterans' Gravesites

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/59433:8750?tid=&pid=&queryId=6bdc6d6437832ea8ca9e8d44e48feda1&_phsrc=Wqj13&_phstart=successSource

1976 Social Security death index

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/110655:3693?tid=&pid=&queryId=6bdc6d6437832ea8ca9e8d44e48feda1&_phsrc=Wqj14&_phstart=successSource

1976 death notice in the Daily News (New York, NY)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/480691362/?terms=joseph%20f%20accardi&match=1

406th Unit History

https://ghostarmy.org/thearchive/History-of-the-406th/intro/