Armando "Chick" Galella - U.S. Army 1940-45
Armando "Chick" Galella - U.S. Army 1940-45
World War II veteran, Pearl Harbor survivor and lifetime North Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow resident Armando “Chick” Galella died yesterday, Sept. 29, 2021, at Phelps Memorial Hospital due to complications of COVID-19. He was 100.
Galella was born in 1921. He enlisted in the army and was assigned to the 443rd Signal Corps at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. He was 20 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Chick went on to earn the rank of Battalion Sgt. Major and served 5 years in the Pacific during WWII. Chick was awarded the Bronze Star for serving at the Battle of Okinawa.
Shortly after the war, he married Leda DiFelice, who preceded him in death in 2015 after 68 years of marriage. Surviving Galella are two sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Galella served as North Tarrytown village trustee, deputy mayor and held various leadership roles in the now Sleepy Hollow Volunteer Fire Department. His membership in the Pocantico Hook & Ladder Company dates back to 1948.
Galella continuously gave back to his community. At his 100th birthday celebration, he broke ground for a statue honoring Gold Star Mothers at Sleepy Hollow’s Horan’s Landing Park. He raised the money for the statue together with his son with the support of the historical society. (The park itself is named after his friend, fellow resident John J. Horan, who didn’t make it home from the war.)
Copy of DVD interview of Pearl Harbor survivor Armando "Chick" Galella
