Robert Contardo
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Robert Contardo served in World War II in the European Theater.
He served in the U.S. Army and joined in 1942. He was sent to Camp Hale, Colorado, for training. Mr. Contardo was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division and to Headquarters Company, 85th Infantry Division (“Custer Division”). Both divisions served in Italy. He was discharged in 1995.
Mr. Contardo was decorated with a Bronze Star.
He was born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1922, the son of Frank and Maria Contardo--both of whom were from Italy
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall; veteran’s account (below)
“Our division was sent to Italy to fight the Germans in the mountains. They were dug in for months on top of Mount Belvedere, which controlled the Po Valley and beyond. I was in command of twenty-two men. We laid the telephone lines from headquarters to the troops at the front lines. We pushed the Germans off the top of the mountains with many soldiers killed, American and German.”
