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Theodore F. Bottinelli
| Theodore F. Bottinelli | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Teddy Bottinelli |
| Born | 1921 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | 1997 |
| Nativity | United States |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Arm / service | Infantry |
| ASN | 0438996 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Rank at Ritchie | Second Lieutenant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 4 (6 January – 6 March 1943) |
| Section | 17 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Theodore F. “Teddy” Bottinelli (1921–1997) was a United States Army officer from New Orleans who interrogated Italian prisoners in the Salerno campaign and later trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 4.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Theodore F. Bottinelli grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his family ran a flower shop on Canal Street. Fluent in Italian, he served as a second lieutenant interrogator during the September 1943 Salerno landings and the hard fight up the Italian peninsula, gathering intelligence from prisoners amid the mud and minefields of the campaign.
By mid-1944 Bottinelli was back in the United States at Camp Ritchie (Class 4), commanding Italian prisoners of war who had volunteered to work for the U.S. government. After the war he kept contact with men he had captured, including Giuseppe “Joe” Manna. The National WWII Museum later displayed a uniform associated with Captain Bottinelli’s service. He died in 1997.
Research notes[edit | edit source]
- Class 4 at Ritchie appears after Italian combat service (commanding Italian POWs), not as his first MITC course.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
National WWII Museum display of Captain Theodore Teddy Bottinelli uniform (RB Archive / museum photo)
Technical record[edit | edit source]
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 76 |
| Class_ASN | 438996 |
| Class_Name | Bottinelli, Theodore F. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline[edit | edit source]
- 1921 — Born; New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 9 September 1943 — Salerno Bay landings; Italian-language interrogation duty.
- 1943–1944 — Italian campaign interrogator (toward Naples / Monte Cassino period).
- 1944 — Camp Ritchie (Class 4); commanded volunteer Italian POW unit.
- 1997 — Died.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- National WWII Museum display of Captain Theodore Teddy Bottinelli uniform (RB Archive / museum photo)
- National WWII Museum Facebook post on Captain Theodore “Teddy” Bottinelli’s uniform
- RB Archive, Elizabeth Mullener, “The Invasion of Italy,” Times-Picayune, 9 September 1993
- Blake Pontchartrain / Gambit history of Bottinelli Place
- Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
- Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
- NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
- 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)