Salvatore Salemi

Salvatore Salemi
Salvatore Salemi with future wife Libby Previti, December 1944.
Personal details
Born	1913 Manhattan, Indiana
Died	2008
Nativity	United States
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32622166
Enlisted	New York City, New York
Team	IPW Italian 4

Teammates

Team — IPW Italian 4

These are other soldiers listed on the same team roster. People moved between teams; overlapping service dates are not always documented.

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

Salvatore Salemi (1913–2008) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States) who trained at Camp Ritchie.

Biography

Born in Manhattan in 1913, the son of Sicilian immigrants, Ritchie Boy Sgt.

He was trained at Camp Ritchie in the winter of ‘42-‘43, leading to an assignment as an Italian language interpreter/interrogator of POWs with the 5th Army’s 2680th HQ Company, which he joined in North Africa early in 1943.

Africa to Sicily, Naples and Anzio, the breakout into Rome, and later into Southern France in the summer of 1944. On a well-earned December 1944 furlough. However, Salemi was sent back to Italy in January 1945 for an assignment with the 10th Mtn.

Sal married his wife Liberty (Libby) in 1947, with whom he enjoyed a long life in Woodside, Queens, living until ages 95 and 102, respectively. Salemi followed his father into the fruit and produce business in Queens while still a teenager. By the mid-1930s, Salemi had begun operating his own produce stores (and competing as a bantamweight amateur boxer) until his induction into the Army in Nov.

Salemi was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division from N. He returned to the Italian theater in Tuscany in the fall of '44 before coming home to the U.S. Division in the Apennine mountains.

His new duties included reconnaissance/observation of enemy positions, followed by written reports and interrogations of thousands of refugees and prisoners in the Cutigliano and Rocca Pitigliano areas in northern Italy that served as hideouts for Axis troops. During the Po Valley campaign (Feb.–May '45), he earned both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. In June, he left the 10th Division to serve with the U.S.

Army of Occupation, primarily in Austria, until his discharge in Nov. He was a contemporary of fellow Ritchie Boys who served with the G-2 operation in Italy, including Alex Sabbadini, Fritz Goldarbeiter and Bill Galen.

After his WWII service, Salemi led a quiet life in the New York area, returning to the fruit and produce business as a self-employed owner/operator and retail vendor. Their family included sons Dr. Salemi, both of whom have detailed knowledge of U.S.

Army actions in Sicily and Italy during the war.

Research notes

• Also SC 1

Gallery

• 
  Cpl. Salvatore Salemi, at left, with fellow Ritchie Boys Lts. Bill Galen and Nick Sottile, Trapani, Sicily, 1943
• 
  Salemi was an amateur boxer before entering the Army.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	95
Nara ASN	32622166
Nara Name	SALEMI SALVATORE
Nara State	23
Nara County	81
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	71142
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	BI
Nara Branch Code	0
Branch	Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	23
Nativity.1	NEW YORK
Nara Year of Birth	13
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	6
Nara Civilian Occupation	72
Nara Marital Status	1
Nara Height (inches)	65
Nara Weight (lbs)	116
row_source	demographics

Sources

• Trapani 1943 — Salemi, Galen, and Sottile
• 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)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2026-07-20 (1 post)