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Contact Info
Home Town San Francisco, California
Last Address Colma, California Buried at Olivet Memorial Park, Colma, California.
Date of Passing Nov 23, 1981
Location of Interment Oak Grove Cemetery - Laton, California
Wall/Plot Coordinates Plot: Military Terrace, Lawn A, # 975
Robert Arrighini was born on December 21, 1919 in San Francisco, CA. He as the son of Ruggero Arrighini and Florence Stephens and graduated from Jefferson High School in Daly City, CA, on June 8, 1938. After graduation, he worked on furnaces, doing both installations and repair.
Robert was inducted on January 7, 1943 and then went into active service on the 14th. He was assigned to Company B of the 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, which saw action throughout Europe receiving credit for participating in the Normandy, Northern France, Central Europe, Ardennes and Rhineland campaigns. Robert was awarded the EAME Ribbon, American Campaign Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal and the Purple Heart for wounds he received on October 12, 1944. He also shared in the success of his unit, which received the Distinguished Unit Citation. Robert left the service at the rank of Technician 5th Grade.
Robert had met his bride to be, on a blind date, in San Francisco, during the summer of 1942. He was doing his furnace work and Lillian was working as a telephone operator for Pacific Bell. Lillian and her parents, William J. Hodges and the former Priscilla Williams, moved to a farm in Liberty, Texas just about the time Robert was moved to Camp Hood, Texas. Lillian had been born in Quinlan, TX so this was not an unusual move but it did prove to be a lucky break for their courtship. Every chance he could, Robert hitch-hiked to visit Lillian, which continued even after their marriage. They were married on August 9, 1943 in Liberty, TX, which was about 250 miles from Camp. Lillian saved all of Robert's letters, particularly the one describing his return to the base, in March 1944 (his last trip home until October 31, 1945) which relates a long list of funny but very touching circumstances, including flat tires, missed buses and much, much more.
When Robert returned to the states, he found work as a diesel mechanic and later as the Manager of a Transportation Company. The couple lived most of their lives in San Francisco but later moved to Daly City. They also had four children, Patricia born in 1944, Roberta born in 1948, and twins sons, Rodger and Robert born in 1951. In his spare time Robert Sr. enjoyed making custom jewelry, wood carving and rock hunting. He passed away on November 23, 1981 and was buried in the Olivet Cemetery in Colma, California.
Description The European-Mediterranean-Middle East Theater was a major theater of operations during the Second World War (between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946). The vast size of Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The fighting in this theatre lasted from 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, until 2 May 1945 when all Axis forces in Italy surrendered. However, fighting would continue in Greece – where British troops had been dispatched to aid the Greek government – during the early stages of the Greek Civil War.
The British referred to this theatre as the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre (so called due to the location of the fighting and the name of the headquarters that controlled the initial fighting: Middle East Command) while the Americans called the theatre of operations the Mediterranean Theatre of War. The German official history of the fighting is dubbed 'The Mediterranean, South-East Europe, and North Africa 1939–1942'. Regardless of the size of the theatre, the various campaigns were not seen as neatly separated areas of operations but part of one vast theatre of war.
Fascist Italy aimed to carve out a new Roman Empire, while British forces aimed initially to retain the status quo. Italy launched various attacks around the Mediterranean, which were largely unsuccessful. With the introduction of German forces, Yugoslavia and Greece were overrun. Allied and Axis forces engaged in back and forth fighting across North Africa, with Axis interference in the Middle East causing fighting to spread there. With confidence high from early gains, German forces planned elaborate attacks to be launched to capture the Middle East and then to possibly attack the southern border of the Soviet Union. However, following three years of fighting, Axis forces were defeated in North Africa and their interference in the Middle East was halted. Allied forces then commenced an invasion of Southern Europe, resulting in the Italians switching sides and deposing Mussolini. A prolonged battle for Italy took place, and as the strategic situation changed in southeast Europe, British troops returned to Greece.
The theatre of war, the longest during the Second World War, resulted in the destruction of the Italian Empire and altered the strategic position of Germany resulting in numerous German divisions being deployed to Africa and Italy and total losses (including those captured upon final surrender) being over half a million. Italian losses, in the theatre, amount to around to 177,000 men with a further several hundred thousand captured during the process of the various campaigns. British losses amount to over 300,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, and total American losses in the region amounted to 130,000.
