Antonio Pallotta, a World War II veteran who served in Normandy on D-Day turns 100 on Saturday, June 8 considers himself very lucky to have reached this milestone.

Pallotta served in the US Army from March 18, 1943, to December 10, 1945. He served in France and Germany when he was wounded in combat and returned to the United States on a hospital ship.

Born on June 8, 1924 Antonio ‘Tony’ Pallotta was a longtime resident of Cranston before moving to the Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center of Rhode Island in Coventry.

In 1942, when Pallotta was 18, he registered for the draft and soon afterward enlisted in the Army.During his service, Pallotta was a Private First Class and Infantryman in the 79th Division.

Pallotta served in Normandy, landing on June 10, replacing a soldier who was killed. “It wasn’t like D-Day, there were snipers,” Pallotta said about his time in Normandy.

He continued, “When you’re young you don’t know the dangers and it changes you.”

Pallotta received the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantry Badge.

He said the 80th anniversary of D-Day, “Brings back a lot of memories. I have trouble sleeping, so I am constantly reminiscing.”

From his time in the war, Pallotto suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from a severe concussion and was wounded.

During his service, he served in England and France and went across the channel into France. Pallotta was injured during his service and was hospitalized in England. He returned to the United States from England after his injury.

During his deployment, Pallotta recalled the time encountered a tank saying. “At that time, it was not uncommon to see a lot of German equipment damaged along the sides of the road and there was a tank there that I thought was disabled but at the corner of my eye, I saw the tank moving.” Instead of a machine gun, the German soldier used a shell. “I was in a very open space, and I started to go for cover, and before I could get into this barn, he decided to use a shell instead of a machine gun which was lucky for me.”

Pallotta was knocked unconscious. “It exploded over my head when it hit the barn. I passed out because of the concussion. When I awoke, I thought my head got separated from my body and I tried fishing around the ground looking for my head. When I came to, I realized it was still attached to my neck.”

He went to the medics where he was bandaged up and returned to his unit.

“I believe that it is very proud to serve for your country. I am very proud of having been in the service.”

Pallotta was 27 when he married, Emily, they were married for 54 years.

“I was very, very, very lucky.” He came to The Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center of Rhode Island in Coventry four years ago and shortly after he got very sick. He attributes getting better with a nurse that he had taken care of him.

Pallotta said “When I say lucky, the first thing that comes to my mind is a nurse that I had. That you will not find anymore, I don’t think, because I was just laying there, I couldn’t eat, I didn’t even look at the food, and she said Tony, you have to have something because you’re getting too weak. She said food is energy.”

He also said that she would help him with his exercises on her own time. “She used to take half her break and move my arms and legs and so encouraging and so very very nice.”

Pallotta fills his day with exercises. He tries to go to the gym for 15 minutes everyday. He also reads talking books that are supplied by the Perkins School for the Blind, due to him losing his sight he said, “It’s a great help, it fills up my day.” Pallotta also watches TV, plays cassettes, and listens to country music.

After his service, Pallotta would go to the Veterans Hospital and spend time with other veterans at PTSD Groups where they would meet about once or twice a week. “We never talked about our service to anybody when we came home, we never discussed the war.” He continued by saying “We used to have groups at the Veterans Hospital for people with PTSD so you were amongst people who you could talk about the war, which you wouldn’t do otherwise. We were more like clams.”

Antonio ‘Tony’ Pallotta’s family will hold a 100th birthday party Sunday, June 9, at an Italian restaurant in Coventry at 4:00 p.m. Joining him will be his three children Louann Spirito, Malina White, and his son Tony Pallotta as well as his three grandchildren  Malina, Dean, and Karen, and four great-grandchildren Quinn, Lyla, Gianni, and Antonio, his namesake.