World War II vet at 100 honored by village of Bloomingdale
The Village of Bloomingdale recently honored Emil Garippo, who turned 100 on April 1, with Emil Garippo Day.
Earlier this year, the Illinois General Assembly passed a resolution congratulating the Bloomingdale centenarian and thanking him for his military service.
Garippo attended the Bloomingdale village board meeting July 24 with his family where he was honored.
Bloomingdale Mayor Franco Coladipietro offered birthday greetings, and several VFW veterans came to salute Garippo and present their thanks.
He spoke to the village board of his war experiences and his gratitude for the honor.
He was born in 1924 in a poor Little Italy neighborhood, where the University of Illinois/Chicago now sits. The families of both his parents had recently immigrated to the U.S.
Later as a medic during World War II, he landed at Normandy beaches less than two weeks after D-Day. He still vividly recalls details from the hundreds of bodies he pulled from swamps and fields as he moved east with the military. As well as the comradery and tightness that bonded his unit of 12 comrades.
He wrote often with his older brother, Mike, who also served on the European front. In December 1944, Mike's courage had led to the capture of 30 German soldiers before he was taken down by enemy fire. He would be awarded the Silver Star, the highest medal for valor not unique to a specific branch. Emil visited his brother's grave in Holland twice, hitching rides to get there.
After arriving home, he married Dean Rugg and they had one boy and two girls. He graduated with an education degree from DePaul University in 1949, later earning his Master's. Doing so, he became among the earliest Americans to benefit from the GI Bill and the first in his family with a college degree.
Longtime Bloomingdale residents, the couple were married 74 years utnil her death at age 96 in late 2020. For most of their last 20 years together, Emil acted as her primary daily caregiver as Dean suffered dementia.
Nowadays he mostly enjoys time with his children, four grandchildren, and now two great-grandchildren.