'I always made sure I got off my tail': Veteran from Roselle to celebrate his 102nd birthday
From the Chicago World's Fair to D-Day, Jerry Juliano has witnessed more than a century of history.
On Saturday, the World War II veteran will celebrate his 102nd birthday with a small gathering surrounded by his family in Roselle.
"I've lived a long life," Juliano said Friday. "But no matter what happened, I always made sure I got off my tail, and I worked.
"There's always an opportunity for everyone out there," he said. "You just have to go out there and make the best of it."
Born July 17, 1919, in Oak Lawn to Italian immigrants, Juliano saw firsthand the struggles of the Great Depression. After his father died, he dropped out of school and shined shoes to earn extra money for his family. He used a kit he and his father made.
Juliano was 14 years old when he shined shoes at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933. During President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, Juliano was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked to make picnic tables in Oregon.
He joined the U.S. Army twice - enlisting in the Reserves in 1939 and serving in active duty in 1944.
During the invasion of Normandy, France, he was a rifleman in the 90th Infantry Division and landed as part of the third wave of the assault on Utah Beach. One week later, Juliano suffered a ruptured eardrum from artillery fire. The injury forced him to spend the rest of the war in London working in a supply depot.
Juliano doesn't talk much about what he saw during the war. Still, he told one of his sons that the horrific depiction of the Normandy landings in the film "Saving Private Ryan" was accurate.
After the war, Juliano and his wife, Evangeline, returned to Oak Park and raised three boys: Jim, Jack and Jay, who died in 2019.
Juliano worked various jobs for a while, including as a barber and bricklayer. He later bought a truck and established his own construction business. He also owned laundromats.
His youngest son, Jack Juliano, said his father was a hardworking man who made the best of his circumstances, despite having only a seventh-grade education.
"He was old-school in his methods," Jack Juliano said. "If he didn't like something, he'd call it out. He saw a problem, and he'd fix it when he could."
But Jim Juliano gave credit to his late mother.
Nicknamed "Tootsie," Evangeline Juliano was a former nurse who held the family together. She would often read and sign business documents for her husband.
"Mom was an angel," Jim Juliano said. "She raised us and helped my dad with his businesses. She really kept all of us going."
When Jerry Juliano retired, he enjoyed going to White Sox games with his sons, even though the prices got too expensive for his taste.
"If he got a nickel, he'd want to save a penny," Jack Juliano said. "Money was always something that he closely guarded and wanted to save. He'd skip on buying cherries if they weren't on sale."