SPIRIT OF AMERICA: Anthony Alfieri

Military service was a family affair for the Alfieri brothers. Anthony Alfieri, a member of the American Legion Post 63 in Winter Garden, served his country in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. But he wasn’t the only Alfieri who took to the seas in defense of his nation. His three brothers — Joseph, Ralph and Daniel — all served in the Navy, as well.

Alfieri joined the Navy in 1949 at age 17 with a desire to see other countries. He went to boot camp in Bainbridge, Maryland, and was in the Navy Reserves for about a year before going to active duty. He spent two-and-a-half years on the USS Bearss DD-654, stationed out of Norfolk, Virginia.

During his time in the Korean War, Anthony and his shipmates were involved in training soldiers in the Marine Corps and Army, establishing beachheads along the North Carolina coast. The ship patrolled all over the Atlantic Ocean, as well — from South America all the way up to Iceland and back down again. 

“(My mom) taught me to eat sitting down at a table, and she said you should sleep with clean sheets every night — the Navy was about the only one at that time that I could get that,” Alfieri said. “Besides, I love the water. I love the ocean. I figured I’d see more of the world also — I never figured a war would start while I was there.”

Alfieri and his three brothers — as well as his sister, Ruthie — were all close, writing letters to one another. He and his older brother, Joseph, both were called into active duty at the same time. The second-oldest of the four brothers, Alfieri hoped his correspondence put his two younger brothers at ease before they went off to serve their country, as well.

“My other two brothers were still in high school at the time, and as they graduated, we had decided that if we had to go, let’s all go for our country,” Alfieri said. “The military made us stronger, made us better people, I felt, because of the discipline you had to put up with.

“Keeping in contact made me think more that I’m doing this (for my brothers),” he said. “I hoped that they didn’t have to go. … I would tell them what we’re doing or what could be done or where they might possibly wind up and stuff like that. I was just hoping that by talking to them it would calm the fear in them — ‘This isn’t really that bad.’”

Both younger brothers each put in two years with the Navy.

Looking back, Alfieri believes the draft should never have stopped, adding that everyone should give one or two years back to their country before getting free college tuition.

“Our country would be a little stronger if everyone went in and did their time — there would be better people in this world, maybe,” Alfieri said. “I think everyone would be on the same page, where they would respect the country they’re living in because of what they got from it, and respect everyone in the country because of who they are.”

Alfieri’s time in the Navy ultimately set the stage for his 26-year career in teaching elementary children. He taught fourth- and fifth-graders at the Carpenter School in Old Bridge, New Jersey, after getting his degree in teaching 15 years after graduating high school.

“I felt by being in the service, when I come home, I could try to help some people doing things right here in the United States right up in Jersey where I lived,” he said. “I did, I think — I hope I did, anyway.

“(I) was teaching kids who needed help,” he said. “Some of them didn’t have two parents. Some of them did, but some of the parents worked two jobs, and when they come home at night, they’re too tired to help the child with their work. I would stay after school many days and help.”

Alfieri said he’s thankful to have served his country and made it home — some friends that he knew weren’t so lucky.

“The only thing I did was pray to God every day that I made it back home, because I did have a few boys that did go over to Korea who I grew up with and went in around the same time as I did and they never made it home,” Alfieri said. “Some of them did make it home, but they weren’t too well when they got home. I prayed to God every day — and I still do today and thank Him that I did what I did, and I did make it.”

Alfieri also prays that less- fortunate countries he saw during his travels in the Navy someday will enjoy the freedoms that make America so special.

“American freedom means that I’m free to talk about anything — I could talk about the president, bad or good, and nothing is going to happen to me,” he said. “I got the freedom of speech. I got the freedom of religion. I got the freedom to go wherever I want. That’s the freedom that we fought for.”

The Alfieri family is a prime example of America being the land of opportunity, he said. He and his three brothers all went to college, while his sister worked her way up to becoming a successful HR executive for the Sony Corporation without a degree.

“(My brothers) were all educated — we all had college degrees, even though we all paid for them ourselves, because our parents didn’t have any money,” Alfieri said. “We were the first generation over in this country — my parents came from Italy when they were small and then grew up here.

“That’s (the) opportunities that we have here,” he said. “In most countries, if your father is a shoemaker, that’s what you were. You couldn’t move up in anything like you can in this country. … I think in this country it’s taken for granted, our freedoms.”