Alfonso A. Coppola

The Story of an Anonymous Celebrity

Technician 5th Grade, Headquarters Company, 60th Infantry Regiment

Alfonso A. Coppola is an American soldier like hundreds of thousands of others. He was a member of the 9th Infantry Division, and was even one of the « Originals » at Fort Bragg in 1941. Alfonso will become one of the anonymous heroes, in spite of himself, thanks to a photo taken by a photographer from the Signal Corps. He became – with some of his comrades – the symbol of the liberation of Belgium. Today, and more than ever since September 2024, he and his brothers-in-arms are now celebrated every year in the small village of Cendron, on the Franco-Belgian border south of Chimay. Let’s take a look back at the story of this anonymous hero, who became a symbol of a newfound freedom.

Alfonso A. Coppola was born on August 29, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, Felice Coppola and Louisa Castiglione, originally from Nocera (near Naples), emigrated to the United States at the beginning of the century and settled in New York. Alfonso had a sister, Carmela (1915), and two brothers, Jerry (1919) and Felice (1921). After Alfonso lost his mother, Louisa, due to Spanish influenza in 1922, Felice would later meet Frances Rossi.

At the age of 14, Alfonso left high school to attend Brooklyn Technical School where he studied and graduated as an electrician. He then trained as a plumber. At the age of 23, in January 1941, Alfonso was called up for military service, like many other young men in this troubled period during which the United States was not yet at war.

Left: Alfonso in Brooklyn. Right: Alfonso pictured for the 60th Infantry Regiment’s Yearbook in 1941, portraying all personnel of the Regiment.

He completed his Basic Training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and joined the 14,000 men (and a few women!) who would form the core of the 9th Infantry Division, which had been reactivated in August 1940. Training in the United States will be characterized by participation in numerous exercises, some involving only staff, others involving the entire division in major manoeuvres.

Alfonso was assigned to the Headquarters Company of the 60th Infantry Regiment. This regiment quickly proved its excellence in training manoeuvres that pitted itself against other units, such as during this exercise in June 1941 during which the regiment defeated the 44th (National Guard) Division, 15,400 strong.

Fort Bragg, 1941. The 60th Infantry Regiment is awarded the combat streamer for « Combat Excellence ».

On a Saturday evening, December 6, 1941, the men of the division were on leave, and everyone was already thinking about a family Christmas. The next day, Sunday 7 December at midnight, all the regiments were put on alert. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war. The division is now entering a new phase of its preparation and will initially be assigned to securing critical infrastructure. Many were far from imagining, when they entered military service, that they would remain on active service for another four years… For those who survived the war. From then on, the question on everyone’s lips was whether the division was going to be engaged in the Pacific, or in Europe…

In the spring of 1942, and after several political conferences organized by the Allies, North Africa was finally chosen. A landing was then planned, in which the 9th Infantry Division participated, as one of the first American units to participate in the conflict in Europe. Preparation began in the summer of 1942 and with it, the arrival of a new leader: General Manton S. Eddy, would accompany the division in its first successes for two years.

In September, the first elements of the division – mainly the 39th Regimental Combat Team – set sail for the British Isles to prepare for Scotland. Alfonso, on the other hand, will not see Great Britain. On October 14, 1942, his regiment arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, to conduct new amphibious landing training before embarking for the last time, on October 22, 1942, to land only on November 8 on the beaches of North Africa, as part of the Western Task Force commanded by General Patton, which landed in Morocco.

Alfonso, although assigned to the infantry, was assigned to the position of Switchboard Operator in the Communication Platoon, in the Headquarters Company of the 60th Infantry Regiment, a position he held throughout the war, in the eight campaigns of the division in which he participated. He is one of the very few men to have participated in virtually all of the U.S. Army’s campaigns in the Mediterranean and European theatres of operation, without changing units. He took part in three landings: in North Africa on 8 November 1942, in Sicily on 1 August 1943 where he returned to the land where his parents had grown up, and in Normandy, on Utah Beach, on 11 June 1944.

Chief Switchboard Operator

29th Infantry Division Switchboard Operator near Saint-Lô, Normandy, in July 1944, operating the Switchboard BD-72 at Regimental Headquarters. Alfonso was Chief Switchboard Operator at the 60th Infantry Regiment Headquarters. He and one colleague had to ensure streamlined wired communications between the Battalions and the Division. He mostly worked at night, while moving with the Headquarters at day. It was a forgotten, but essential and exhausting job.

Working on the staff of the 60th Infantry Regiment, Alfonso was rarely in direct contact with the enemy. However, it is not spared from the violence of the fighting. As during this mission that he had to lead alone, to go to the front line to repair telephone lines as close as possible to the German lines. He found himself isolated and cornered, probably surrounded by the Germans, before being able to join his unit the next day, which he did with some difficulty since the codeword had changed in the meantime! He then had all the trouble in the world to prove that he was indeed the T/5 Coppola, of the HQ Company.

On 26 July 1944, the regiment participated, like the entire division, in Operation Cobra, the objective of which was to break the German lines and exploit this breakthrough to rush towards Avranches and southern Normandy. His company was located in the small hamlet of La Courmiette, a few kilometres north of the road that linked Périers to Saint-Lô. Once again, Alfonso and his colleague masterfully ensured communications from the battalions engaged on the front line to the division in the rear. His platoon was installed in a farm in the hamlet which was photographed on 26 August during General Eddy’s visit to the front. This photo would become one of the most emblematic photos of the Battle of Normandy.

(Top Left) Major General Manton Sprague Eddy (right in the jeep, hand on the windscreen), commander of the 9th Inf. Div. US, asks an infantry officer for information along a dirt road. In the background, GIs are resting near a farmhouse where the headquarters of the 60th Infantry Regiment is located. Photo taken on 26 July 1944 in the hamlet of La Courmiette, south-east of Champs-de-Losque (north-west of Saint-Lô). (Top Right) La Courmiette farm today. (Below) Extract from an original map showing the hamlet of La Courmiette (in yellow), just north of the Saint-Lô – Périers road.

The Division continued to generate successes in Normandy, participated in the closure of the Falaise Pocket in mid-August, and then rushed across the great plains of northern France before arriving, on the evening of September 1, 1944, a few kilometres from the Belgian border.

In the early morning of 2 September, the reconnaissance elements of the 60th Infantry Regiment crossed the Belgian border at Cendron, a hamlet of about ten houses. They were the first Allied forces to enter Belgium, followed shortly by elements of the 82nd Reconnaissance Battalion of the 2ndArmored Division who entered Rumes, near Tournai. The 1st Battalion of the regiment will advance in the morning towards Macon to fight elements of the 116. Panzerdivision and 2. SS-Panzer-Division « Das Reich » in the early afternoon.

At the same time, the regimental headquarters was in Cendron and was waiting for Macon to secure before advancing. Far from the raging fighting, the liberated populations celebrated this historic day, and photographers from the Signal Corps immortalized these moments of joy. One of these photographers asked a group of soldiers to pose in front of the sign indicating the Belgian customs, a beautiful symbol of this liberation of a new country to be added to the list of countries liberated by the 9th Infantry Division. In this group of soldiers, Alfonso. This photo is most likely posed, and it shows Alfonso, bareheaded, looking at a map, his hand protecting himself from the sun’s rays. This photo toured the United States in the Stars & Stripes, and was used in many books to illustrate the liberation of Belgium.

Liberation

On September 2nd, 1944, the 60th Infantry Regiment’s HQ Company is waiting in Cendron, while the 1st Battalion is securing the town of Macon, only few kilometers North. While waiting, these men are asked by a Signal Corps photographer to stage that picture, which will become the symbol of the Liberation of Belgium. Alfonso is in the middle, looking down the map with his right hand protecting his eyes from the sun.

On 3 September, the regiment liberated Couvin and fought between Mariembourg and Philippeville, during which Major Matt Urban, who commanded the 3rd Battalion, was seriously wounded but continued to lead an attack on German positions. He was rewarded with the Medal of Honor several years later. From 4 to 7 September, Alfonso witnessed the tragic fighting on the Meuse from the regimental command post in Agimont, in a small house overlooking the Meuse valley.

The division would not stop fighting until the long-awaited day of VE-Day, Victory in Europe, on 8 May 1945. At the time, he was one of the few « Originals » to have participated in all the division’s campaigns, but he was not wounded, which surprised every new arrival in the company. « Alfonso, how did you get through this whole war without a scratch? » they would ask him. Ironically, he was the victim of an accident during the period of occupation in Germany. Injured in the hand, he finally received this Purple Heart.

(Left) Alfonso in 1945, germany, showing-off a German GP35 Pistol. (Right) Studio picture of Alfonso after he was awarded the Purple Heart in 1945, Germany.

General Louis A. Craig, commander of the division, presented him with the Bronze Star for his outstanding service. The citation mentions the period from July 4 to September 30, 1944, a period during which he performed his duty in an exceptional manner. But Alfonso fulfilled his duty in an exemplary manner during these eight campaigns, on three continents, in nine countries. He returned safe and sound, but deeply marked by these four years of war.

Bronze Star

Bronze Star Citation awarded to Alfonso for his meritorious service as Chied Switchboard Operator, when deployed in France and Belgium

On his return from Europe, Alfonso lost his father to a heart attack in 1946. However, life goes on, and Alfonso married the woman he loved and had met in Brooklyn before the war and to whom he wrote his V-Mails from Europe, Celeste Ildebrando. They had two children, a girl, Loretta, and a boy, Philip.

Normandy American Cemetery

In 1974, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the D-Day landings, Alfonso visited Normandy. Although he spoke very little about his war experience to his children, he lets slip a few anecdotes, often innocuous, here and there about his war experiences. Nevertheless, it was a moving moment when he went to the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, where the soldiers killed in the Battle of Normandy are buried, to pay tribute to his friend, Matt D. Campbell.

Alfonso died on May 21, 1986, and is buried in the Cemetery of the Resurrection, a Catholic cemetery on the south coast of Staten Island, New York City.

Alfonso’s story doesn’t end with his death. Thanks to this photograph taken on September 2, 1944, Alfonso, although unknown at the time, has been celebrated alongside his comrades since the end of the war in the Momignies region of Belgium. It was in 2021 that his son, Philip, contacted me via this website. In a short email, he made me understand that I had a photograph of his father. A correspondence then began and then a project: that of returning to Europe in the footsteps of Alfonso, first in Belgium, in Cendron, and then in Normandy and in particular to the cemetery where his friend Matt Campbell is buried. Philip would make this pilgrimage in June 2023, during which time he met people who were keeping his father’s memory alive through associations, ceremonies and a museum. A new project began to take shape: to return for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgium, in September 2024.

(Left) On September 2nd, 2024, exactly 80 years after his father was photographed at the very same place, Philip stood before the local population and national authorities and presented a moving speech in which he emphasized the importance of having these remembrance events organized every year to remember the men who fought for our liberty, as well as to strengthen that special relationship between our countries. (Right) After the official ceremonies, with from left to right, Loretta, Christel Delahaye, Yours Truly, Philip and Séverine Delahaye. The sisters Delahaye are strongly involved in the local patriotic committee and members of the Museum dedicated to the local WWII History.

Which he did, with his sister and a few friends. Loretta and Philip then discovered the fervour and gratitude of an entire people for the men who crossed the Atlantic to come and fight and for some, die, to allow us, Europeans, to regain our freedom.

« Many have fallen and those who made it back are almost all gone. But due to the ongoing efforts of the Belgium people their memory lives on in this grateful country. I pray that bond between the Belgium people and the US will transcend time and the ocean between us. »

— Philip Coppola, Sept. 2024

Alfonso is always with us. As are each of these men, as long as they are not forgotten, as long as their names are mentioned during these commemorations. Some died here, others survived and returned home; but all of them have left a part of themselves in Europe. It is now our duty to tell their story so that through their memory, they will forever remain immortal.