Born: June 10, 1921
Died: March, 1986
Campaigns Served: Namur, Saipan (wounded)
Highest Rank Attained: Private First Class
Decorations: Purple Heart
Luca Durante was born in New Jersey in 1921. He was named for his paternal grandfather, but often went by the more American version, Luke. Luke was the oldest of the three sons of Lawrence and Rose Durante; however, he faced a formidable contingent of five older sisters. When the war broke out, Luke and his younger brother George joined the armed forces; George went to the Army while Luke joined the Marines.
With Dog Company:
PFC Durante served as an ammunition carrier with Dog Company, 24th Marines. He participated in the battle of Namur with the First Machine Gun Platoon, and was transferred to Able Company in the spring of 1944.
With Able Company:
Durante's machine gun squad consisted of Corporal Anthony Pramberger, PFC Lawrence Jaster, PFC Aldo Passante, PFC Dominick Piccolomini, PFC William Savoy, and PFC Alan Smith. On the night of June 16, 1944, their gun was isolated from the main line of the regiment. They came under intense fire, and all seven of the crew were hit. Smith was killed, and the others badly wounded. A rescue party that came to their aid was also driven off by shellfire, and Durante and his friends were trapped between the lines for some time before stretchers could be brought to their position.
The war was over for Luca Durante. He was transferred to the Naval Hospital at Aiea Heights, Oahu, with a bad wound to his foot. He wrote to his parents to assure them he was recovering; the notice ran in the Red Bank Register on the same day that his brother George was reported missing in Normandy.
Luke Durante eventually returned home to Matawan; his brother was buried in France.
Durante died in Fords, New Jersey, in 1986.