Born: June 14, 1921
Died: March 1, 2005
Campaigns Served: Namur, Saipan (wounded)
Highest Rank Attained: Private First Class
Decorations: Purple Heart
With Dog Company:
PFC Aldo Passante 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:
Passante was part of a squad with Corporal Anthony Pramberger, PFC Lawrence Jaster, PFC Luca Durante, 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 Passante and his friends were trapped between the lines for some time before stretchers could be brought to their position.
Aldo Passante was transferred to Naval Hospital #10 in July, 1944, and did not return to the company. After his discharge, he returned to the United States, eventually settling in Columbus, Ohio. He married Mona Hoover in 1997; they lived together until Aldo's death in 2005.