MONTEREY, California -- When Col. Lawrence Brown joined the Army, combat veteran Anthony Gambale celebrated his 67th birthday.
On June 21, when Gambale, a D-Day invasion World War II veteran, turned 100, Brown, the Presidio of Monterey garrison commander, attended the birthday party at the Windsor Monterey Care Center.
"We're here to honor Mr. Gambale, one of our last of the greatest generation, for the tremendous sacrifices he and his fellow soldiers made so long ago," Brown told family and friends of the Bronx, New York, native.
Gambale's 91-year old wife Gloria and their son, Anthony Jr., thanked Brown, who enlisted in the infantry in 1983, serving with 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger regiment before he was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1991.
The Presidio's new commander presented Gambale Sr. with a commander's coin.
Storming the French coastline two days after D-Day, June 6, 1944, Gambale was wounded by enemy fire at St. Lo, resulting in the removal of a lung.
Social Sharing