Author: James J. Altieri

James J. Altieri was born in Philadelphia, PA on March 4, 1920 and passed away on April 18, 2008 in Newport Beach, CA. A former steelworker at Lukens Steel Company near Philadelphia, he enlisted on October 8, 1941 and joined the 68th Field Artillery of the First Armored Division. While serving with the 1st AD in Northern Ireland, he volunteered for the First Ranger Battalion which had been officially activated on June 19, 1942.Altieri was promoted from First Sergeant to Second Lieutenant with the Fourth Ranger Battalion on November 21, 1943 and to First Lieutenant on February 25, 1944. He participated in six campaigns, 17 battles and four assault landings through North Africa, Sicily and Italy and was wounded twice during the Volturno-Venafro Campaign. First, Altieri suffered a machine gun wound to his right leg in October and the second time he caught shrapnel to his head on November 13, 1943. The Fourth Ranger Battalion was deactivated in October 1944 at Camp Buckner, North Carolina. He was the recipient of the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.Altieri was a military technical advisor on films and authored The Spearheaders and Darby’s Rangers. He was President of the WWII Rangers Remembrance Society and the Ranger Battalions Association of WWII, Western Chapter. James Altieri was inducted into the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 2009.