Awards a Long Time Coming –Cagle

Bits and Pieces

Philip Sangenario left this world in 1991. His tale, like those of many from Mr. Sangenario’s generation, was never given the recognition it deserved. Men from “The Greatest Generation” didn’t seek out parades or accommodations, even though they were clearly merited. But this former vice president of Colonial Press—a Clinton, MA, print shop that closed in 1977—has an amazing story, one which finally resulted in long-overdue recognition.

According to information from Mr. Sangenario’s obituary in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, he served with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II in the “European-African-Middle Eastern theater.” He parachuted into Normandy, France, on D-Day (June 6, 1944) from the first of 20 airplanes of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes in Belgium, the Rhineland in Germany and Central Europe.

Despite his bravery and heroics, Mr. Sangenario kept much of those experiences to himself. And when he died in 1991, Mr. Sangenario was never honored with medals he had earned on the battlefield. But, thanks to his brother, John Sangenario, the former Colonial Press executive has finally gotten the recognition he deserves.

John Sangenario, 81, stepped to the podium in his brother’s stead and accepted several medals awarded posthumously to Philip Sangenario during a Feb. 23 ceremony at Pease Air National Guard Base in Portsmouth, NH, according to the Telegram and Gazette. The younger Sangenario pursued the medals at the urging of a local historian, and after a few unsuccessful attempts by John Sangenario to procure the honors, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) helped make it happen.

According to the newspaper, the late Mr. Sangenario’s brother accepted a laundry list of medals: the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Presidential Unit Citation with a bronze oak leaf cluster, good conduct medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign medal with four bronze service stars with an arrowhead, World War II Victory Medal, Honorable Service Lapel Button and a parachutist badge.

The accolades may have come decades after the fact, and the man himself has been dead for more than 20 years. Even so, to all of us, these medals don’t represent just the efforts of Philip Sangenario, but those of countless young men and women who either anonymously risked their lives or gave them altogether in the interest of global peace.
That is certainly worth commemorating.

WINNING TICKET: The warm suns of May are a gentle reminder that the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games are not far behind. But, across the pond, there was quite a furor earlier this year in an event won by an American team. It didn’t earn the United States a gold medal, but it did provide an Arkansas printer with a hefty printing job.

In using what it called a “thorough, competitive and open tender run” using CompeteFor, a job Website designed specifically for Games-related work contracts, The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) awarded the bid to print event tickets to Weldon, Williams & Lick of Fort William, AR. According to the Website LondonlovesBusiness, the award has caused a major uproar among Britons who believe the job should have been kept in-country.

Incredibly, London Mayor Boris Johnson has been the subject of ire among mayoral candidates (big surprise there) who claim that jobs created by the Olympic Games are going elsewhere instead of to Londoners.

“There was a great deal made about the fact that local residents would be the first in line for jobs during the construction, but in the end the definition of local was so vague that most of the jobs went to foreign workers, who simply had to provide a local address,” mayoral candidate Lawrence Webb told LondonlovesBusiness. “Now, we discover that the contract to print the tickets is going to a company outside the UK altogether.”

Jim Walcott, president of Weldon, Williams & Lick, had no comment on the matter. He was probably busy printing 11 million tickets.

SWEET DREAMS: Kelly Gottshall was on maternity leave from her job as graphic designer/desktop publisher for Speediprint’r in Doylestown, PA, when she saw TV commercials promoting the Great Sprout Tuck-In drive. The initiative was developed by the Pajama Program, a nonprofit that collects new pajamas and books for children in need, in conjunction with Sprout, the 24-hour preschool cable network.

“After seeing how comforted my daughter is by climbing into her pajamas and being read a story before bedtime, I realized it would be a great charity to get involved in,” Gottshall says. “Speediprint’r has given me the freedom to use the office as a collection and drop-off point for the program for the last two years.”

In January, Gottshall’s collecting efforts netted 37 new books and 15 pair of pajamas. They were delivered to the Maternity Care Coalition in Philadelphia, one of many agencies and organizations around the country that benefit from the Pajama Program.

Many of these children reside in group homes, shelters and temporary facilities, waiting to be adopted.

For more information on the program and how you can help, visit www.pajamaprogram.org. PI