[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H8896-H8897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL CIAFARDONI SR.

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the passing of a 
great man from California's First District, Michael Ciafardoni, who 
died at the age of 94.
  He was born in Nepezzano, Italy. Michael immigrated to America in 
1939.

[[Page H8897]]

Although not yet even a United States citizen, he then served in the 
U.S. Army in World War II as a member of the 803rd tank destroyer 
battalion as a heavy machine gunner. He was the last surviving member 
of his company.
  He earned five Bronze Battle Stars fighting some of the most 
consequential battles of the war, including the Normandy invasion and 
the Battle of the Bulge.
  Michael insisted his proudest wartime experience was not one of those 
major engagements but, rather, the liberation of a small town in 
Czechoslovakia near the end of the war. Jewish prisoners were being 
held in the town of Volary, where they awaited transfer to a Nazi 
concentration camp. Fortunately, Michael and his company got there 
first, and they liberated them. To the people of Volary, these men were 
heroes.
  When the 803rd was leaving town a few days later, they were ambushed 
by German soldiers. Indeed, the last soldier killed in Europe, Private 
Charles Havlat, was riding a tank directly in front of the one Michael 
was in. The Germans unconditionally surrendered just a few hours later.
  To this day, the town holds an annual celebration to pay tribute to 
the American soldiers who risked their lives to free them.
  I am told that Michael's one wish was to be honored for his wartime 
service in Europe. That is a wish that we are fulfilling right here 
today on the House floor.
  Mr. Speaker, he was a hero for a country that he wasn't even yet a 
citizen of. In October of 1946, he earned U.S. citizenship for his 
service to his new country, his new home.
  Before he died, he asked to see his Certificate of Naturalization, 
which brought a proud smile to his face. Michael is as American as any 
of us.
  God bless him and his family.

                          ____________________