[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





 REMEMBERING WORLD WAR II VETERAN, VAUDEVILLIAN MUSICIAN AND FULLERTON 
                    RESIDENT, CHARLES PAUL PECORARO

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. GILBERT RAY CISNEROS, JR.

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 11, 2019

  Mr. CISNEROS. Madam Speaker, it is with immense sadness and great 
humility that I rise to mark the passing of another member of America's 
greatest generation. Charles Paul Pecoraro was an entertainer, a 
businessman, a veteran of the Second World War, a stalwart member of 
the veteran's community in Southern California, and most of all, a 
beloved family man who passed away at the age of 100 on July 2, 2019.
   Charles Pecoraro was born in the living room of his parents' small 
Manhattan apartment on November 29, 1918. It was the height of the 
First World War but also the age of rag-time, when New York City had 
more horses than cars. Charles' life spanned and exceeded what we now 
refer to as the American Century.
   Music was his family's business and his greatest passion. By the age 
of seven he was accompanying his father, a classically trained Sicilian 
mandolin player. Before he turned twenty he was a veteran of the 
Vaudeville circuit, having toured up and down the East Coast playing 
jazz guitar and earning his chops in concert halls, speakeasies, dance 
clubs, and Broadway orchestra pits.
   When America entered the Second World War, Charles didn't hesitate. 
He joined the Coast Guard and served aboard the Admiral H.T. Mayo (AP-
125). Charles sailed on the ship's shakedown cruise, then transiting 
the Panama Canal, helped ferry troops during two trips across the 
Atlantic. Transiting the Panama Canal again, Charles continued his 
service in the Pacific where he and his shipmates transported more 
troops to the Okinawa campaign.
   Evading U-Boats in the Atlantic and outrunning Japanese submarines 
and aircraft in the Pacific, Charles attained the rank of Petty Officer 
1st Class. He would ultimately return to his music career, before 
beginning what his family refers to as his third act. Charles met the 
love of his life Lucy, his wife of 53 years. He, Lucy, and their only 
son ``Charlie'' Charles Pecoraro, Jr. moved to Fullerton, California in 
the 1970s so that Charles could join his brother Steve. Together, they 
opened Angelo's & Vinci's, a neighborhood institution that still stands 
and continues to thrive only blocks from my office. Its success is 
carried on by the spirit of the two Sicilian-American brothers who 
founded it.
   Like many men of his generation, Charles was modest to the extreme. 
A deeply devoted religious and family man, he spoke little of his 
wartime service. Only after his son was grown did Charles' neighbors in 
Fullerton convince him to share his story with others. He joined 
Fullerton's American Legion Post 142, where he became a quiet example 
of service to others and a fixture at events. In fact, one of those 
events was Fullerton's Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony where I had 
the honor to shake his hand.
   Madam Speaker, at this time, I ask that you and my distinguished 
colleagues join me in honoring Charles Paul Pecoraro for his dedication 
to God, country, the arts and most of all his surviving family members, 
wife Lucy and son Charles. We are blessed to have had this man for a 
century and to have his memory continue to inspire us.

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