Group to SSgt Frederick Cusano, Graves Registration Service

Group to Sergeant First Class Frederick J. Cusano: Army Good Conduct Medal, slot brooch, with ribbon bar; American Defense Service Medal, clasp “Foreign Service”; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; China Service Medal, Navy reverse; New York Conspicuous Service Cross, numbered “9341″, marked “A.E.Co./Sterling”; Republic of China Army, Navy, Air Force Medal, numbered “2913″ (ribbon faded, but with full hook and eye). With a discharge button and Marksman Badge, bar “Rifle. With original Conspicuous Service Cross certificate (dated 10 Sep 1997, with a Governor George Pataki signature) and two copied discharges (Sep 45 and Nov 48).

Cusano’s September 1945 discharge lists his awards as “American Defense Service Medal, w/star; Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal; Good Conduct Medal”, but does not list his unit. He served in the Central Pacific and his MOS was “firefighter”, so it is likely that he was at a base with a fairly large infrastructure. His 1948 discharge adds the Chinese Army, Navy and Air Force Medal, American Campaign Medal, a clasp to the Good Conduct Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army Commendation Ribbon and China Service Ribbon to his awards. The Navy issue of the China Service Medal is appropriate for Army personnel who served in China or Taiwan at the time. Cusano was listed as serving with the American Graves Registration Service, APO 244, which was on Saipan. Cusano, who was born 25 June 1916, died 13 December 2006. He is buried in the Calverton National Cemetery, Suffolk County, New York.