Alderfer Auction to Offer Historic World War II Collection of Hometown Paratrooper

Alderfer Auction to Offer Historic World War II Collection of Hometown Paratrooper

Hatfield, PA - It had been just over two years that the United States had been pulled into World War II by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when a tall and brawny waiter from Philadelphia named Nicholas Arrigo volunteered for the US Army. Arrigo would first go to Camp Blanding in Florida to train as a rifleman for an infantry unit, but would later learn to jump from aircraft in Georgia, finally qualifying to become a parachutist in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division by mid-1944. Even though Arrigo would miss the D-Day invasion of mainland Europe he would see action in some of the toughest fighting driving back the Nazi threat through France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and finally the fortress that was Germany. Nicholas Arrigo fought in battles whose names now resonate through history including the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Market Garden. Arrigo was wounded in Germany on February 3rd, 1945 receiving the Purple Heart.

In 1946, Arrigo would return to the US with his airborne comrades and march down Fifth Avenue in New York for the World War II Victory Parade. He returned to his civilian life, building a house in Bucks County, owning a restaurant with his wife, and serving as a police officer for over twenty-five years. When Nicholas died just after his 89th birthday, a vibrant member of the community passed into the mists of time, as many of the members of the “Greatest Generation” had done before him and since.

On Saturday, April 22nd, 2017, Alderfer Auction in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, will auction Nicholas Arrigo’s uniform, jump jacket, and assorted relics that were with him as he fought against tyranny to make the world a better place for future generations. The main grouping of items (his uniforms, relics, books, and German flags) have stories to tell, and some of these stories have been documented by his daughter and will be included with notarized documentation. An example of one of these stories is associated with the large German flag included in the collection. Private Arrigo pulled this flag off of a building in Germany on a frigid night in the winter of 1944/45. He used this flag as a blanket offering warmth against the cold at a desperate time in world history.

Other items that will be offered at this time include a pistol and swords that Arrigo captured/liberated as well as a preliminary copy of the International Military Tribunal Charges that would be filed against high ranking German political and military officers for their war crimes committed during World War II.

For more information visit www.AlderferAuction.com or call Tim Hollinger at 215-393-3000.

501 Fairgrounds Road, Hatfield, PA AlderferAuction.com 215.393.3000