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For one young man in Tarrytown, New York, honoring a local legend on Veterans Day was one of the most important things in his busy teen life.
Eighth-grader Dylan Smith, 13, is passionate about several things: learning, history, scouting, LEGOs — and honoring veterans.
“He is a leader and a doer, too,” his mom, Laurie Smith, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
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On Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, Dylan Smith took center stage as his Eagle Scout project — two benches honoring one very special veteran — were unveiled in front of the Sleepy Hollow Middle School in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
That veteran, Armando “Chick” Galella, who died on Sept. 29, 2021, at age 100, is a “legend” in the adjacent communities of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, said Laurie Smith.
Army veteran and Bronze Star Medal recipient Armando “Chick” Galella and Dylan Smith pictured together before Galella’s passing on Sept. 29, 2021.
(Laurie Smith)
“All the children of the town knew him. He had this beautiful home in the middle of town and he was the grand marshal of every parade — you know, he’s ‘that guy,’” Laurie Smith added.
‘Chick’ Galella, local treasure
Galella was born in 1921. The Sleepy Hollow native enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1940, according to a veteran profile of him on the National WWII Museum website.
After training, he was assigned to the 443rd Signal Corps at Hickam Air Force Base — and lived through the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, the museum’s site also noted.
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Galella served for five years in the Pacific theater in some of WWII’s “bloodiest battles,” the museum site said, including Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
He received the Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Service and bravery in the Battle of Okinawa.
Armando “Chick” Galella during his military service days.
(Family…
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Source : foxnews
