Photo By Diana Nesukh | Service is deeply embedded in Tony Amaddio's family. With both grandfathers and father...... read more read more
Subscribe
Serving with the 375th Civil Engineering Squadron at Scott AFB, Illinois, was where Anthony R. Amaddio first learned to appreciate and love civil engineering. His journey into the military, however, started long before he was even born. “Service to our nation has been the bedrock of our adult lives,” said Amaddio, referring to the years of military service that run through each generation of his family. He credits them for paving the long road that led him to serve as an Air Force Civil Engineer Officer.
Among those that came before him are both of Amaddio’s grandfathers, Anthony C. Amaddio, who enlisted in June of 1943 and served in the Army as a sergeant, most notably landing on Omaha Beach just hours after the D-Day invasion, and Richard J. Bedell, who was drafted into the Marine Corps in August of 1951 and served as a sergeant in 2nd Battalion, Fox Company, during the Korean War. Both Amaddio and his grandfather, Richard J. Bedell, ultimately earned the United Nations Medal for service with a UN Mission.
The call to serve did not stop with Amaddio’s grandfathers but increased with his father, Anthony B. Amaddio. Crediting his father for being his biggest inspiration, Amaddio said, “growing up looking through pictures of him in uniform, his travels to Guam and the Azores, a picture of an F-4 during mid-air refueling that he took from the boom operator’s position, and seeing his old uniform hanging in the closet, planted the early seeds for my desire to serve.” Enlisting in the Air Force in 1974 as an Aerospace Ground Equipment Mechanic, Amaddio’s father began his service at Plattsburgh AFB, New York, in the 380th Field Maintenance Squadron of the 380th Bombardment Wing. As a staff sergeant, he served on Guam and the Azores before moving into the Reserves in 1979 before ultimately separating from the Armed Forces in 1980.
Amaddio’s family laid the foundation for who he is today, while his spouse continued to serve in the military alongside him. Capt. Kelly Amaddio deployed with the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, formed from the 380th Bombardment Wing, in 2015, adding yet another generational connection to the family’s robust military history.
Amaddio’s military career began in 2013 when he was first deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan, with the 451st Expeditionary Support Squadron as the Civil Engineer Flight Chief. He later deployed to Juba, South Sudan, as a United Nations Peacekeeper and Engineer during which he was able to work with military members and units from around the world, giving him perspective and insight to many different cultures and engineering practices. His last duty station was Peterson AFB, Colorado, where he deployed to an undisclosed location as the Operations Flight Commander for the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron.
There is no doubt that the foundation of commitment and service exhibited by Amaddio’s father and grandfathers was what propelled him and his two brothers to attend the Air Force Academy, and become Civil Engineer Officers and licensed Professional Engineers. However, the most valuable lesson Amaddio has learned from them is the importance of family. “Without family, we would not be able to make the sacrifices and commitments that military service requires, especially in wartime,” Amaddio said.
While Amaddio’s grandfathers rarely spoke about their military service, they taught him the importance of determination and integrity. Before his maternal grandfather passed away, a few of his children helped him develop a photo storybook with captions of photos he took in Korea. As an adult and having gone through his own wartime experiences, Amaddio often finds himself looking through his grandfather’s storybook. With a deep sense of connection to his roots, Amaddio accidentally recreated a photo his grandfather took at Kimpo Airfield, Korea. With sixty-four years between them, Amaddio struck the same pose on Kandahar Airfield.
| Date Taken: | 01.31.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 01.31.2023 15:11 |
| Story ID: | 437558 |
| Location: | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 215 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, CE Generations: Capt. (Ret) Tony Amaddio, by Wood Francois and Diana Nesukh, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
