World War II Honoree

Luciano Charles Graziano

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

East Aurora, New York

Honored By

Grateful American

Drafted in 1943 into the U.S. Army, landed on Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He became a utilities foreman with the Special Headquarters Command tasked with keeping the buildings used by the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in good order. One of the buildings in his charge was a brick schoolhouse known as 'le College Moderne et Technique de Reims' (The Modern and Technical College of Reims). On May 7, 1945, German Generaloberst (Colonel General) Alfred Jodl signed the German Instrument of Peace in this building. He was one of the soldiers that escorted Generaloberst Jodl along a corridor to a room where General Eisenhower was waiting.