Community Mourns Armando 'Chick' Galella, Dead At 100

SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY —The community is mourning the death of Sleepy Hollow resident Armando "Chick" Galella, who died Wednesday from COVID-19. A survivor of Pearl Harbor, Galella was a well-known and beloved figure around the region.

Galella was born in North Tarrytown, New York in January 1921. He served in the United States Army for five years in the Pacific Theater, and was stationed at Hickam Field with the 443rd Heavy Construction Signal Corps in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. He went on to Tinian on Saipan and participated in the Battle of Okinawa. He reached the rank of Battalion Sergeant Major. During his service, Galella earned many awards, including the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service.

Galella served as a village trustee and as fire commissioner. Active at Immaculate Conception Church, he chaired the annual bazaar for 20 years. He was inducted into the Westchester County Senior Citizen Hall of Fame.

In 2013, he orchestrated the restoration of a series of formerly displaced memorials to a dozen WWI veterans. The 12 small round bronze plaques dedicated to the men (and one woman, a nurse) who died during the first world war and hailed from North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow)were reset in concrete foundations to surround the big memorial rock in the W. L. Morse School playground.

In 2017, he was a central figure at the opening of the Rockland-bound spanof the new Mario Cuomo Bridge over the Tappan Zee. Galella and Gov. Andrew Cuomo christened the span by driving a yellow 1955 Corvette across it, and Cuomo noted that Galella, who drove across the Tappan Zee Bridge in the inaugural procession on its opening day, may be the only man to drive two cars over two new bridges over the same river.

"He is stronger than the steel they used to build the Tappan Zee," Cuomo said.

In January, he got a birthday parade.

Galella never forgot Dec. 7, 1941.

"I got through breakfast and was just about to read the newspaper when all of the sudden bombs started falling and we were strafed," Galella told Patch. He survived the initial bombardment, living out of a volcanic crater for two weeks. However his friend John Horan, did not. Galella was instrumental in getting a small park along the Hudson River named after Horan.

Galella ended up spending five years in the Pacific. His tour of duty came to a climax after spending 40 days in a troop transport ship on the way to the island of Okinawa – considered to be a part of the Japanese heartland. The ensuing battle of attrition was costly, over 50,00 US troops were killed or wounded in the grueling campaign. Japan ended up losing more than 100,000 soldiers and countless civilians.

During his time on Okinawa, mostly spent working on communications, the directive came down that soldiers who had exceeded the military's point system (based on number of battles, rank and time in the service) could finally go home.

"The island was pretty much secured and I told my Colonel that I wanted to go home," Galella said. "He told me the war wasn't over, and I told him it was over for me."

Decades later, after he retired, Chick finally opened the bag that carried all the belongings he had during his time in the Pacific. In the bag was a commendation paper stating that Galella had earned a Bronze Star during his tour of duty.

"I couldn't believe it, it had been sitting there the entire time," he said.

With the help of Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Chick got his long-overdue medal. Another Bronze Star and service medals were awarded, posthumously, to Chick's brother Frank, who served time in the European Campaign.

"I'm no hero," he said. "All of our heroes have crosses."

Funeral services are pending, according to The Journal News.