Silvio S. Decapito

*Private Silvio S. Decapito is the name on this soldier's gravestone, but the surname is spelled several different ways on various documents. He gave "Frank" as his middle name on his draft registration. The family surname seems to have changed at some point to DeCapite.

*No plaque located*

*The list of Liberty Row names shows that this soldier's plaque was placed at "Superior Ave. to Wade Park (Right)."

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 Birth: 12/3/1894, Rivisondi, Italy (presumably Rivisondoli, Italy, a mountainous village in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, now a ski resort, where one of the most common surnames is De Capite)

Address: 4110 E. 80th St., Cleveland, OH

Demographics: age 22 at draft registration; single; Caucasian; declarant for U.S. citizenship; occupation Bottler at Pabst Brewing Co., E. 35th St., Cleveland, OH (the brewing industry in Cleveland surged in the 1840's with the arrival of large numbers of German and Bohemian immigrants, and by 1900 there were 23 breweries in the city)

Appearance: Height short, Build stout, Eyes brown, Hair black

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; 10/5/1917; Private 

Service Number: 733448

Deployment: 4/9/1918 from Hoboken, NJ aboard USS Covington

Action: 36 Co 9 Tng Bn 158 Dep Brig to Feb 25/18; Co I 6 Inf to death. Pvt Oct 5/17; Ck Oct 6/17; Pvt Feb 17/18; St Mihiel; Defensive Sector. AEF Apr 9/18 to death

Death: September 15, 1918 at age 24; cause of death Killed in Action

Burial: St. Miheil American Cemetery, Thiaucourt, Lorraine, France, Plot D Row 7 Grave 29

Next of Kin: Mrs. Vera Capito (misspelling of Veronica Decapito, which was the family surname at the time of this soldier's deployment), mother, 4110 E. 80th St., Cleveland, OH 

Additional Information: This family suffered several losses in a short period of time, with the death of a daughter in 1912 at age 6, the death of the father in 1915 and the death in 1918 of a son Private Silvio S. DeCapito.  

Father: Gaetano DeCapite (1871-1915), born Italy, emigrated 1910, occupation Machinist at Machine Shop, buried Calvary Cemetery, 10000 Miles Ave., Cleveland, OH; Mother: Veronica DeCapite (1876-1960), born Italy, emigrated 1910, buried Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland, OH (address above); Siblings: Anthony DeCapite (?-1966); Gerald DeCapite; Mary DeCapite (1905-1912), who died at age 6; Americo Emerich DeCapite (1913-1969) who had a daughter he named Sylvia (1944-?) presumably named after Silvio, his deceased older brother. 

There is a record of Veronica DeCapite, mother of Private Silvio S. Decapito, applying for the U.S. WWI Gold Star Mothers' and Widows' Pilgrimage program, but no record was found of her sailing. Her address at the time of application was 9005 Jeffries Ave., Cleveland, OH.