ALFREDO SIMONI

CERRILLOS, NEW MEXICO

“Over 200 of Cerrillos' residents in the 1890s and 1900s came directly from Italy. For a time Italian was the first language of polyglot Cerrillos.”

— Turquoise Trail Preservation Trust

Historic Antonio Simoni Grocery Store

Purchased in 1918 by Fred's Father

Alfredo 'Fred' Simoni's Purple Heart citations give the date of his death as: May 8, 1944 (presumed). He perished at Camp O'Donnell prisoner of war camp just one month after the surrender of Bataan on May 22, 1942. His brother Charles, 160th Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division, was killed in action January 31, 1945, possibly in the “Battle for Clark Field”, fighting to regain the same ground his brother fought to hold four years earlier.