– Photos by Bobbie Toner and William Tauro
On Saturday, May 5, the City of Somerville dedicated a square at the intersection on McGrath Highway and Linwood Street to Sgt Pasquale “Patrick” Tauro, 67th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion of the United States Army.

Over a hundred friends, relatives, political figures attended to glorious tribute to an American serviceman that served his country well during WWII.

Patrick Tauro was born in Mirabella, Italy in 1921. He enjoyed his childhood in sunny Italy but always wanted a better life in the promised land. At age 15 he made his way, alone, to the USA and was processed at Ellis Island. He then went to find his father, who was already established in Boston as an ironworks laborer. He immediately took on any and all available jobs to pay the bills and move him ahead. During this time he also found time to attend assimilation classes which eventually lead to citizenship.

Since his desire to “fit in” was so strong, he eventually changed his birth name at city hall from “Pasquale” to “Patrick”. A few years later he met his wife to be, Emily, who had also arrived in Boston at an early age with her family to follow that same dream. They hit it off immediately and got married while they were both in their early twenties.

Shortly after the birth of their first child, WWII began. Patrick felt that it was his duty to protect the new world he had so struggled to become a part of, and so, voluntarily, joined the United States Army. He was assigned to the infantry as a tank driver and proudly fought in Normandy, Germany, Northeast France, Rhineland, Ardennes, Central Europe and other European war zones including his birth country, Italy. Patrick was also the recipient of the Good Conduct Medal and the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon Victory Medal.

When the war ended Patrick returned to the Boston area and took advantage of GI Trade Schooling. He chose auto body since he enjoyed working on vehicles. It wasn’t long before he had jobs working in Somerville and Cambridge as an expert auto body repairman and painter. But his desire to do it alone was so strong that he broke away soon as it was possible to establish his own repair shop. That shop was located on McGrath Highway in Cambridge. Later he made his way to a more central location on McGrath Highway in the City of Somerville. He believed that the most important aspect in repairs was customer satisfaction. He eventually expanded his business to cover three locations in Somerville.

Patrick was a family orientated person who believed in the traditional Sunday family get-together. During these times he always cooked and experimented with various food dishes at which he excelled. Throughout his life he treasured his family, his livelihood, his new friendships and his new country and he excelled in all these areas.

He died in 1994 at the age of 73, leaving behind his wonderful wife, Emily and five sons and their families, including thirteen grand children.

He truly made his mark and we will forever miss him.

We Salute you, Sgt Patrick Tauro.

Special thanks to Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, Alderman Maryann Heuston, former Veterans Services Director Frank Senesi as well as the Service’s Kathy Carey for their continuous support in making this event possible.    ~   The Tauro Family