PFC. JOSEPH T. COSTELLO, WWII: Teen lost life in Battle of Mindanao

Troops of Pfc. Joseph T. Costello's 162nd Infantry Regiment land on the southwest tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula on the island of Mindanao, Philippines on March 10, 1945. Costello would lose his life in the campaign eight days later. (U.S. Army Signal Corps photo)

U.S. Army Private 1st Class Joseph Thomas Costello, the son of World War I veteran Joseph and wife Mary (McGovern) Costello of 13 East Clinton Avenue, was born on June 1, 1926, Tragically, his life would end on a remote Phillippines island on March 18, 1945, some 10 weeks shy of his 19th birthday.

He was killed in action during the Battle of Mindanao in the Philippines on the eighth day of the ultimately five-month Operation VICTOR IV campaign ordered by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to clear the southern Philippines of Japanese occupation forces. The offensive began on March 10, 1945 with an amphibious landing by Costello’s 162nd Infantry Regiment of the 41st Infantry Division near Zamboango on the Zamboanga Peninsula of Mindanao island, capturing the objective without much opposition. But the story changed the next day.

On March 11, the 162nd fought its way north and west to clear its assigned portion of the peninsula and Pfc. Costello fell seven days into the offensive.

Soldiers from Pfc. Joseph Costello's 162nd Infantry Regiment are pictured on March 10, 1945 after taking the critical airfield Wolfe Field a half mile from their amphibious landing zone on Zampoanga Peninsula. They are shown preparing to continue on to capture Zampoanga City about 2.5 miles further on. (U.S. Army Signal Corps photo)

He graduated from Irvington High School having just turned 17 in June 1943 and attended Syracuse University, studying engineering as part of the Army Specialized Training Reserve. The program was ended after his freshman year at The 'Cuse and he was transferred to the infantry in 1944, training at Shepard Field, Texas, and being assigned to Fort Ord, Calif., before being deployed to the Pacific theatre on Dec. 29, 1944.

He was sophomore class president and senior class vice president at Irvington High, played center on the Bulldogs football team for three seasons and managed the high school baseball team.

He was survived by a brother, John Larkin, 11, and a sister, Elizabeth Mary (Betty), 15, his father, Joseph Aloysius and mother the former Mary Elizabeth McGovern. Joseph, the father, was the oldest of eight children, all born and raised in Irvington. He worked as a carpenter, primarily in the building trade. Mary emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland at age 15 in 1912

Pfc. Costello's father had served overseas from Sept. 20, 1918 to Jan. 11, 1919. His actual wartime deployment was seven weeks before World War I ended on Nov. 11, 1918.

Pfc. Costello's remains were returned to the U.S. in 1948 and he was laid to rest on Sept. 17, 1948 at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Veterans of Foreign Wars Irvington Post 2911 and American Legion Dobbs Ferry members formed an honor guard as Taps was played. A requiem Mass was held for him at Irvington’s Immaculate Conception Catholic Church where he was a parishioner.

Links to similar personal stories about Irvington heroes who gave their lives for their country*

WORLD WAR II

◼ Pfc. Cuthbert Powell Sinkking: Class of '42 gave 3 of its own to the ages

◼ Sgt. Arnold J. Meszaros: Among first to land on Utah Beach

◼ 2LT. Robert R. Chalot, Jr.: Son of French WWI pilot dies in dad's homeland

◼ Pfc. John Joseph (Joe) Gilchrist: Died after capture of Saint-Lo

◼ Lt. (j.g.) George Eddison Haines: Lost at sea, awarded Silver Star

◼ Pfc. Joseph Thomas Costello: Teen lost life in Battle of Mindanao

◼ MSgt. James Peter Kelley: Survived WW II and Korea; died in fall

◼ S1 Archibald Ronald: Lost on next-to-last Navy ship sunk by U-boat

◼ TSgt. Raffaele R. (Ralph) Reale: A hero's life ended on East Sunnyside Lane

◼ Sgt. Robert F. Morrison: Took fight to the enemy, fell in Alsace

◼ Lt. Col. George W. Beavers Jr.: Re-upped as private; died on war's eve

◼ F2 Claude L. Bronnes: Went down with the Atlanta at Guadalcanal

◼ MMLC William James Downey: Died aboard ship off West Coast

◼ Pvt. Alick Main Ian: Died taking Aachen, first German city to fall in WWII

◼ Pfc. George Mills Hill Jr.: Survived Okinawa, only to fall in South Korea

◼ Pvt. Peter R. Robinson: Lost to shadows of time over Pacific, answers never found

◼  Pfc. Matthew A. Smith: Felled by friendly fire in training accident

WORLD WAR I

◼ Profiles of Philip McGovern, Louis Kindervatter, George Hazlett, Frank Farrell and John Kelly Jr. who gave their lives in the Great War

* World War II deaths include soldiers who enlisted during the World War II era and died while still in uniform, either killed in combat, or died of accidental or other causes. Two of the World War II fallen served in both World War II and the Korean Conflict and are listed under World War II. One of those died in an accidental fall after surviving both wars, the other was killed in action in Korea after surviving World War II.World War I deaths also include battlefield deaths and accidental or illness-related deaths by service members still in uniform at the time of their passing.