Roll of Honor
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S. Albert Candiello
- School: Engineering
- Class Year: 1940
- War: World War II
- Date of Death: January 1, 1943
Tributes
Al (as his family and friends called him) was from Silver City, New Mexico. He was the second of four children. He graduated from Columbia with a degree in Engineering in 1940 during World War II. He married and then enlisted in the military. He became an officer and fought bravely in the Pacific arena. He survived the "Death March at Bataan" and died at the Japanese POW camp at Umeda. Conditions in the camp were very harsh, especially for the officers. The partial World War II diary of Captain George Steiger, a fellow POW at Umeda explains, "...the officers resisted working because they felt it was their duty not to co-operate with their captors. It would have been easier for them to co-operate and so receive better rations as the enlisted men did." Captain Steiger also noted that Lt. Candiello cut Captain Steiger's hair on December 3, 1943 and that Lt. Candiello was sent to the hospital on December 23, 1943. Al died from starvation on January 1, 1943. He was a gentle soul who was dearly loved by all who knew him and all who came after him. I am Al's niece. He died five years before I was born, yet from all the family stories about him, I feel as though I knew him. Even though we never met, he has touched my life in countless ways.
- Mary Kopecky
Is any of our information incorrect? You can submit corrections, additional photos, and/or tributes to uarchives@columbia.edu.