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Sgt. Anthony grew up at 87
Palisade Avenue,
across the street from the park which
now bears his name.
He learned how to play baseball in
the empty lot that was where the Park is now,
and he was
a star southpaw pitcher on the Dickinson baseball team
throwing
a no-hitter and attracting scouts from the
major leagues. At the age of eighteen,
Joe Anthony
passed up contracts offered by the Dodgers and the
Giants to enlist in the Army Air Corp -- possibly
following the lead of his two older brothers,
Paul and
Peter, who were already in uniform
Sgt. Anthony flew 39 missions as a crew member
of a B-29, and he was cited for bravery before he
was lost on a mission at Paulaw in the
Admiralty Islands
during the last days of World War II.
He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross, accepted by his parents, Mary and
Horace Anthony.
On
May 1, 1949, the city dedicated the playground across from
his home to his memory, and installed the bronze plaque
naming it the Sgt. Anthony Park |
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