JOSEPH ANTHONY, WORLD WAR II HERO
Sgt. Joseph 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 pas
sed 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. 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.
