At the age of 15, Tony saw his friends and relatives being drafted into service. When Bennett turned 18 in the summer of 1944, he received a draft notice and was sent to the Army. He completed basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and became an infantry rifleman at Fort Robinson, Arkansas. After his post-training furlough, he waited for his next assignment. He was later shipped to Le Havre, France, to become a replacement troop for units that suffered heavy casualties fighting the Germans in Europe. Bennett was assigned to G Company, 7th Army, 63rd Infantry Division.
Since Bennett had only been in the war for four months, he was required to stay on as part of the occupying force. He was transferred to Special Services to entertain the Allied troops who remained, where he met many musicians and performers who would go on to achieve success on stage in the years after the war.
“The main thing I got out of my military experience was the realization that I am completely opposed to war,” Bennett wrote in his 1998 autobiography, “The Good Life.” “Although I understand why this war was fought, it was a terrifying, demoralizing experience for me… life can never be the same once you’ve been through combat.”
The line was a terrifying place for all the replacements. Many, Bennett wrote, had no experience in combat and some had never fired a weapon. The idea was that more experienced soldiers would help instruct the replacements, but there was no time for that.
“Snow covered the ground and the front was a front-row seat in hell,” he wrote. “It was an absolutely terrifying spectacle.”
They quickly found themselves digging foxholes in the hard ground to protect themselves from German 88-millimeter artillery. During his first night on the line, Bennett was almost killed by shrapnel from a German 88. He learned the rules for the front line quickly: “Don’t move.”
“Most nights, we’d be awakened by the bombs that were going off around us,” Bennett wrote. “On the front line, we’d see dead soldiers, dead horses and big craters in the ground where bombs had exploded. To me, it’s a joke that they make ‘horror’ movies about things like Dracula and Godzilla, and they make ‘adventure’ movies about war. War is far more horrifying than anything anyone could dream up.
Bennett’s company entered Germany in March 1945, pushing the Wehrmacht back and fighting house by house to take German towns. When he was finally pulled off the line, he went with a thousand other GIs to see Bob Hope perform a USO show.
Tony Bennett’s time in the U.S. Army during World War II introduced him to Bob Hope, which motivated him to pursue a career that spanned more than seven decades. Despite announcing his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in 2021, the singer continued to perform until he retired, at the age of 96, after his final concert in September 2021. At the end of the war, Germany surrendered, followed by Japan.
After serving as a combat infantryman in World War II who helped liberate a concentration camp, Tony Bennett came back to New York in 1946, and was signed by Columbia Records in 1950.
Bennett died on July 21, 2023, two weeks before his 97th birthday. His experience in World War II shaped not only the rest of his life, but also Marine Anthony Dominic Benedetto into the spotlight as a member of the Special Services, singing for Allied forces in the trenches, sometimes literally.
Tony Bennett will be remembered as one of the greatest singers of all time. His music will continue to touch the hearts of people around the world for generations to come. He was known for his smooth, mellow vocals and his interpretations of popular standards. He also had a knack for finding new and exciting ways to present old songs.
In closing, I would like to share a quote from Tony Bennett that I think sums up his life and his music perfectly:
“The music business is a tough business, but it’s also a wonderful business. It’s a business that allows you to touch people’s lives in a very special way.”
Thank you, Tony Bennett, for sharing your gift with the world. Your music will live forever.
I’m available for freelance work. Just be in touch!
With all love.
