“The Enclave that Helped Save the World”

Located in south central Pennsylvania and incorporated in 1729, Derry Township is quite unique. It is often referred to as Hershey, PA, the unincorporated community founded within the township in 1903 by chocolate magnate and philanthropist Milton S. Hershey.

 

An older unincorporated community also within the township, walking distance and next to Hershey, is Swatara Station, which was once an enclave of German, Scots Irish and, later, primarily Italian families, inhabited mainly by the proletariat who worked in the nearby quarries and factory and whose families were instrumental in building the famous company town.

 

The Swatara Station community housed Pasquini’s Store, the local grocery store which is now a private residence. The Swatara Hotel, now an apartment building, still stands alone on the north side of the train tracks adjacent to the hauntingly abandoned and water-filled limestone quarries. The small and historic train station, the community’s namesake built in 1921 to replace the original station, remains quietly tucked away in a corner. While no longer active, it has been impeccably restored inside and out. Curry and Sons Mill has been totally restored and repurposed as a restaurant. The old station and mill have received preservation awards from the Hershey History Center, further solidifying their historical significance. There is also another prominent reminder of history — a war memorial, which is as beautiful and modest as the community it represents.

 

During WW2, while the details of its origin are unclear, a wooden war memorial, named the Swatara Station WW2 Honor Roll, was erected in a vacant lot in the enclave. The last known photo of the structure contained the names of 84 men from 55 Swatara Station families, mostly from Italy, who served in WW2 as of1943. It is unknown exactly when the structure was removed and no photos exist with the 1944 - 1945 inductees’ names.

 

Then, as reported on June 6, 1957, in the Hershey News, following the township’s Memorial Day ceremony in 1957, held at the Court of Honor which was located at the beautiful and iconic Hershey Community Building, residents attended the unveiling of a new war memorial, dedicated by The Men’s New Independent Italian Mutual Benefit Society of Swatara Station. Commonly known as the Hershey Italian Lodge, the Society was founded in 1920 and is still in operation today as the first and only ethnic club in the township. The new memorial was appropriately placed on very visible ground in Swatara Station, from which so many served in WW2, and is comprised of a Carrara marble statue of a soldier and rests on a limestone base containing the inscription, “IN COMMEMORATION OF THOSE WHO SERVED OUR COUNTRY.” Participating in the dedication ceremony were a concert band, American Legion, VFW, officials, a local radio personality and a more. Guest of honor was Major Thomas F. Martin, who was a military veteran and retired superintendent of the Pennsylvania State Police Training School located in the township. Master of ceremonies was Pete Camacci, president of the Hershey Italian Lodge. A former Swatara Station resident, Korean War veteran and five-time president of the Lodge during his 40 years on the board, Pete told the following story during my interview with him some years ago:

 

“My dad was a member and an officer of the Hershey Italian Lodge for 43 years. The reason why the club is so special is because my dad fell off the scaffolding at the Hershey Ice Arena [Hershey Sports Arena], and every Saturday the club had a basket of food on our porch to help us out. This gesture got me thinking, so when I returned from the Navy, I joined the club. The first thing I did was in 1956 with the creation of the war memorial statue. Thanks to Major Martin from the Pennsylvania State Police who got us the land. In 1957 the statue came from Italy, and it cost less than $2,000, which we raised via community donations from local businesses. It’s been 60 years since it’s been in place, and thanks to Angelo Cialone and his son, John, for maintaining the grounds.”

 

Angelo, who passed away in 2009, lived adjacent to the memorial and was its caretaker. His son John, a former US Marine, has selflessly taken on the responsibility to this day.

 

2025 marked the 68th anniversary of the war memorial, where the Hershey Italian Lodge has held a short and solemn Memorial Day ceremony each year since 1957. For decades, Divo DiClemente coordinated the ceremony, always preceded by a processional from the Lodge to the memorial. The “old guard,” now gone, would lead the two-block walk — Joe English, who still had mortar shrapnel in his leg from France, Dino Niccolini, who was nearly blinded by a landmine in Germany, and Donald DiClemente, the younger of the crew who served during the Occupation of Japan at the war’s end.

 

Tom Memmi began assisting with the ceremony in the early 1990s. Divo, who passed away in 2012, made Memmi promise to keep the ceremony going each year and he has done so ever since, perfectly coordinating everything with local police, fire crew, Knights of Columbus, VFW, Legion, clergy, a bugler, and more.

 

The 15-minute ceremony is simple: Presentation of Colors, invocation, remarks by the Lodge president, presentation of wreaths, Taps and benediction. Three wreaths are presented: One is for the local Italian Americans who gave their lives for their country, often presented by family of Pete Luciani of Swatara Station who was killed in 1942 when his destroyer was torpedoed and sunk in Guadalcanal. John Cialone has also assisted with the presentation of this wreath in recent years, with his mother Josephine, now 93, proudly watching from her front porch only a few hundred feet away. The second wreath is presented by family of Frank Wise of Swatara Station who was killed in 1943 when his plane crashed and exploded in Papua New Guinea. The third is for all township residents who gave their lives, presented by the American Legion and VFW. And in 2020, a special wreath was presented by Italian American Derry Township police officers in honor of Bronze Star recipient Bertero Bechini, who lived just blocks away. Serving in the US Army 10th Mountain Division, Bechini died 75 years prior on April 25, 1945, of wounds suffered in northern Italy and is buried in the Florence American Cemetery, just two hours from his ancestral village of Pitigliano.

 

When I asked Pete Camacci, who passed away in 2024, what the annual Hershey Italian Lodge Memorial Day ceremony means to him, he replied without hesitation, “It’s my heart and soul.” In May of 2022, with the permission of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the support of Derry Township, the Hershey Italian Lodge erected a new flagpole at the war memorial for the Italian flag, nicely flanking the memorial with the American flag. Notably, this is the only public land in the township on which another nation’s flag is flown, further emphasizing the history, heritage and contributions of that small but consequential neighborhood.

 

 

The article was originally published by We the Italians on October 30, 2025, and is republished here with permission.