Ambrosio Salazar Grandea – Major (Chaplain), United States Army

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AMBROSIO SALAZAR GRANDEA was born on August 22, 1932 and joined the Armed Forces while in BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

He served as a Chaplain in the United States Army.  In six years of service, he attained the rank of Major.

On June 13, 1967, at the age of 34, AMBROSIO SALAZAR GRANDEA perished in the service of our country.

Ambrosio Grandea was born on August 22, 1932. He became a member of the Army while in Baltimore, Maryland and attained the rank of Major (Chaplian).

On June 13, 1967 at the age of 34, Ambrosio Grandea gave his life in the service of our country in South Vietnam.

Courtsy of his niece, Beth Grandea.

Birthdate: August 22,1932
Second of seven children to Primitiva Salazar Grandea and Andres Gallenero Grandea Sr. (also buried in Arlington after serving 30 years in the army)
Born in Corregidor, Phillipines
Graduate of Western Maryland College
Post graduate work done at Boston University
Student pastoral done in Cleveland and New Hampshire  (Charleston)
Married to Jacinta Martinez
Boxed in college at Western Maryland
Member of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of Methodist Church
Chaplain in the Airborne
Injured in Vietnam
Flown to Phillipines Clark Field Airforce Base Hospital where he passed away from wounds suffered.  Buried in Arlington Cemetary with his mother and father.

Courtesy of Exequiel Salazar Grandea:

I want to add to my niece’s description of my late brother’s biography – Chaplain (Major) Ambrosio Salazar Grandea, United States Army, was awarded the Silver Star for Bravery and Valor when he pulled wounded soldiers to safety while under heavy fire in Chu Lai Province.  This was two weeks before he was injured by a booby trap that eventually caused him to lapse into a coma three days after the event and then to his succumbing to  those injuries twenty days later in his native land of the Philippines at Clark Air Base. The Department of Defense stated at that time that “Chaplain Grandea’s weakened condition contributed to his demise.”

After a few years, in November 1972, Chaplain Grandea was again honored by the Chapel of Four Chaplain’s Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  when he was posthumously awarded the Chaplain’s Gold Medallion.  Attending at the ceremony were, our mother, Primitiva S. Grandea, his widow, Jacinta Martinez Grandea (now Lupton), myself and many guests, as well as the Chief of Army Chaplains. Chaplain Grandea was the 2nd of seven children born from the union of Andres G. Grandea, Sr. and Primitiva S. Grandea.  I am the youngest of the 7.

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June 13, 1967
Major Ambrosio Grandea
Age 34
Baltimore, Maryland
Quang Ngai Province
Multi-Frag Wounds

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