Joseph Oronzo Bellino – Colonel, United States Army

From a contemporary press report:

Joseph Oronzo Bellino, 81, a retired Army colonel who specialized in transportation, died of leukemia August 24, 2000 at the Falcon’s Landing assisted living facility in Sterling, Virginia.

Colonel Bellino served 32 years in the Army before his retirement in 1973. Upon his retirement, he was director of passenger traffic at the Military Traffic Management Command in Falls Church. His career included duty in the Philippines, France, Germany Panama, Greenland and Vietnam, where he was commanding officer of the 8th Transportation Group in 1967 and 1968.

His military awards included the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star and the Meritorious Service Medal.

He was born in Los Angeles and had lived in Northern Virginia since 1965.

In July of this year, Colonel Bellino was inducted into the Transportation Corps Hall of Fame.

Survivors include his wife, Inez, of Sterling; two children, Carol Jo Koslosky of Denver and retired Army Lt. Col. Michael Bellino of Fairfax; four grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

BELLINO, JOSEPH ORONZO, JR. (Age 81)

Of Sterling, VA, on August 24, 2000, at Falcons Landing, beloved husband of Inez Phelps Bellino; father of Michael D. Bellino and Carol Jo Koslosky; grandfather of John, Jeff, Joe and Christina. He is also survived by eight great-grandchildren.  Funeral services will be held at Ft. Myer Chapel on Thursday, September 7, at 12:45 p.m.  with interment in Arlington National Cemetery.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard