​Spec. 5 Joseph Chimenti
U.S. Army – Battalion Draftsman
99th Signal Battalion
1958-1964

Joseph Chimenti was born August 5th, 1935 in New York City.  Joe grew up on Bronx River Ave. in the South Bronx in New York City.  His father worked for the New York City Transit Authority in the ticket booth on Fordham Road. and his mother was a seamstress.  When Joe was eight years old his father bought a house in the Arthur Avenue section of the Bronx.  It was a three family house that provided rental income from the top two floors.  Joe recalled growing up in the Bronx being a lot of fun. His childhood friends were Louie, Julie, Sonny and Danny and they still keep in touch today.  “We roamed the streets and joined the local Cub Scout and Boy Scout Troop.  We were good kids and never really got into trouble.   We collected newspapers and cardboard boxes and sold them to the Salvation Army. We played stick ball in the street; we went to the playgrounds.  We just hung out.”
 
Joe’s family didn’t have much money so Joe needed to work to get cash if he wanted to have any fun.  He started a shoeshine business on the Grand Concourse.  On Saturday they would shine the shoes of the Jewish residents going to and from temple.  On Sunday they would shine the shoes of the Christian resident going to and from church.  Joe also worked for a store delivering eggs.  “I consider myself a hustler.  If there is a buck to be made, I’m going to do it.”
 
When Joe turned 17 his father got him a job in a butcher shop on Arthur Avenue.  He started out as a delivery boy and quickly learned the trade which lasted 10 years.  Before long he was a full time butcher earning good money, including tips, and all out of the sight of Uncle Sam.  Joe attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx where he played the trumpet in the school band.  “I was a Harry James guy.”  In 1953 Joe graduated from high school and went on to attend City College of New York (CCNY) at night while he worked as a butcher during the day.  Joe was studying Electrical Engineering and was also a member of the Army ROTC and a member of the National Society of Pershing Rifles. Unknown to Joe at the time, both Joe and Colin Powell was in the same ROTC class and society.
 
By the mid fifty’s all Joes childhood friends were married, including Louie who married Joe’s girlfriend and adding insult to injury, Joe was their Best Man. Later on in life she said to Joe “I should have married you”.  Joe formed new friendships with the guys on Arthur Avenue, Carlo, Mikey the blimp, Sal the bread man and Blackie.  They all liked to dance and on Friday and Saturday nights they all went to the Enchanted Room in Yonkers.  The Enchanted Room is where they first met Tony Bennett as he was gaining notoriety.   In 1955 Joe and his new friends fixed up the basement at Joe’s house and turned it into a neighborhood “club” that included a bar, built by Joe.  They called it “The Club”.  His sister brought her friends, and the guys brought the liquor.  There was dancing, hanging out and otherwise good, clean fun.  His father liked the idea of “The Club” because he knew where the kids were on the weekends.  A video of “The Club” is on YouTube under the search title of “The Club 1961”
 
In 1958 Joe’s friend, Louie, asked him to come along to Manhattan and keep him company while he went to fill out some employment applications.  Joe said “Tuesday is my day off.  I’ll go with you.”  They went to an office furniture company, Con Edison and the New York Telephone Company.  Joe also filled out the applications and to his surprise he got a phone call to come for an interview at the phone company, Louie never received a call and became a UPS driver.  At the interview they wanted to hire Joe for $50 a week as a draftsman in the engineering department.  At the time Joe was making $100 a week, plus tips in cash at the butcher.  What the phone company could offer that the butcher could not was benefits and a pension.  Joe was faced with a tough decision, and he decided to take the offer.  Joe told his boss who was very supportive and offered him a spot on Friday night and Saturday helping at the butcher shop.  Joe had the best of both worlds.
 
Joe started out as a draftsman and was later promoted to the field in the switching services.  At that time the telephone company had an Army Reserve unit, known as the 99th Signal Battalion.  It was comprised solely of employees from the telephone company.  Joe and a few of his buddies at the phone company decided to join.  They could fulfill their obligation to serve their country.  Joe was sent to the Signal School at Fort Gordon in Georgia where he spent the next six months.  Joe’s role was Battalion Draftsman (MOS 811.10). 
 
When Joe returned to the company, he was promoted to foreman and then promoted to Circuit Design Engineer in the engineering department.  While in engineering, Joe and another engineer were given a special assignment with the FBI to design and install the newly developed fiber optic technology in all their “safe houses” in Manhattan and Brooklyn. That project lasted a year.  In 1957 Joe was transferred into a role of General Trade Engineer where he was responsible for qualifying outside vendors looking to sell equipment to the phone company.  After that Joe was promoted as Staff Director in the Service Costs Department where he was responsible for preparing testimony and technical data to justify the costs to the Public Service Commission when the company was seeking price increases.  
 
Joe met Marion Cardilli while he was working at the telephone company.  Joe had a carpool and Marion was part of it.  “I charged her a buck a day to take her from her house, just a couple of doors away from me to the same building where we were both working.”  Joe took a liking to her, but she was dating someone else.  When Halloween came around in 1959 Joe invited her to a party at “The Club”. They had a nice time and he invited her to the New Year’s Eve party at “The Club”.  From then on Joe and Marion were an item.  
 
Joe and Marion were engaged on Christmas Eve 1960.  In July of 1961 Joe graduated from CCNY with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and the couple was married in August of 1961.  When Joe returned from his honeymoon, he went through his mail and found a letter notifying him that his Army unit had been activated and he was headed to Berlin, Germany.  The Army wanted troops deployed immediately so it was decided a group that was already activated would go to Berlin and Joe’s group would take their place at Fort Meade in Maryland.  That lasted for about a year. During that year, as a joke, Joe decided to publish a newsletter to his unit making fun of the officers. As a result, one of the officers, Major Zutt brought Joe up on charges which were dismissed by the IG. As a result, Major Zutt sent Joe to Camp Pickett in Virginia, a post that has been closed since WWII. When Joe arrived at Camp Pickett, Joe stated he had no experience in the work they wanted him to do, and as a result Joe was sent back to his unit at Fort Meade.  Major Zutt was pretty upset.  In 1962, soon after Joe’s Army unit was being deactivated, the Cuban Missile Crisis was gearing up and Joe’s Army unit was put on standby.  In 1964 Joe was honorably discharged.  In 1965 Joe purchased a home in Sparkill, New York, and celebrated his son’s first birthday at their new home where he still lives today.
 
Joe took advantage of the GI bill.  He went to school, at night, until 1975 and picked up three degrees in addition to his Engineering Degree from CCNY.  He earned an Associate Degree in Computer Programming, at a time when computers were just becoming more common place.  He also earned a Bachelor Degrees in Economics and an Associate Degree in Diesel and Engine Technology.  If not for the demands of raising a family, Joe might still be in school.
 
Joe was still hustling to make extra money while he was at the phone company.  He had a side business in jewelry, setting up computer networks in small businesses and he owned a florist shop.  Joe retired from the phone company in 2000 but maintained his jewelry and computer networking service.  As time went on Joe phased out of those businesses.  Joe continued as a free-lance photographer. Photography was always Joe’s passion and all through his life he had a camera and has photographs of his life growing up with his friends and family.
 
Joe and Marion are entering their 62nd year of marriage and have a son and a daughter, four grandchildren and one great granddaughter.  Today, Joe is keeping busy by donating his time and services to local organizations.  He is the Financial Officer of three organizations and the Art Director of five organizations.  Joe stated “I feel like I’m still in the office, at work, but I don’t get paid”.
 
Joe, thank you for your service and setting an example of how to hustle for a buck!