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Nicholas J. Giunta World War II and family scrapbook, C0558, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries
Purchased by Lynn Eaton from Caroliniana Rare Books in July 2019.
Processing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in July 2025. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in August 2025.
Nicholas J. Giunta was born on July 14, 1917 in West Chester, Pennsylvania and graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1939. Giunta joined the U.S. Army in 1942, eventually serving as a pharmacist in a European field hospital, likely the 51st Station Hospital in Naples, Italy. Following the end of the war in 1945, Giunta returned to Pennsylvania and married Julia Marie Gialloreto, his wife of 65 years, and in 1954 he opened Giunta's Pharmacy, where he would work until his retirement in 1985. He passed away on January 12, 2022 at the age of 93 and is buried in Saint Cecelia's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.
During World War II, a series of military hospitals were established to provide a higher level of medical treatment, as near to the front lines as possible, than could be offered by standard first aid or emergency care. These hospitals fell into two major types: mobile or fixed. Mobile hospitals were designed for easy movement, often established in the combat zone, and included Convalescent, Evacuation, and Surgical Hospitals. Fixed hospitals were designed for definitive treatment of patients, established in the Communication or Interior Zones, and included General, Field, and Station Hospitals, among others. Station Hospitals provided general medical and surgical treatments for local personnel and were identified by numbers, rather than names, when located in the Communications Zone and were typically staged in tents or other improvised structures, with bed capacities ranging from as low as 25 to as high as 900.
Scrapbook album created by Nicholas J. Giunta documenting his time serving with the U.S. Army during World War II and domestic family life following the end of the war in 1945 into the 1980s, including weddings, vacations, Giunta's Pharmacy, and a reunion of members of the 51st Station Hospital. Several of the pages throughout the album include headers, adhered to the pages using silver sticker letters and numbers, that identify major locations and time periods, including Camp Pickett, Virginia, North Africa, and Italy.
The front inside cover included a bag containing Giunta's Good Conduct Medal, Army-Navy "E" Award pin, Victory pin, and military ribbon bar with two stars. These items were placed in two smaller enclosures and stored in the box with the album. The inside back cover included a pile of loose photographs and Giunta's War Department ID card that were removed and placed in a single folder.
The Special Collections Research Center holds other scrapbooks and collections related to both World War II and military medical service, such as the Margaret Kolze Army Dietitian scrapbook, World War II Hawaii photograph album, and Jerome Lawlor World War II scrapbook.
This is a single item collection. Loose photographs and ephemera items were removed from the scrapbook and stored in a single folder or in the box with the scrapbook.
Find a Grave. n.d. "Nicholas J Giunta Sr. (1917-2011)." Accessed August 12, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64164947/nicholas_j-giunta.
WW2 US Medical Research Centre. n.d. "WW2 Military Hospitals." Accessed August 12, 2025. https://www.med-dept.com/articles/ww2-military-hospitals-general-introduction/.