Joseph “Joe” Allegretti, a 101-year-old World War II veteran who earned two Purple Hearts, says the person who helped him most after the war was not a commander, a medic, or a fellow soldier. It was Janet Kajano, the woman he married in 1949 and shared nearly 72 years with before her death in 2021. In a new Veterans Day interview with PEOPLE, Allegretti reflected on the war that shaped him, the marriage that steadied him, and the life he built after returning home to Albany, New York.Allegretti is among the small number of combat infantrymen from World War II still alive at 101. He served from August 1943 until his discharge in January 1946, earning two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and France’s Legion of Honour. Yet when he speaks about his life now, his thoughts return again and again to Janet, whom he called his “new guiding light.”
The war he cannot forget
Allegretti was born on May 17, 1925, and grew up in Albany during the Great Depression. His parents separated when he was 10, and he has described those years as a daily challenge, with enough food but few extras. His mother, Florence, became a central source of support, and he remembers her as the “shining light” of his childhood.He graduated from Albany’s Christian Brothers Academy in June 1943 and was drafted into the Army that August, at age 18. After basic training, he joined the 104th Infantry Division, known as the Timberwolves, the first American division trained for night fighting.At 19, Allegretti was part of the Allied advance into Inden, Germany, in December 1944. He and his lieutenant were caught in a surprise German ambush, and shrapnel struck Allegretti in his left thigh after enemy soldiers threw grenades as the two men tried to move past them. He was eventually airlifted to Birmingham, England, to recover.The injuries did not end there. Two months later, while his division tried to cross the Roer River in rowboats, enemy fire capsized the boats and Allegretti nearly drowned in the current. In March 1945, German tanks blew him into the air, leaving him with a brain concussion.
Representative image of a depressed man from Canva
Coming home changed
When Allegretti returned to Albany in 1946, he carried more than medals and memories. He had survived combat, but he also carried the emotional weight of what he had seen and done. “I left the war, but the war never left me,” he told People.He has said that combat remains difficult to discuss, especially with people who did not experience it. “Soldiers who were involved in close combat with the enemy can be reluctant to discuss their actions with anyone other than fellow combat veterans,” he explained. “I keep it to myself.”Years ago, he spoke with a priest about the uncertainty that haunted him, including whether people who died in battle had been killed by his own weapon. The priest told him it had been a “just war,” an answer that Allegretti has carried with him.
Janet became his light
After returning home, Allegretti enrolled at Siena College and married Janet Kajano in 1949. He has been direct about the effect she had on him. “The war messed my mind up. Janet became my new guiding light,” he told PEOPLE.Their marriage lasted nearly 72 years, until Janet died in 2021 at age 96. Together they raised four children, Joe, Lucille, Patti and Jim, and became grandparents to five and great-grandparents to nine.Allegretti said he tried to be more than a father to his children. He wanted to be a friend and mentor, someone they could speak with openly and trust to listen with understanding and respect. That approach reflected the family life he had wanted to create after growing up as an only child whose parents had separated.With help from his father, he bought the only house he has ever owned in 1957. He and Janet filled it with family life, travel plans, volunteer work, and routines that stretched across decades.
A life beyond the battlefield
Allegretti worked for 27 years at the New York State Thruway Authority, retiring in 1986 as its director of accounting. After retirement, he and Janet enjoyed trips to Italy and the Jersey Shore, along with visits to their timeshare in Aruba, where they walked for miles along white-sand beaches at sunset.They also spent time at Albany’s Italian American Community Center and the city’s Irish Hall, and they volunteered in their community. Their family later grew into a wider circle that includes Danny Freeman, one of their grandchildren, a lawyer turned TikTok creator known as @dannylovespasta, who wrote two bestselling cookbooks inspired by Janet’s Italian recipes.Allegretti credits part of his longevity to habits formed during his marriage. He says he has followed a Mediterranean diet since he and Janet married, and after retiring he spent 31 years going to the gym three times a week for two hours at a time.
Life after Janet
Janet’s death changed the shape of Allegretti’s daily life. He says he misses everything about her, including her warm smile and fun spirit, and he has acknowledged that the sparkle in his life dimmed after she was gone.In July, he suffered an unexpected fall in his own kitchen, leading to hospitalisation. Realising he could no longer live alone, he decided to sell the house he had owned for 69 years and moved in with his son Joe and daughter-in-law Suzanne just outside Albany.He began weekly at-home hospice visits in August, but he remains engaged with the world around him. He studies the stock market, follows the news, reads thrillers and mysteries, and has finally completed a novel about a wartime love story that he began years earlier. He hopes it may be published after his death.
What Veterans Day means to him
As he marked his 80th Veterans Day, Allegretti said he wishes people paid closer attention to veterans, particularly those who experienced combat. “The many sharp and deep emotions have taken their toll on combat veterans,” he told People. “World War II is still being fought in the dreams of many of us today.”His story is not only one of wartime bravery. It is also a story about what can come after survival: a long marriage, a family, steady work, community involvement, and the quiet work of carrying memories that never fully disappear.Allegretti still finds reasons to look forward. “There is still more joy in life,” he said, repeating a lesson Janet often shared: “It is what it is. It could be worse.”