December 25, 1924 – February 21, 2021
Andrew arrived on Christmas Day, the third of four children born to Andrei and Elisaveta (Canja) Chitea at their home in Salem, Ohio. He attended Columbia Street School, Salem Junior High School and Salem High School, graduating in June of 1942. The son of Romanian immigrants, Andy was eager to serve his community and his country, tending fields during the Great Depression and assisting his father, after school, in a local factory.
Having enlisted in the United States Army shortly after his 18th birthday, by the fall of 1943 he entered the fierce combat in Italy as a replacement machine-gunner to the 34th “Red Bull” Division. Shortly after landing in Naples, he was re-directed to Division forward headquarters, where he served in G2 Military Intelligence alongside senior Division officers for the remainder of the war. Andy mustered out as a Master Sergeant with an Honorable Discharge in November of 1945; and, taking immediate advantage of