Peter Tomasello came to America in 1882 where he entered the lumber business, eventually making his way through Georgia and to Bagdad, Florida. He would meet and marry his wife Eulalie from Georgia in 1885. Knowing that the lumber industry was highly lucrative in Bagdad, he and his fledgling family bought passage by ship to Pensacola and then on to Bagdad by river boat. He quickly moved from a laborer to an operator to a superintendent to owning the Robinson Point Lumber Company along with his brother Rudolph P. Tomasello. Rudolph had married Annie Harp and together they set up house at Robinson Point, another small lumber mill town on Blackwater River, south of Milton. Both he and Peter would rise to prominence within the community with Peter becoming county commissioner of the Bagdad district in 1913 and Rudolph the county lumber inspector in 1911.
But soon after, the clouds of war began to gather over Europe and America began to feel the ominous threat of yet another military conflict. In preparation, Milton raised Company "K" with the State Guard comprised of 150 young men who were ready and willing to march against the Kaiser if needed! Uniforms were ordered and received, while speeches were made from stumps and wagon beds alike. Each political oration resounded throughout the Blackwater River villages inspiring rampant nationalism. When war was finally declared on April 6, 1917, all four of Peter and Eulalie's boys left home to do their duty to their adopted nation. Their homegrown patriots were Adone Daneri (born December 10, 1891), Giovanni P. (born May 12, 1895), Dewey P. (born December 12, 1887), and Pietro Tomasello Jr. (born 1-6-1900). The first to go into uniform was Pietro Jr., who had enlisted in the Florida National Guard on March 15, 1916. The next was Giovanni, who enlisted in Milton's Company "K" of the National Guard on May 17, 1917.
The next was Adone, who was called up from his National Guard unit on August 15, 1917. And last was Dewey, who enlisted in the regular army at Ft. Screven, GA on February 16, 1918. As the war continued in Europe, the brothers were sent overseas one by one to fight or die as the fates dictated.
The first to leave was Dewey who embarked on the SS Mount Vernon on March 29, 1918 with Company "E", 38th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. His unit was ordered to protect Paris by occupying a fortified position on the banks of the Marne. During the 2nd Battle of the Marne, Dewey and his regiment would hold their ground even though they were assailed on three sides at once by superior German forces. But due to their determination, they became known in history as the "Rock of the Marne." When the battle finally ended, another was just beginning. The "Aisne-Marne" battle would rage from July 18 to August 6, 1918. It was during this heavy fighting that Private Tomasello was severely wounded on the 25th of July. He was evacuated to a rear echelon hospital where he would remain until his assignment to the St. Aignan Casual Company #469. Casual companies were formed out of soldiers that were wounded or recently discharged from a hospital and disqualified for any further replacement service.
Thus, he embarked on the USS North Carolina at Brest, France on January 28, 1919 and headed for home. Once back in the states, he was medically discharged on February 28, 1919. He would remain a disabled veteran the rest of his life. He would marry Pauline Knight and by 1930 they had settled in Kenansville, Osceola County, Florida where he worked as a lumberman at a sawmill. By 1940, he was a caretaker at a stockyard in the adjoining community of Kissimmee. He would pass away on August 31, 1973 in Osceola, followed by his wife Pauline in 1980.
Second Battle of the Marne July 25, 1918
Pensacola News Article 1905
Pensacola News Journal April 14, 1917
Newspaper Article April 1917