Howard Cossabone Jr. was the son of Elizabeth Tinneny and Howard Cossabone Sr.  He was born April 23,1930 at Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia.  He was baptized in Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia and was raised in the family home at 413 Kingsley Street in Roxborough.

Growing up on Kingsley Street Howard was popular with the boys in the neighborhood. It was one of them who without realizing it gave him a nickname that stayed with him throughout his life. His young buddy had difficulty pronouncing Howard so called him Pete the name stuck and thereafter he was called Pete by family and close friends.

Howard with his Kingsley Street buddies.

Row 1: L-R Howard, ?, Harry Vetter, Bogie Brennen,

Row 2: Far right Billy Crennan.

The two photos below were likely taken at an Easter gathering at the home of Howard’s grandparents on silver wood Street in the mid 1930s. 

Howard with his parents in the yard of his Tinneny grandparents at 4540 Silverwood Street. His Grandmother Alice is in the doorway and his Aunt Marie Tinneny in the background.

Row 1: Howard and unknown girl probably a cousin.

Row 2: Unknown girl and Marie Tinneny. Howard’s mother Elizabeth and his Grandmother Alice in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Howard attended Saint John the Baptist Grade School beginning in 1937 and Saint John's High School from which he graduated in 1949. Howard’s high school graduation photo.

 

 

 

 

When he was 15 years old, in June 1945, Howard registered for Social Security. His Social Security number was 199226929. That same year he met his future bride Fay Scriven. He saw her around the intersection of Green Lane and Ridge Avenue where the young guys and girls from the neighborhood hung out.  Howard actually met Fay a week later, one week after Thanksgiving 1945.

Fay was the daughter of Llewellyn Scriven and Cecelia Abramovitz. She was born at 3024 Collona Street near 31st and Susquehanna Avenue in Philadelphia.  She lived there until she was six years old at which time the family moved to Kalos Street in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. Fay graduated from Roxborough High school in 1948. She and Howard began dating in 1951 and he corresponded with her throughout his time serving in combat during the Korean conflict. Before Howard left for Korea, he told Fay he would marry her when he returned.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Fay’s high school graduation photo. (1948)

 

 

 

Immediately after high school Howard found work as a bookbinder at Fher & Johnson Bindery in center city Philadelphia. On October 16, 1940 he complied with the law requiring all young men in the country register for the military draft. He did so at Local Draft Board Number 21 located at 471 Leverington Avenue in Roxborough.  

 

    

Howard’s WW II Draft Registration card.

Howard was drafted into the United States Army for service in the Korean Conflict. He was inducted at Fort Meade, Maryland on January 15, 1952. This began a journey that would take him around the world to the mountains of Korea and combat with the 45th Infantry Division, 145AA Battalion. He was sent from Fort Meade to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas for basic military training then to Camp Cook California. Camp Cook was located near Santa Barbara in Northern California. At Camp Cook he finished basic training and advanced artillery training. 

Howard sustained a serious injury to his foot while at Camp Cook which dogged him throughout his service there and beyond. He said, he had been out on a 3 day pass and he and his buddies had done a lot of drinking. When they returned to camp the sergeant said he wanted Howard to play in a baseball game. Howard was feeling bad and just wanted to lay down and recover from the heavy drinking the night before. The sergeant insisted giving Howard no way out. He suited-up and was playing his usual second base position on the field when this "southern guy" on first base suddenly decided he would steal his way to second base.  Howard wasn't paying attention to what was happening and the other player, instead of sliding into second base, ran and jumped toward the base and landed on Howard's foot.

He was treated for the injury and spent the next two months on barracks duty. When he seemed to be mended he would be assigned to KP (work in the kitchen) and after standing on the foot all day it would give him trouble and he would be placed back on barracks duty by the doctor.

Photos of Howard believed to have been taken while he was in training at Camp Cook in San Bernardino California or in the mountains of Korea.

At Camp Cook, Howard became proficient in the use of the M-1 rifle, 30 caliber carbine and 50 caliber machine gun.  He was stationed there February through March 1951 at which time he was given leave to visit with the family in Philadelphia before leaving for Korea. 

Following the leave, Howard returned to California and began the trip to Korea from Oakland.  He and his fellow soldiers were taken by troop ferry under the Golden Gate Bridge to a waiting troop ship offshore. Howard recalled that he spent most of his time on guard duty during the ship’s crossing. He said the ship included passengers who were wives and children of servicemen who were going to Japan to join their husbands. 

The ship eventually made port in Japan where the dependents disembarked and after a couple of days the ship left port and continued to Korea.  It arrived in the port of Soul, Korea at about 10:00 a.m. and the troops were required to wait on the deck until after dark without eating.  At about 9:00 p.m. they were ordered to disembark and went over the side of the ship on landing nets into launches that took them to the beach. 

The next stage of the journey was under real challenging conditions. He and his fellow soldiers were taken to a rail yard and loaded aboard railway box cars. Each man was given c-rations which required a can opener.  The Army must have been short of can-openers since they issued one to every fourth man loaded into the box cars. Once the soldiers were in the box cars the doors were closed and it was totally dark. Not having eaten since breakfast aboard the troop transport many hours before, Howard and his companions were very hungry. Many years later, he vividly recounted the mass confusion when they all attempted in the dark to find the soldiers who had the can openers and to open and eat their C-rations. He said he would never forget the experience.

The box car took Howard to join the 144th Infantry Division whose patch was the Thunderbird. He was assigned to a unit near the famous Pork Chop Hill as a gunner aboard a half-track vehicle. He was responsible for firing the two 50 Caliber machine guns onboard the vehicle. He was routinely involved in firing on North Korean emplacements and dodging returning fire from the North Koreans.

Photo: Howard left, with members of his combat team sandbagging and weatherizing their newly constructed bunker position in the mountains of Korea. US Army Photo) Published in the Hammond Times, January 18, 1953.

Like so many others who served in Korea, Howard found the climate and country side very inhospitable. He remembered how cold and miserable it was. He also recalled how the Army went "all out" for the troops on holidays. Thanksgiving dinner for example, the cooks would truck the meals to the troops at their field location in big pots. The troops would line up with their metal mess kits opened and their tin cups and go through the chow line in the cold miserable weather. The cooks would scoop turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, cake and ice cream all in a pile on the mess kits. Howard and his fellow soldiers would then go and sit on their helmets and eat the holiday meal. While in Korea Howard was promoted to the rank of corporal and served as the squad leader of his mobile fire team.

Other meals for the mobile fire units were less ceremonial. The cooks would come by in the evening and give each troop an uncooked egg or sometime a little box of cereal to be used as the next days breakfast. There were no facilities to cook at the mobile fire sites so the soldiers were at their own devices to prepare their breakfasts.

As was the case in World War II, the soldiers were selected to complete their combat tours based for points they acquired for time in the combat zone and combat activity. Naturally they were all very eager to return to the United States after several years in combat in the cold and miserable hills of Korea.

Howard was eagerly awaiting his turn to return to the States. He knew he was close to acquiring the necessary points when he was sent on a special assignment from his unit to Inchon to test fire a 50-caliber machine gun on a half track. When he returned to his unit several days later he was told that while he was gone the unit was notified it was time for him to rotate back to the United States but since he wasn't available another soldier was sent in his place. Needless to say he was very upset about this having waited so long and been through so much. His sergeant told him there was no need to go back to his unit to work -- that he should go to the NCO Club instead. A week later, Howard left Korea for the trip home to the United States and to Fort Meade Maryland for out-processing. He was discharged from the Army at Fort Meade in October 1953 with the rank of corporal.

As he promised, Howard and Fay were married at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Manayunk on February 13,1954.  Although Fay was non-Catholic, she convinced Father Reynolds, the priest who married them, that they should be married at the altar.  At the time, the wedding ceremony of Catholics who married non-Catholics was not generally permitted to take place at the altar of the church.  Often such marriages were conducted in the church rectory. To accommodate church rules and Fay and Howard's wishes there were two sets of sponsors for the wedding.  On their marriage certificate Howard's mother was listed as a sponsor however, Rita Blackburn was the actual Maid Of Honor for the ceremony. Joe Everly was the actual best man for the wedding.

The alter of Saint John The Baptist Church Manayunk.

The bride and groom with wedding sponsors Joe Everly and Rita Blackburn. Photo courtesy of Cindy Cossabone Kamm.

Following their honeymoon in New York, Howard and Fay lived in the home of her parents on Kalos Street. They bought their own home at 130 Hermit Street, Philadelphia in December of 1954 and moved into it in February1955.

Photo Hermit Street home.

 

 

 

 

1957 brought great joy to the Cossabone home with the birth of their daughter Cynthia Louise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fay with Cindy at about 6 months old on the front steps of their home.

Howard with Cindy.

Cossabones in 1957 - Seated L-R: George Cossabone (Howard Sr.’s grandfather), Howard Sr..	Cindy with her great-grandfather George Cossabone.

 

Cindy in grade school at Saint John the Baptist through graduation at Roxborough High School in 1974 .

After their marriage, Fay worked as a receptionist for a company at 5th and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia. The company bought and sold wool from all over the world. Howard worked for the Reading Railroad from 1957 until April 1976 doing clerical work. In 1976 he found new employment in the payroll department of the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). Next he worked for AMTRAK as Supervisor of Train & Engine Payroll from 1982 until his retirement in April 30,1990 when he was 60 years old. During his career Howard was very active in the union. He was President of Local 390, Brotherhood of Steamship and Railroad Clerks.  He also served as chairman of the local and in that capacity was responsible for handling grievances of the union members against their employer. He mentioned that he had “lost his first 5 cases” representing union members against management but after getting the hang of it he never lost another case -- and he handled many.

Howard was an active member of the Democratic party his whole adult life unlike some of his Tinneny cousins and and their siblings who were staunch Republicans. In fact Howard was the Democratic committeeman for the 2nd Division of the 21st Ward in the 1960s and early 1970s. 

However, when his cousin, Joe Tinneny, ran against Hugh Scott for a congressional seat in the 1950's, Howard came home and told Fay that they should both vote for his cousin. 

They went to the polling place to cast their ballots for Joe in the primary election. When it was their turn to vote at the machine they found that they had great difficulty trying to vote for Joe. It turned out the voting machines were fixed so that if the voter was on the voting register as a Democrat the machine would not accept votes for Republican candidates. Thus, Howard was unable to vote for Joe and Fay broke the voting machine trying to cast her ballot for him.

 

 

 

Howard also believed in serving his community. He was vice-president and president of the Wissahickon Neighbors Association in the late 70s-early 80s.           

On the corner of Hermit and Terrace Streets, Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church had burned down and the site was an empty lot for several years. During the time of his leadership, this group was instrumental in building a new playground on the site. As of the year 2022 "Neighbors Playground" is still there and a great asset to the community.

 

 

 

 

Neighbors Park a legacy of Howard’s leadership in community affairs. 

About 1975 Howard and the family began spending vacations at the New Jersey shore. In later years they spent the summers in their trailer at Sea Isle City. They had quite a scare during the summer of 1995. He left the camp ground at the beach to drive Fay to a hair dresser appointment. It had been raining and the weather was really bad. Since she had a 9:00a.m. appointment they left the campground at about 8:30 a.m. 

The roads were beginning to flood and Fay suggested to Howard that they turn around. In true Tinneny fashion, Howard said “No I'll get you there” and continued on the way to the hair dresser’s. As they turned onto Landis Avenue, Howard said his foot was cold and looked down and saw that his foot was covered in water that was flooding into the car. As the water got deeper he drove on the sidewalk to try to avoid it and the electronics of the Honda went crazy -- the lights started blinking, the horn beeped and the seat belts went up and down. They finally abandoned the car and were taken in by a local resident who gave them lunch and a dry place to be until the water receded. The car was ruined by the salt water and had to be replaced but, they survived the incident without any ill effects.

                                                                  Howard and Fay about 1978.

Howard’s father past away suddenly December 8, 1979. He had been sick with cold for several days. Howard called him on the 8th and when he got no response he went to his home and found him deceased. While cleaning out his father’s home Howard came across a hand gun to his great surprise. Although a combat veteran, Howard had a profound dislike for weapons and wouldn’t have or handle them. On finding the gun he put it into a paper bag and took it to the local police station. He placed it on the counter telling the policeman that he found it in his deceased father’s house while clearing it out. The policeman scolded him saying he shouldn’t be walking around with a gun in a bag.                                      

Howard and fay enjoying drinks he a beer and Fay a cocktail. 

Following his retirement from the railroad Howard made clocks that Fay helped decorate and paint. He also bowled  in 1996 his average was145. He was also very active as a member of the senior citizens group at Saint John the Baptist Church beginning in 1990. He was elected Vice President of that group in 1996 and President in 1997.

After Fay's sister died in 1996, Fay and Howard decided to move to Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania to be closer to their daughter Cindy and her family. Howard kept active at the Senior Citizens Center in Levittown working at their bingo and organizing trips for the seniors.

Howard calling bingo in a volunteer position at the Middleton Senior Citizen Center.

Howard and Fay working the bake sale table at the Middleton Senior Citizens Center.