By Vincent Panzarino
Family and friends of the late U.S. Marine Sgt. Charles J. Sciara recently received a lasting public memorial to his heroic exploits and sacrifices in World War II, when a Brooklyn street was co-named for the former borough resident who has been missing in action for decades.
The street co-naming comes after the resolution of an 80-year-old mystery surrounding the whereabouts of Sciara, who was the rear cockpit gunner on an SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber piloted by U.S. Marine Lt. Billy Ray Ramsey in 1944. On Aug. 18, in a ceremony fitting for a hero, a sign reading “Charles J. Sciara Way” was revealed at the northwest corner of E. 12 St. and Ave. P in Brooklyn’s Midwood section, not far from the childhood home on E. 12th St.
“My brother was one of many common people doing an uncommon job,” said Sciara’s younger brother John at the ceremony. “These are the men and women who gave up their tomorrows for our todays. This dedication is just not for my brother, it is for all the young men and women that gave up their lives for freedom, it was the greatest generation, and they proved it,” said 80-year-old John, a military veteran and retired New York City Transit police officer.
On Jan. 14, 1944, Sciara was gunned down by enemy fire during a bombing mission over Papua, New Guinea, near the Imperial Japanese base at Rabaul. Believed to have been killed in the crash, his death remained a mystery to family and friends for 80 years until the wreckage of his aircraft was discovered deep in the jungle of New Ireland, an island of Papua, the U.S. Department of Defense told TheDailyMail.com in March 2024. The serial number on the wreck matched the plane piloted by Ramsey. Sciara’s disappearance remained a mystery. Initially, his family believed he was killed in the crash, but later it was learned he likely survived the tragedy only to die shortly later in a Japanese POW camp. His remains were never found.
Upon hearing the 2024 news about the crash wreckage and his distant cousin’s fate, retired MTA Assistant Chief Paul Sciara brought the discoveries to the attention of his former MTA colleague Sean Baltrusitis, a retired Army master sergeant and district commander of Haspel-Staab VFW Post 551 in Queens, who suggested a street co-naming to honor the missing-in-action Marine. Councilwomen Inna Vernikow (R-Brooklyn), her legislature director Troy Olson and Brooklyn Community Board 14 aided the co-naming effort.