Correspondent photo / Karla Dines This group of veterans, all of whom grew up near Quinby Park in Warren, gathered near the park’s shelter house and reminisced about their days fishing, playing football, ice skating and climbing the water tower there. From left are Bob Kent, of Warren, Paul Santone of Southington, Tony Santone of Newton Falls and Carmen Santone, of Warren. These men still socialize with or otherwise stay in touch with several other former neighbors from the Quinby Park neighborhood. Many of their childhood friends served in the armed forces.

WARREN — One of the closest human bonds is that among childhood friends.

A group of more than 30 veterans who grew up together on the streets surrounding Quinby Park, on Warren’s southwest side, formed that bond.

These Quinby Park friends served in all branches of the armed forces under six presidents, totaling more than 150 years of combined service. Many have remained in touch throughout the years and still talk and meet on a regular basis. A group of these veterans recently met at Quinby Park to discuss the times they spent there.

They played on the playground together. They fished for bluegill, catfish and carp in the ponds. They climbed the Quinby Park water tower. They ice-skated and socialized while warming up by the fireplace in the shelter house on cold winter days.

“I spent many hours here fishing. There were some big carp. You really had to hold on to your pole,” Paul Santone of Southington said.

This close-knit group of friends and their siblings graduated from Warren G. Harding High School, Warren Western Reserve High School or St. Mary’s from the late 1950s to the late 1960s.

“In the summer, we met to play football or basketball almost every Sunday morning,” said Navy veteran Bob Kent of Warren, who grew up on Palmyra Road.

“We played some hard football,” added Army veteran Tony Santone of Newton Falls, who grew up on Oak Street with his four brothers, all five of whom served in the armed forces.

“Nobody had a TV back then. My whole family used to go to my grandfather’s house to watch Ed Sullivan,” Kent said.

“We climbed to the very top of the water tower on Saturday nights,” said Navy veteran Carmen Santone of Warren, noting that the water tower support structure has changed, and the tower is no longer climbable. “While climbing on the water tower, the police would sometimes drive past, seeing us.”

“The police drove a station wagon patrol car, and they used to chase us. We had to hide out behind Andy’s Gas Station,” Kent said.

Oak Street native Bob “Doby” Dean spent 20 years in the Air Force. Dean published a book in 2024, “Little Doby”. The book details his journey from his childhood in Warren, his Air Force career, and the time spent back home again. He wrote about his fellow neighbors and friends in his book.

“All the neighborhood kids played ball everyday — any kind of ball. Competition was always keen with the Santone kids, who were Little Doby’s Italian neighbors and best friends,” Dean wrote in his book.

Carmen Santone enlisted in the Navy in 1958. Kent enlisted in 1959. Santone was trained as a sonar technician and was stationed on a Navy destroyer. Kent was a boiler technician on a destroyer escort. They were able to make contact once while both were in France.

“We would talk on sonar. We were not really allowed to do that, but the sonar guy would come and get me and tell me my buddy was on the phone. We only had 2 minutes to talk. We found out that they were having mass on the USS Forrestal. We met there at the gangplank 65 years ago. We spent the day together, got lost on the Forrestal, and were lucky to get back to our ships,” Kent said.

The Cuban Missile Crisis, a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, resulted when missiles were discovered in Cuba in October 1962. Kent’s Navy escort destroyer was stationed in the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during the crisis.

His childhood friend, John Howell, who grew up on Palmyra Road, was also in the Navy and stationed at Guantanamo Bay during that time. While on liberty there, the two Quinby Park friends were able to spend a few hours together.

Navy veteran Joe Walker grew up on Oak Street. Walker published a book in 2019, “Coppersun 265.” The book details his two combat tours as a Navy SEAL in North Vietnam.

In the book, Walker discusses the time spent as a child at Quinby Park playing baseball, football, basketball and ice hockey, or just hanging out there.

“There was a relatively large group of girls and boys there just about any evening after school. Collectively, they were referred to as the Quinby Boys. Even the girls,” he writes in the book.

While many of these veterans are no longer in the area, many do remain in contact. A small group of these Quinby veterans meet for breakfast every Saturday morning.

Veterans from Quinby Park

This is a list of men from the Quinby Park neighborhood in Warren who served in the military

Jim D’Amico, Navy

Pete D’Amico, Coast Guard

Mick Daugherty, Navy

Bob Dean, Air Force

Bill DeCavitch, Marines

Dave DeCavitch, Army

Bill Howell, Marines

John Howell, Marines

Charlie Hughes, Army

Joe Huncherick, Navy

John Huncherick, Army

Mick Jennings, Marines

Pat Jennings, Navy

Fred Jones, Navy

Bob Kent, Navy

Nick Laprocina, Army

Ron McClead, Army

Joe Rich, Army

Gail Rose, Navy

Carmen Santone, Navy

Mick Santone, Army

Dan Santone, Navy

Tony Santone, Army

Paul Santone, Army

Bob Spain, Navy

George Spain, Navy

John Spain, Army

Terry Spain, Marines

Sandy Stevens, Navy

Tom Stewart, Marines

Bill Walker, Army

Joe Walker, Navy

SOURCE: Bob Kent