Army Dentist Richard Munaretto

Having joined the Army Reserves while in dental school, Richard Munaretto opted for three years of active duty as a dentist in Germany rather than one year in Vietnam and one in the States.

The oldest of four sons, Richard Munaretto was born in Chicago to Frank and Adelina Peruzzo Munaretto. The family lived near Western and Ohio and later moved to 3750 W. Chicago Ave., living behind his father’s business, Alamo Barber Shop.

Munaretto’s maternal grandparents emigrated from Carmignano di Brenta, Padua, and his mother was born in Chicago. His father, born in Tresche Conca, Vicenza, came to America when he was 17 years old. Munaretto grew up in a closely knit family surrounded by his maternal grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins. “We always had a lot of family around,” he says. “We spent all the holidays with family somewhere or other.”

His paternal grandmother lived in Gary, Indiana. “We traveled to Gary almost every Sunday unless something else local was going on,” Munaretto says. His grandmother raised chickens and had a knack for catching birds in her back yard. “We had a lot of bird spaghetti,” he says. “She put them in the spaghetti sauce. It was delicious, really.”

Munaretto graduated from Our Lady of Angels Grade School in 1957, one year before the tragic fire. He remembers returning from St. Philip High School, seeing smoke, hearing the school was on fire, running there and finding his father frantically searching for his sons. “My father was just crazy,” Munaretto remembers, “When you got near the school you couldn’t tell where anybody was.” Brothers Robert and Raymond were found safe several heart-wrenching hours later. Frank was too young for school.

Munaretto enrolled in Weeden Barber College while a student at St. Phillip, attending classes at both schools. He completed barber college before his senior year and graduated high school in 1961. Munaretto worked at Alamo while attending Loyola University, graduating with a bachelor of science in biology in 1965.

He next entered the Loyola School of Dentistry, joining the Army Reserve as Lieutenant while a student. Munaretto graduated with a D.D.S. in 1969. Having already served three years in the Reserve, Munaretto was given his choice of active-duty locations. Italy, his first choice, was not available so he chose Germany for three years of active duty. “If I wanted to be in only two years, I could go to Vietnam for a year and the States one year,” Munaretto says.

Munaretto was promoted to Captain as he began six weeks of basic training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. With no room on base, Munaretto and other soldiers were put up in a motel and given a stipend for meals. They were transported daily by bus to and from base for their training. Dentistry out in the country and in war zones was being phased out at that time and, consequently, dentists did not need to learn about setting up tents and getting a dental clinic running in the middle of nowhere. “You would go by jeep into a village and take care of dentistry the best you could,” he says.

After a brief leave, Munaretto departed to Frankfurt, Germany, from McGuire AF Base in New Jersey. His wife, Patricia McCormick, whom he married in 1968, accompanied him. His parents were glad that their first-born son was headed to Germany, not Vietnam. “And they were happy that I would be close enough to Italy to be able to visit my uncle there,” Munaretto says.

He was stationed with the 576th Dental Detachment at the 56th General Hospital in Bad Kreuznach, about 50 miles from Frankfurt. Munaretto and his wife lived in a six-room apartment in a building occupied by Army personnel. “They shipped my car over [a 1968 GTO Convertible] and gave me a three-bedroom apartment,” Munaretto says. “Fully furnished, silverware, china, no electric bill, no heat, no water bill. It was really great.”

The hospital, about two miles from Munaretto’s apartment, housed a dental clinic with six dentists and two Colonels in charge. Munaretto reported for duty Monday through Friday, working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. He volunteered to see the emergency patients from 8 to 9 every morning. Five thousand people lived on base and Munaretto and the other dentists took care of all military personnel and their families. “They were all pretty healthy people,” he says. “We would take care of toothaches and such and sometimes we would have to go in at night to see people.” Munaretto volunteered as the only oral surgeon for two years. “They gave me a certificate of appreciation for that,” he says.

On weekends and occasional four-day passes, Munaretto often went sightseeing with his wife and at times with their military friends. He visited various cities in Germany, France and Holland and made several trips to Italy, driving his GTO convertible through Munich, Brenner Pass and down the peninsula. A highlight was meeting his parents in Vicenza and traveling together. “We saw my aunt and uncle, who were living in Carmignano di Brenta, and they showed me where my father was born.”

Munaretto and his buddies befriended a local German family that made wine, and every four weeks they would pay them a visit. “We’d bring them sugar, coffee, a bottle of Jack Daniels and a quart or half gallon of ice cream,” Munaretto says.

Munaretto’s wife missed her family in the States and one year she traveled home for the holidays. On Christmas Eve, Munaretto sat alone at the Officer’s Club bar eating lunch. An officer sat next to him, they began talking and, hearing Munaretto was alone, the officer said, “I got a Santa Claus suit. Could you put the suit on and I’ll put a bag of toys on my balcony and you bring it to my kids? They would go crazy.” Munaretto agreed. “Well, before you knew it there were six places that I had to go to,” Munaretto says. “And of course you had to have a drink at every place.”

Munaretto’s daughter, Mila, was born in 56th General in 1971. He returned to the United States, was discharged as Captain in October 1972, and his son, Richard, was born in 1974. Over the following years, Munaretto worked for various dentists, returned to Loyola School of Dentistry to obtain his specialty endodontic certificate and received a master of science in oral biology.

In 1979, he and his brother Raymond opened a dental office in Cameo Towers in Elmwood Park and gradually expanded their practice.

Munaretto’s son, Richard, a dentist, joined them. Mila, a hygienist, has a master’s in public health. Today Cameo Dental Specialists is thriving, with offices in five locations. Munaretto married Mary Therese Abbatemarco in 2014 and has two children and five grandchildren from his first marriage.

Reflecting on his time in the Army, Munaretto says, “It was really great; the Army was fabulous to me. I really was thinking of reupping but I felt that my Colonel and I kind of had problems together. He liked extracting teeth and I liked fixing them!”

The article above appears in the August 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.