 Born Vincenzo Impellitteri in Isnello, Sicily, and moved with his family to the United States as an infant in 1901.They settled in Ansonia, Connecticut, where Impellitteri spent most of his youth.He enlisted in the United States Navy for World War I and served as a radioman with the rank of petty officer third class on board the destroyer USS "Stockton", which was based in Queenstown, Ireland and performed convoy escort and antisubmarine duty.