Chenango Stories: Joe Binelli

A newspaper article once said Joseph Binelli soared to new heights of honor. Although back in 1957, the honor was for his efforts and accomplishments while playing sports in high school. His name will appear again today for his lifelong efforts as a father, a serviceman and a friend to many, for which he is honored for all he did.

Binelli has been known as a champion, a pole vault king, an officer, a captain and for one of his greatest achievements – as a loving father.

Joseph Binelli was born Nov. 13, 1939. Upon graduation from Norwich High School in 1957, Binelli had participated in track and field and wrestling with great achievement, setting new record heights and often pinning opponents in just over a minute.

After graduation, he joined the Army where he would serve the country for 30 years throughout following decades.

A year after joining, Binelli got married and subsequently had three sons – Michael, Gregory and Brian. He attended officer candidate school and graduated with honors in 1964. For the first part of his military career, Binelli served in intelligence, first as a second lieutenant then as a company executive officer when he was deployed to Viet Nam.

He worked aerial reconnaissance missions and attended linguist school for nine months where he became fluent in Romanian. He was a translator / interpreter with the Romanian people throughout his time overseas.

Commissioned as an officer to fight in the Viet Nam Conflict after it came to an end Binelli was ‘rifted,’ meaning he left the military as an officer and he and his family moved to Fort Dix, N.J., where he worked as a company commander for a military intelligence company.

The family moved back to Norwich on the same property that Binelli himself grow up on. While working in sales, it didn’t take him too long to decide to sign up for the service again; this time re-enlisting into the army reserve. He decided to go active duty and soon thereafter he became a non-commissioned officer. Binelli attended drill sergeant school and again completed it with honors. He became an active duty recruiter in 1978 for the Syracuse through Norwich area. In time he would recruit two of his sons into the armed forces. Like their father, his sons agree they wanted to follow the same path and journey that their father had years before.