The Perricone Quads
Born: Oct. 31, 1929 in Beaumont, Texas
The Perricone Quads made history when they made their way into the world on a cold and stormy Halloween in 1929 and catapulted a Beaumont family into the public eye. Maria Concetta “Bessie” Mazzu Perricone and Philip “Filippo” Perricone, of Italian descent, had lost a daughter to complications from whooping cough but already had five sons when the four boys were born.
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The birth of Anthony, Bernard, Carl, and Donald Perricone (the Alphabet Quads) made national headlines. They were the second documented set of quadruplets born in the U.S. and the first surviving male quads in the world.
In 1950, all four brothers were drafted to serve in the army. They expressed a strong desire to serve together in the same unit during the Korean War. Brothers are normally prohibited from serving together. Still, with the help of then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, the Perricones were given permission to serve together in South Korea.
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After the war, all four went to work at Pure Oil Refinery. Anthony eventually decided he wanted to be a barber and pursued that vocation. The other three stayed at Pure Oil/Union 76 until they retired. The boys purchased a piece of property in Beaumont, Texas, and developed a private road (Quad Lane), in which all four lived. Just of Walden road, the original homes are still occupied by the descendants of the Quadruplets.
Anthony, Bernard, Carl and Donald celebrated their last birthday together in 1989. Bernard died the following year. Donald passed in 1991, and Anthony died in 1998. Carl still resides in Beaumont with his lovely wife, Anne.
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In 2010, Carl got a call from dignitaries in South Korea asking the four brothers to join the South Korean president in a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. Carl, the only surviving brother, made the trip and represented his brothers and the United States at the ceremony.