A Unique Family

Gary was born into a military family.  His uncle was John Ralph Gagliardi, the first American serviceman killed in the Japanese attack on the Philippines, the day after Pearl Harbor.  His father, Franklin Gagliardi, serving in the Philippines with his brother, became one of the few survivors of the Death March of Bataan. Franklin spent WWII in a Japanese prison camp.  Both brothers were awarded the Silver and Bronz Stars.

Gary's mother, Anita, was an officer in the US Army Nurse's Corp.  His parents met in when his father was in the hospital recovering after the war. 

Gary was born on a military base in Fairbanks, Alaska. Due to his poor eyesight (fixed by Lasix surgery) he did not qualify for military service.  Instead he mastered the art of war in business, specifically the software business, where tragically thick glasses were no handicap.

One of Gary's first cousins is John Gagliardi, the most successful coach in the history of college football at St. John's College in Minnesota. Gary and John plan to do a book on strategy in sports when they both get the chance.

On the darker side, Gary's family relationship with Michael Galardi (his branch of the family change the spelling), one of the first American's prosecuted under the Patriot Act is less certain, though both families go back to the same small town in Colorado (Trinidad), where Gary's grandfather had seven brothers.

Gary has no known family relationship to Victor Gagliardi, a great photographer and gallery owner, but they are both good friends after meeting at a book show some years ago.