23 minute read
Basilone Cont. from
Basilone Cont. from Page 1
guns. The squad was part of Company C, which was near the center of the defense perimeter.
Advertisement
Basilone, then twenty-six years old, was of average height but wellbuilt, and a veteran soldier.
Born in Buffalo, New York, on November 4, 1916, he grew up in Raritan, New Jersey. His father, Sal, was a tailor who had emigrated from Italy and his mother, Dora, was born in Raritan.
After Basilone graduated from eighth grade, he quit school and at the age of 17, with signed papers from his parents, joined the peacetime Army. Following basic training, he was assigned to Company D of the 16th Infantry in Manila, the Philippines (the Filipino and government and U.S. government had close ties then) and there he became a champion boxer and given the nickname of “Manila John” by the men in his company.
In the Army, other traits besides his boxing prowess, became evident. He was by the force of his self-confidence and personality a natural leader. He also showed an exceptional mechanical talent, and became an expert with guns, particularly machine guns, and surprised enlisted men and officers with his
Give Us This Day Our Daily Chuckle
This week, a compendium of wit, wisdom and neat stuff you can tell at parties. Enjoy!
So...Anybody interested in a ride in a helicopter for 4 people? I'm still looking for 2 more adults to join us.
We leave early Saturday morning (July 2nd) from SAN and will fly to Catalina Island where we will have breakfast, then have lunch on a yacht.
Then we’ll do a flight up the coast to see the beautiful shoreline returning to San Diego for dinner.
If interested, please message me. Preferably someone with a helicopter and yacht, otherwise we can't go...
•••• Two Mafia hitmen are walking deep into a forest in the middle of the night. One of them says, "I gotta admit I'm scared out here.” ability to breakdown and re-assemble the numerous parts of the weapon blindfolded.
When his time of enlistment was up, Basilone returned home. He took various jobs, all of which bored him. Meanwhile, there were rumors of war. If war did come, Basilone wanted to be where the action was. In July, 1940, he joined the Marine Corps and trained at Quantico, Virginia. Because of his leadership abilities and knowledge of machine guns, he quickly moved up the ranks, making Private First Class in August, 1940, Corporal in May, 1941 and Sergeant in January, 1942.
Basilone seems to have been a born soldier.
Those soldiery qualities would be tested beginning Friday night, October 23, 1942, on Guadacanal.
With his finger on the trigger of the machine gun, in the stillness of the night, Basilone waited for the order to fire.
For long moments, the jungle was quiet, then suddenly, the silence was shattered by voices. The Japanese were yelling taunts, which surprisingly were in English (a number of the Japanese, particularly officers could speak English):
“Blood for the Emperor! Marines, you die!”
A smile is a sign of joy . .
A hug . . is a sign of love.
A laugh . . is a sign of happiness . And a friend like me? . . Well, that's just a sign of good taste.
We'll be friends until I am senile
Then we'll be new friends. ••••
Grandma & Grandpa
Grandma and Grandpa were visiting their kids overnight.
When Grandpa found a bottle of Viagra in his son-inlaw’s medicine cabinet, he asked about using one of the pills.
Paul said, "I don't think you should take one they're very strong and very expensive."
Later the next morning, Paul found $110 under the pillow. He called Grandpa and said, "I told you each pill was $10, not $110. " The Marines were quick to respond, “______you! Come on, you yellow ______!”
Again taunts. The Japanese wanted to say, “Roosevelt,” but because they weren’t able to say certain syllables, it came out, “Roozerover eat shit!” And “Babe Roo eat shit!”
The Marines hooted back, “Your grandmother eats shit! And so does the Emperor!”
Then came the roar of voices from the darkness of the jungle. “Banzai! Banzai!” And on they came.
Over the battalion phone circuit, Colonel Puller’s Virginia drawl resounded, “Commence fahring!”
The night exploded. The crack of rifles, the stutter of machine guns, the twang of mortars—a cacophony of noises that almost drowned out the screaming Japanese who, with bayoneted rifles, charged, many of them covered head to heel in camouflaged leaves, in their crouched positions looking like rapidly moving bushes, the spent shells popping out of the guns, but like a river in flood, the Japanese kept coming, and then they ran into the knee-high rows of barbed wire, their charge slowed down as they struggled to maneuver through it, the next wave crowded into them, their bodies becoming an entangled mass.
The Marines kept blazing away. Someone was tapping Basilone’s shoulder. In the infernal din of bat-
exit.
•••• Most people don’t think I’m as old as I am until they hear me standup. •••• I miss the 90’s when bread was still good for you and nobody knew what kale was.
•••• The Surfing Sermon
The minister and his wife were having breakfast on a Sunday morning. He remarked that his sermon today would be on surfing.
She asked “Why surfing? You don’t know anything about that subject.”
He replied “I’ve made up my mind, that’s what I’m going to talk about !” So she let it go at that.
On his way to church he had second thoughts and decided to give his old “Sex in Marriage” sermon instead. It was received well by the congregation and one lady, in particular, was so inspired that she rushed over to the minister’s house, arriving before he did, and told the wife how much she had enjoyed the sermon.
The wife replied, “Oh, he really doesn’t know much about that subject. He’s only tried it twice and he fell off both times.” ••••
Sister Mary Ann’s Gasoline
patients when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it, a Texaco gasoline station was just a block away.
She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Mary Ann was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car.
She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, Sister Mary Ann carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried the full bedpan back to her car.
tle, he could make out only two words, “Almost overrun.”
Basilone jumped to his feet and as fast as he could ran to his second section and there he found three of his men dead and, tended by a medic, two men badly wounded. One of the machine guns was demolished, the other was jammed.
He ran back to his pit, picked up a machine gun, shouted at two of his men to follow him, and as they headed for the other section, they ran into six Japanese who had infiltrated the line. Before the Japanese could react, the two other Marines, from hip level, fired their rifles. The Japanese crashed to the ground.
In the gun pit, while two of his men loaded and began firing the machine gun he had carried, Basilone took hold of the jammed machine gun and began to take it apart.
In the darkness of the pit, Basilone moved his fingers over the machine parts. His fingers stopped, and then slowly moved over a single part.
The head spacing was out of line.
In a moment the machine gun was ready. Basilone set the gun on the tripod, and with one of his men feeding the ammo belt into the
Basilone Cont. on Page 3
As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Baptists watched from across the street. One of them turned to the other and said, 'If it starts, I'm turning Catholic!' ••••
New Bra Technology
Dr. Calvin Rickson, a scientist from Texas A&M University has invented a bra that keeps women's breasts from jiggling, bouncing up and down, and prevents the nipples from pushing through the fabric when cold weather sets in.
At a news conference, after announcing the invention, a large group of men took Dr. Rickson outside and kicked the pudding out of him.
Evelyn Madison The Social Butterfly Email Evelyn at: thesocialbutterfly@cox.net
Strength Through Art: This joint effort with the Vista Library, VETART.ORG and The Veterans Writing Group of San Diego county will include beautiful pottery and other works from VETART, and readings and book sales from the Veterans Writing Group. We anticipate there will be an opportunity to get autographs from our writer's and discuss their military connections and how writing has strengthened their lives. We hope to attract other veterans to create their own pottery, write their stories and share with others. The sharing builds confidence in our military, and in our veterans who "have borne the battle". Civilians can learn how much the veterans have given to protect our way of life. The art of writing and creat-
Basilone Cont. from Page 2
gun’s breech and clipping it into place, Basilone began firing, full trigger.
Less than twenty feet from the machine gun, the Japanese tumbled and fell.
By the time the fourth wave had charged, the machine guns were beginning to run out of ammo belts. Basilone rose from his gun pit and, with a pistol in hand, ran to the battalion supply dump, several hundred feet in back of the line.
Reaching the dump, he tore open ammo boxes, took out machine gun belts and hung them around his neck, then grabbed water cans and weapon parts and headed back, Loaded down in this way, he made several trips, distributing what he had to his men and others in his company.
After several more waves of Japanese charged the defense perimeter, it was suddenly quiet. The Japanese had stopped their attack. It was past midnight.
During the lull, Basilone decided to deal with a problem. The barrels of the machine guns had become pink-hot. The high rate of fire had boiled away the water in the cooling jackets that were coiled around the barrel. But the water cans used to cool the guns had been puncing art heals, entertains and strengthens our veterans, active duty military personnel and dependents.
Please join us!
Garry G. Garretson VWGSDCOUNTY@gmail.com 760-419-9468
Escondido Arts Partnership Municipal Gallery offers Art Enrichment Program for
Children: For kids ages TK - 6th Grade - this exciting summer proram is designed to introduce, educate and inspire youngsters in art, methods and technique and to expose them to different forms and mediums of art. Classes are preplanned and materials provided. Parents do not have to stay but are welcome to if they wish. Cost is $15 per class of $50 for the week. For info, call 760.480.4101.
Escondido Library Summer Schedule: All Library Facilities Closed for Independence Day Monday, July 4, 2022 SRC Kids Crafts on Thursdays! Thursdays, July 7, July 14, & August 4, 2022 2:00–3:00 p.m. • Turrentine Room • Ages 5–12 Create cool sea creatures, explore the ocean zones and get slimy with these Thursday craft events! Anime Your Way Wednesday, July 13, 2022 • 4:00–5:15 p.m. Turrentine Room • Ages 12–18. A comprehensive step by step drawing program that teaches you how to create and modify an anime character from scratch, no
tured by shrapnel.
Coming to his feet, Basilone began to urinate in the cooling jackets and ordered his men to do the same.
About 1:15 a.m., the Japanese attacked again, this time directly in front of Company C, Basilone’s company. The Marines opened up with machine guns, rifles and mortars. Within five minutes nearly all the attackers were dead.
When morning came, it revealed a scene of carnage that riveted even the most combat-hardened Marine. On the ground, Japanese bodies were stacked two and three feet high, and on the barbed wire, the mound of corpses were three and four feet deep—in the last charges, the Japanese had used the bodies of their comrades as bridges over the wire. Covered with blue-colored flies, the corpses had putrefied. The stink permeated much of the area.
Basilone ordered his men to remove some of the corpses from the wire to clear the line of fire.
By mid-afternoon, the Japanese were still attacking the Marine line. In the incessant firing, Basilone became like a man possessed. He ran and ducked along the line, shooting infiltrators, rolling back and forth from one trouble spot to another, making sure the guns were operating, repositioning them, directing the line of firing, and when a Marine was killed or wounded, manning the gun himself. matter what your drawing level is! Miyazaki Movie Marathon Saturdays, July 16 & 23 @ 3:00–5:00 p.m. July 30 @ 12:00–2:00 p.m. Turrentine Room • Ages 12–18
The films of Hayao Miyazaki are amazing explorations of different worlds and complex characters. If you are a fan, come by on one of the following Saturdays and enjoy a Miyazaki masterpiece.
Tween R.E.A.D Book Club Friday, July 22, 2022 • 3:30–4:30 p.m.Turrentine Room • Ages 8–12
The Read, Eat, and Discuss Book Club will explore Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner.
Visit with the mysterious rainforest dwellers of South America! Six different animals may include a kinkajou, boa constrictor, iguana, or armadillo! Come to the program to see who’ll come to visit!
Most people have books they don’t plan to read again, so let’s swap. Bring in your books and exchange them for books that others are willing to swap.
Mark Griffiths Puppet Show Wednesday, July 28 • 2:00–3:00 p.m.
During that second night, the Japanese—with a seemingly endless reservoir of men—kept charging. And the Marines kept firing.
Then a Marine yelled, “They’ve broken through!”
Colonel Puller hurriedly put in a call for reinforcements and the Army regiment was quickly brought in, divided into small groups and distributed along the Marine line.
The reinforced defense perimeter held, and by the first streaks of dawn, the attacks were not as frequent or as intense.
Later that morning, in ragged lines, the demoralized Japanese began to retreat.
They had failed to take Henderson Field.
In the three-day battle, nearly 2,000 Japanese were killed, and their total number of killed on the island was 23,000.
The number of American casualties in the three-day battle are not recorded, but in the official history of the Marine Corp, the total 1st Marine Division casualties on Guadalcanal were 605 killed and 1,278 wounded. Another 8,580 Marines came down with malaria. Turrentine Room • All Ages
Dive into the Oceans of Possibilities with a hilarious and inspirational feel-good show where anything is possible … IF you believe!
Honor Flights: We could not continue to meet our mission without incredible and gracious donors. We receive no government funding and every dollar we raise is through grass roots efforts. This month we want to say THANK YOU to The Thursday Club Juniors who organized and held a fundraiser for us. We were invited to their luncheon for a check presentation and due to all their hard work, they donated over $93,000 to Honor Flight San Diego! That covers nearly 40 veterans who will be able to go on THEIR Honor Flight at no charge to them and will be thanked for their service to our country.
We cannot THANK YOU enough for supporting our veterans and our mission!
Our Fall 2022 trip planning is in full swing! Just like previous trips, as soon as we get back from one trip, our dedicated team of volunteers start planning for the next flight.
In case you are new to Honor Flight San Diego or maybe haven't
Social Butterfly Cont. on Page 10
Japanese would never again mount an offensive campaign in the Pacific. And looking back on the victory on Guadalcanal, President Roosevelt called the heroic defense of Henderson Field “the turning point in the Pacific war.”
For the Marines, the successful defense of the field had immediate consequences. After 72 hours of combat, they could rest and, in leisure, eat their K-rations with its biscuits, which they called “dog bones.”
The division had further opportunities for rest while on their way to Australia; and when they reached Melbourne, they were greeted at the docks by hundreds of Australians; the day before the newspaper’s headline had read, “The Saviors of Australia are Arriving.” Thousands more cheered them the next day as the division marched down the main street of Melbourne.
But in the weeks that followed, it was back to further training for the division, while the top Marine command mapped out strategies for taking over more Japanese-held islands.
It was while the 5th Division was camped in Melbourne that Basilone learned he would receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. And on May 21, 1943, with the
Capt. David Cramer was named Iterim Police Chief, of Escondido, effective June 29.
Escondido City Manager Sean McGlynn Tuesday afternoon appointed Captain David Cramer to the position of Interim Chief of Police effective 6/29/2022. This appointment comes a week after Chief Ed Varso announced that he was selected to be the next Chief of Police for the City of Menifee, California.
Interim Chief of Police David Cramer was hired by the Escondido Police Department in September 1995. Cramer has developed extensive experience throughout the police department, including; patrol, the bike team, COPPS Unit (both as an officer and as a lieutenant), investigations, SWAT, Emergency Negotiations Team, and more. David was promoted to sergeant in 2005, lieutenant in 2016, captain in January 2020, and interim chief in June 2022. Capt. Cramer has a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University and a Master’s degree through the US military.
Interim Chief Cramer commented, “I have been with the department and served this community for over 26 years. It is an honor to be appointed Interim Police Chief and to serve in that capacity. Chief Varso has done a great job leading the department and connecting with the community. I look forward to continuing that cause and working with others to move the department forward, enhance our relationship with the community and ensure Escondido remains a safe place to live, work, and shop.”
Man About Town
There's this guy . . . let's call him Jim . . . who has dedicated his life to taking care of all veterans, regardless of which branch in which they served.
Most of the veterans he services are those who are homeless, who are in need, who are down on their luck and he recognizes that about 20% of all the homeless will never be anything but that . . . homeless. Still, he helps them all . . . sober, drunk, high, straight, gay . . . if they're a veteran and needs help, he's there, night and day.
It's not all strawberries and roses either . . . he's had veterans he was trying to help kick him, stomp on his feet, hit him, beat him up, vomit on him . . . and he keeps coming back to help them.
The City of Escondido will be moving forward with a national recruitment.
PALOMAR HEALTH AND CNA & CHEU UNIONS COME TO MUTUAL AGREEMENT AFTER ONGOING AND EXTENSIVE NEGOTIATIONS
Amid negotiations and strike notices from the Unions, Palomar Health remains committed to their goal of providing world-class care to all of their patients and the surrounding communities. The organization is proud to announce as of today, they have reached a mutual agreement with the CNA and CHEU Unions amid bargaining that has been ongoing extensively over the weekend and for the last 34 hours straight, with stakeholders at the table since Monday morning of this week. Both parties have worked together diligently to reach a tentative and appropriate agreement that is in the best interest of Palomar Health and the Unions.
Palomar Health committed to returning to the bargaining table amid a strike notice from the Unions, which may have prevented the health district from offering the highest quality of care to their patients. The executive team at Palomar Health is at the bargaining table to ensure their best efforts to negotiate in good faith, come to an agreement, and avoid a strike and the detriments that come along with it.
“We value our employees and want to make sure they have every opportunity ly twice the speed limit at the time of the crash. Its driver, 19-year-old Brandon Contreras, and the Liras daughter Ana died at the scene.
Alvarez was arrested two months after the crash, then posted bail and awaited trial out of custody
More than four years later, he was found guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury, and was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison, but not go to prison while his appeal his pending.
According to his defense attorney, Kenneth Elliott, Alvarez’s blood was drawn after the crash without a warrant.
to be heard and voice their concerns. We have worked diligently to ensure the best possible outcomes for both parties and remain committed to making beneficial progress. We are proud to have reached an agreement that our team can stand behind and be happy with,” says Diane Hansen, President and CEO of Palomar Health.
“We also want to ensure our patients and their families that we are ready to serve them and provide excellent care to our community with no disruptions. As always, we remain focused on our primary mission, which is to provide San Diego County and the surrounding communities access to extraordinary healthcare and services.”
Escondido Family Not Happy with Punishment for Driver involved inn Fatal Crash
It’s been four years since the Liras lost their 19-year-old daughter in a crash involving an intoxicated driver.
“It has broken my heart,” Lisa Lira said. “My very sweet, smart, little girl should be graduating and she’s gone.”
While the person responsible for her death has been convicted, the Liras are still fighting for justice.
“It's been four years of our struggle, and it's really time for him to go to prison,” Lira said.
In March 2018, Francisco Alvarez, now 32 years old, ran a red light on the El Norte Parkway in Escondido and slammed into another car.
That other car was going 87 mph, near-
the streets you and I would not likely be caught walking. The streets where the homeless live . . . the gutters, the alleys.
Recently, several things happened . . . profound to me and you . . . fairly commonplace to him.
In one case a friend of his asked him to come by and to bring a six pack. He agreed. When he entered his friend's apartment he found him on the floor with a needle still in his arm. He had injected a mixture of heroin and fentanyl. That fentanyl is bad stuff. It can, and does, kill within five seconds. It is becoming a major part of the opioide epidemic and it is flooding across the border and/or being manufactured in garage chemistry labs here in Southern California . . . in some cases even being mixed with battery acid.
And people are putting this stuff in their bodies.
Jim also sees things on the street that sickens him. Kids, ages 10, 12, 14, selling themselves on street corners - for money for food, for drugs, for their family.
Jim has another friend . . . a big mirror image of a Hell's Angel . . . leather jacket, no shirt . . . just bare chest and muscle. This guy sees a car stopped at a curb with the driver chatting up adolescent kids, seeking sex for money. This guy has a great big 10' steel bar. He runs up, slams the steel bar into the rear window of the car.
You can hear and smell the rubber burning for a full half minute as those cars beat it out of the area.
Happens all too often.
Most recently, Jim was working the streets, looking for veterans that needed help when he heard a woman whimpering and crying. She was next to a dumpster with her two children, both not yet old enough to attend school. Her husband had beat the hell out of her and then kicked her and the two kids out of the house. She was seeking refuge at the dumpster . . . and here were two grinning thugs approaching her, one with his pants down around his ankles, saying things like . . . "gonna give you some sugar, momma . . . "
Jim scurried back to his car and grabbed a baseball bat. He rushed to the two thugs and he took a mighty swing and nailed the worst of the two thugs right up alongside the head. He hit him so hard he permanently disfigured the guys face. The other thug decided he had other places he should be and left. Quickly.
The police had responded and Jim spent the night in jail . . . but once all the facts were sorted out, he was released. Thing is, Jim would do it all over again.
“He feels terrible for the families, and he has taken this time that he’s been out on bail to talk to family and friends and coworkers, to talk about the dangers of driving under the influence,” Elliott said.
“I’m not satisfied with his admission of guilt,” Lira said. “He was on drugs and high. He had a mix of alcohol, and both those kids are dead because of his actions. I don't accept that he's trying to be out, that he's trying to live his life.”
In need of closure, the Liras want Alvarez to do his time in prison and serve as an example to others about what could happen if you drive under the influence.
“We were so happy, and it will never be the same,” Lira said.
things Jim has to do are not entirely legal.
But things that have to be done. And some are things that, when done, are the only way to get the message across. Clearly.
Like laying a baseball bat forcefully against the head of a no-account creep.
Why does Jim do things like this?
A squad of Marines came to rescue him when he was in a rice paddy in Vietnam. Of that squad of Marines, nine Marines died . . . giving their lives so Jim, a Navy pilot, and his crew, might survive. Jim and his crew did survive, helicoptered out, thanks to those brave Marines . . . but Jim never forgot the sacrifice of those nine Marines.
That's why he's dedicated his life to veterans.
That's why he works the mean streets.
Jim is a man's man and I'm proud to know him.
We need a few more Jims in the world.
