Hero of the Pacific_ The Life of Marine Legend John Basilone - James Brady [63]
From Newark airport, Navy bombers flew the tour group to New Haven, Connecticut for a parade. There were five thousand marchers, plus jeeps, tanks, and scout cars, two bands—one from the Army Air Corps and the other from the Coast Artillery—and the State Guard. Then came time for a freshening-up at a hotel and a big rally that evening at the Arena, a fanfare of trumpets, a parade of flags of the Allied nations, Governor Baldwin, yet another mayor Murphy, the “Hollywood singing star” Miss Edith Fellows handling the national anthem, more speeches, and an honor guard of air cadets training at Yale University. This may well have been Manila John’s first brush against the Ivy League. “Later we were introduced by the Hollywood stars in our group and each of us had a little piece to say, after which we were given a standing ovation.” This was Basilone’s first such speaking date outside of his own state, and apparently it went very well since he mentions “being sorry to leave this pleasant city.”
The PR people were apparently doing their work. At one stop they arranged to have a general release carrier pigeons in a park. In Rochester in upstate New York, a stop Basilone had his own personal reasons to anticipate, there was a rally at Red Wings Stadium, after which he managed to slip away to visit with the family of his machine-gun buddy on the ’Canal, Bob Powell, meeting his mom at 98 Garfield Street: “Bob’s sister Peggy answered the door and in seconds I was meeting Bob’s mother and sister Vicky. Vicky was 22 and a looker, in fact she was beautiful. Bob had certainly held out on me [where was Miss Grey?]. Peggy, just eight, was cute and a little darling. I had quite a talk with Mrs. Powell, telling her all I could about Bob. She hung on every word. I know she was proud and thrilled when I told her if it weren’t for guys like Bob covering up for me on the right and left flanks, I’d never have lived to get my medal. I told her how Bob and I had become close personal friends, training together at Parris Island, New River, and Cuba.”
In Albany John looked up the mother of Jackie Schoenecker, another Guadalcanal Marine, assuring her Jackie wasn’t holding back when he told her he hadn’t been wounded but was simply suffering from malaria. “I explained that it was a common ailment in the tropics and as a matter of fact, I was walking around with it. I know I eased her fears.”
The tour was well organized, Basilone noting that the “publicity and fanfare” whipped up before every stop ensured a big crowd and local enthusiasm before the traveling road show of heroes and Hollywood stars even came to town. Some of it was fun, some moving and emotional, some quite frankly a pain in the ass. As Basilone put it, “No matter where I went, there was always some guy who would ask a million questions about the Japs and outside of the job I was now assigned to. I didn’t feel like talking about them. Too many of my buddies were still dying in the stinking jungles, which when I looked around, seemed around a million miles away. Still, they were there, fighting, praying, and dying.” He asked himself, “How much longer could I continue feeling like I did?” and got no answers.
Finally, this leg of the bond tour (there were others to come), the Northeast swing, was over, and it was time to go home to Raritan, the little town where Basilone grew up. “I looked forward to spending a few days with my family.” But there was still “Basilone Day” to get through.
His hometown’s celebrations began the morning of September