Sgt. Basilone statue by childhood friend Philip Orlando
On this Veterans Day and the birthday of the Marine Corps, we remember with gratitude service members like Marine Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone. He was the first US Marine to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest military award given by Congress for valor and presented by the president. Ninety-six brave New Jerseyans have had the medal bestowed on them in appreciation. Congress honored Sergeant Basilone for holding the line, single-handedly, in the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II when his men were wounded. He later crossed enemy lines to get ammunition for those men, who without it would have been defenseless. Not only was this champion boxer’s valor remarkable, but so was his loyalty and strategic thinking under duress. The rallying of his troops also turned the six-month battle into a US victory.
A modest man, John Basilone declined an officer’s commission after Guadalcanal. Despite carrying the burden of memories of the harshest realities of life, he was generously light-hearted with family and friends. Uncomfortable with the public acclaim he received upon his return to the US, Sergeant Basilone deflected attention to his fellow Marines who were still fighting in the Pacific. At a time when he and his fellow Italian-Americans were referred to by some as being “without papers,” the son of an Italian-born father chose to leave his bride, family, homeland, and safety to rejoin those Marines in combat where he bravely led them, many only teenagers, in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Part of the first wave, Sergeant Basilone destroyed a blockhouse, one of the beach fortresses from which enemy machine gun fire was killing Marines, enabling his men to take an airfield. Minutes later, he gave his life for his country at the age of 27.
Word spread quickly across the beach that Sergeant Basilone was down. Those left living in the bloody wave fought harder in what became a six-week onslaught and a vital strategic victory for the United States in WWII. In the face of such an unexpected defense, some of the young men on the beach could see the commanders order more forward into what was a slaughter, but with the Marines’ loyalty to each other and the miracle of noble character, they still fought as had their hero US Marine Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone.
“John Basilone remains the only soldier (non-officer) in U.S. history to be awarded both The Congressional Medal of Honor and The Navy Cross. He is also the only Medal of Honor winner to go back into combat and be killed in combat.” (Raritan-Online.com) Posthumously, Sergeant Basilone was honored with the Navy Cross, given to a member of the US Navy, US Marines, or US Coast Guard for heroism in combat, and the Purple Heart, the country’s oldest recurring military award created by President George Washington. The Purple Heart is given in the president’s name to any member of the Armed Forces wounded or killed in combat. He was one of 4,700 Marines who died in the Battle of Iwo Jima where 15,308 were also wounded, characteristic of the bravery and sacrifice of that generation. There was, however, respectful recognition noting a namesake bridge and a second battleship about to be named in his honor.
Statue with Veterans Park a few weeks before parade
…and the transformed corner on parade day.
Each September, his Raritan hometown honors him with a parade that ends at the statue created by his childhood friend, Philip Orlando. Philip, a sculptor, was a recipient of the Bronze Star, the award given after 1941 to anyone serving in the Armed Forces for “heroic or meritorious achievement” in non-air combat. Philip depicted Sergeant Basilone as he recalled him, not just as a war hero in battle from the heroic night commemorated at Guadalcanal, but as his larger-than-life childhood friend John who always won the neighborhood game of “King of the Hill”. The site of the statue, the busy corner of Somerset and Canal Streets, keeps the hometown hero a part of daily life, a perennial guardian of what he helped preserve.
Adapted from The Moral Quandary of Heels All Rights Reserved © 2013 Kathleen Helen Levey