The Cost of Freedom: The Life and Death of Marine Sgt. John Basilone, American Hero
On this Independence Day, 2022, the inspiring story of a man who survived one of WW2's bloodiest battles, earned the Medal of Honor and then pleaded to go back. Part 1 of two parts.
Find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
-- Song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
The motorist pulled off at the Thomas Edison Service Plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike to get gas and a cup of coffee. He left the food court, sipping his coffee, killing time before getting back on the road. As he walked, he noticed a large plaque to the side of the building by the parking area. He approached it to see what it was.
This was the plaque that he saw and read.
Photo credit: Ron Claiborne
Now he was curious. Who was John Basilone? What had he done on Guadalcanal that earned him the country's highest decoration for valor? What happened on Iwo Jima three years later?
photo credit: Ron Claiborne
John Basilone was the sixth of 10 children of Salvatore Basilone, an Italian immigrant, and his wife, Dora. He was born in 1916 in Buffalo, New York but his family moved to Raritan, New Jersey, his mom's hometown, when he was 2. There, his father opened a tailoring shop.
Young John was a popular and mischievous kid with a penchant for adventure. (at 7, he climbed into a pen with a bull to tame the animal. It promptly knocked him down). He left school after 8th grade and went to work as a caddie at the local golf club and as a deliverer for a local cleaners. When he was just shy of his 18th birthday, he joined the Army. He spent the next three years posted in the Philippines which earned him the lifelong nickname, Manila John.
When his Army enlistment ended, he returned to Raritan, living with his parents and resuming work in a succession of low-skill jobs. In 1940, he decided to return to the military, this time as a Marine. At some point, he acquired a tattoo that read: Death Before Dishonor.
Marines on Guadalcanal, 1942 Photo credit: Interim Archives, Getty Images
Starting in the late summer of 1942, the focal point of the war in the Pacific was a tiny island named Guadalcanal, where the Japanese had built up a large force. From there, they could expand their advances throughout the region. The Allies were determined to stop them on Guadalcanal.
Thousands of U.S. Marines landed on the island in early August, taking control of a key airstrip, which they named Henderson Field. For weeks, the fighting raged on the land and sea. Casualties on both sides mounted from the fierce combat, from the almost constant shelling and bombardment, and from disease. The Japanese sent in reinforcements, building up to 36,000 troops by October.
"By late October, a single Marine battalion was all that stood between Henderson Field and two Japanese regiments," according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. One of those Marines was John Basilone.
For days and nights, the Americans were pounded by Japanese artillery, while Japanese soldiers moved closer to prepare for their assault. On the night of October 24th, they attacked.
Basilone's troops were dug in on a ridge 1,000 yards from the airfield. Japanese soldiers came at them in human waves, taking and inflicting casualties until only Basilone and a few of his men were left alive and in action. They had their sidearms and just two functioning heavy machine guns. When their machine gun ammunition ran low, Basilone took off, running and crawling under heavy fire, to get more and bring it back. When that ran low, he did it again, and then took charge himself, firing the heavy weapons, rolling from one to the other.
"At one point, Basilone lost his gloves, which were essential hand protection when swapping out scalding hot barrels for high powered machine guns. But that didn't stop Basilone, who used his bare hands to continue to operate the blistering gun and single-handedly eliminate an entire wave of Japanese soldiers while burning his hands and arms," according to one account.
It went on like this for days.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Pfc. Nash Phillips, who was with Basilone, described it later, "Basilone had a machine gun on the go for three days and nights without sleep, rest or food. He was barefooted and eyes were red as fire. His face was dirty black from gunfire and lack of sleep. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders. He had a .45 tucked in the waistband of his trousers."
Photo credit: Ron Claiborne
Outnumbered, outgunned and almost out of ammunition, the Marines somehow held the line. The Battle of Guadalcanal would later be seen as the key turning point in the War in the Pacific.
In a typewritten biography of Basilone in a notebook I was shown at the Raritan public library, he's quoted saying that when when battle was finally over, "I rested my head on the edge of the emplacement, weary, tired and thankful that the Lord had seen fit to spare me."
The biography says memories of the carnage would haunt Basilone. Sometimes he would wake up screaming. He was 26 years old.
Photo credit: Raritan public library
In the spring of 1943, Basilone was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was grateful, but he couldn't quite understand why he had been singled out for the decoration.
"Only part of this medal belongs to me," he once said. "Pieces of it belong to the boys who are still on Guadalcanal."
In the spring of 1943, Sgt. Basilone received new orders: to return to the U.S. His new assignment would be touring the country, promoting war bonds. Who better for that than a war hero? His exploits had been splashed across the front pages of newspapers. He was profiled in Life magazine; his image splashed on the cover of Colliers. He was featured in newsreels. Handsome and single, he was showered with marriage proposals.
Raritan public library poster, Photo by Ron Claiborne
Basilone embarked on a whirlwind tour, going from city to city, appearing at fundraising events. He wasn't much of a speaker, but it didn't really matter. He was genuine and modest, and his heroism was a compelling story.
Photo credit: Raritan public library
In September 1943, he returned to Raritan where the town -- his town -- pulled out all the stops to pay tribute him. On September 19th, John Basilone Day, he was feted with a parade that drew an estimated 30,000 people along the route.
Basilone spoke only briefly. "Today," he said," is like a dream to me."
Lifelong Raritan resident Peter Vitelli, 7 years old at the time, was there.
"I knew it was something special," he told me by phone. "I remember John riding in an open convertible with his parents. They paraded him down Main Street. I remember every little detail, I really do. It was a glorious day. It really was."
After John Basilone Day, he was soon back on the war bond campaign, roaming the country, often accompanied by Hollywood actors and actresses. He was now far, far away from the steaming jungle, death and horrors of Guadalcanal.
But Basilone never enjoyed all the attention and was increasingly discomfited by it. The biography in the Raritan library says he would privately complain about being a "museum piece." The military offered him an officer's commission. He declined. They offered to make him a gunnery instructor stateside. He said no, thanks. What he really wanted, what he was pleading for was to return to the war. The military refused.
"Everyone was trying to give advice, 'Don't go back! Don't go back!" Vitelli said. "He was a warrior. He wanted to get back into the fight."
He would get his wish.
Cover photo by Ron Claiborne
In Part 2 next week, the conclusion of John Basilone's story. He marries while in the States, then a month later he is sent back to war. He will take in part of the invasion of Iwo Jima where he distinguishes himself again on the field of battle.
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