thedrifter
08-26-07, 07:33 AM
Chicago Heights Marine saw World War II action from battleship
August 26, 2007
By Jim Hook Staff writer
When Tony Gasbarro walked into the military recruiting station in Chicago Heights in 1943, he had two options: Navy or Marines.
"I couldn't swim, so I said Marines," said Gasbarro, 85, of Frankfort. "But then I spent the next two years aboard a battleship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
"Before that, I'd never even been in a rowboat," he said.
Gasbarro was 22 when he decided to join the military.
After years of hanging out with his buddies at the Phillips 66 station on the corner of 14th and Center streets in Chicago Heights, he was getting nowhere.
And most of his buddies were getting their draft notices anyway.
He tried unsuccessfully "three or four times" to enlist in the Marines but was rejected each time because of a hernia.
Gasbarro had his hernia repaired and 60 days later found himself at Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego.
After completing boot camp, Gasbarro was among 75 Marines sent to Bremerton, Wash., where they spent parts of the next two years aboard the USS Maryland.
The battleship, which was part of the Navy's powerful 7th Fleet, spent as much time in shipyards at Pearl Harbor and Bremerton for repairs as it did cruising the Pacific.
During Gasbarro's two years aboard the Maryland, the battleship came under attack three times.
After four days of bombarding the island of Saipan, the Maryland was hit by a Japanese plane that managed to fly undetected under the radar.
The plane dropped an aerial torpedo that blew a gaping hole in the ship. Two sailors were killed.
Gasbarro was a gunner on a 20 mm anti-aircraft machine gun.
He was on deck when the Japanese plane flew in, and he can still see the pilot's face as he flew toward the ship.
"I remember he had a white scarf around his neck, and he wore a smug smile on his face," he said. "That's how close he was."
After being repaired, the Maryland headed for the island of Leyte in the Philippine Sea.
The battleship was struck by a Japanese kamikaze plane that knocked out the ship's No. 1 and No. 2 gun turrets, but not before the Maryland and the other ships destroyed the Japanese fleet in a battle that took all of 21 minutes.
The Maryland returned to the shipyard at Pearl Harbor for more repairs. And, for Gasbarro, more time on land.
After being repaired, the Maryland set out for Okinawa. But before it arrived, another Japanese plane dropped a 500-pound armor-piercing bomb that tore through the battleship's deck, killing 58 men.
The massive ship limped back to the naval yard at Bremerton for more repairs and to get ready for the invasion of Japan.
Heading back into battle, the Maryland was a two-day sail from San Francisco when the United States dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the war.
"We were ecstatic," Gasbarro said.
He said the Maryland continued on to Pearl Harbor, where it brought 1,500 soldiers back to Bremerton.
Gasbarro returned home to Chicago Heights where he worked numerous jobs during the next 40 years.
He spent more than 20 years as a Chicago Heights firefighter.
Gasbarro and his wife, May, have been married 59 years and have three grown children. The couple have four grandchildren, including two grandsons currently in the Marine Corps.
Ellie
August 26, 2007
By Jim Hook Staff writer
When Tony Gasbarro walked into the military recruiting station in Chicago Heights in 1943, he had two options: Navy or Marines.
"I couldn't swim, so I said Marines," said Gasbarro, 85, of Frankfort. "But then I spent the next two years aboard a battleship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
"Before that, I'd never even been in a rowboat," he said.
Gasbarro was 22 when he decided to join the military.
After years of hanging out with his buddies at the Phillips 66 station on the corner of 14th and Center streets in Chicago Heights, he was getting nowhere.
And most of his buddies were getting their draft notices anyway.
He tried unsuccessfully "three or four times" to enlist in the Marines but was rejected each time because of a hernia.
Gasbarro had his hernia repaired and 60 days later found himself at Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego.
After completing boot camp, Gasbarro was among 75 Marines sent to Bremerton, Wash., where they spent parts of the next two years aboard the USS Maryland.
The battleship, which was part of the Navy's powerful 7th Fleet, spent as much time in shipyards at Pearl Harbor and Bremerton for repairs as it did cruising the Pacific.
During Gasbarro's two years aboard the Maryland, the battleship came under attack three times.
After four days of bombarding the island of Saipan, the Maryland was hit by a Japanese plane that managed to fly undetected under the radar.
The plane dropped an aerial torpedo that blew a gaping hole in the ship. Two sailors were killed.
Gasbarro was a gunner on a 20 mm anti-aircraft machine gun.
He was on deck when the Japanese plane flew in, and he can still see the pilot's face as he flew toward the ship.
"I remember he had a white scarf around his neck, and he wore a smug smile on his face," he said. "That's how close he was."
After being repaired, the Maryland headed for the island of Leyte in the Philippine Sea.
The battleship was struck by a Japanese kamikaze plane that knocked out the ship's No. 1 and No. 2 gun turrets, but not before the Maryland and the other ships destroyed the Japanese fleet in a battle that took all of 21 minutes.
The Maryland returned to the shipyard at Pearl Harbor for more repairs. And, for Gasbarro, more time on land.
After being repaired, the Maryland set out for Okinawa. But before it arrived, another Japanese plane dropped a 500-pound armor-piercing bomb that tore through the battleship's deck, killing 58 men.
The massive ship limped back to the naval yard at Bremerton for more repairs and to get ready for the invasion of Japan.
Heading back into battle, the Maryland was a two-day sail from San Francisco when the United States dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the war.
"We were ecstatic," Gasbarro said.
He said the Maryland continued on to Pearl Harbor, where it brought 1,500 soldiers back to Bremerton.
Gasbarro returned home to Chicago Heights where he worked numerous jobs during the next 40 years.
He spent more than 20 years as a Chicago Heights firefighter.
Gasbarro and his wife, May, have been married 59 years and have three grown children. The couple have four grandchildren, including two grandsons currently in the Marine Corps.
Ellie