Wanted: A few good square feet
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

A few good men are looking for one good home.

"Any tent will do," said Sebastian Messina, the octogena rian chaplain of a group of old Marines who meet monthly in Nutley.

Notice the words "old Marines" rather than "former Marines."

"Once a Marine, always a Marine," said John Schmidt, a Vietnam veteran, and one of six Schmidt brothers to share the Semper Fidelis ideal.

The Marine Corp does that to people. It gets in their blood.

"There is something about being in the Corps," said Mes sina. "You look at each other as brothers."

In the case of the 60 members of the Nutley group, they are brothers soon to be without a home. For the third time since being chartered in 1990, the group -- officially known as Air Land Sea Marine Corps League Detachment 710 -- is losing its meeting place.

After enjoying more than a decade at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Nutley, the detachment moved to the American Legion. But four years ago, the group was asked to move again and now meets in tight quarters in a commercial building in Nut ley. But the owner is asking the group to move so he can lease the space.

"We don't need much," said Kent Miller, the senior vice commandant of the detachment.

What the men have now is a Spartan room, big enough for not much more than 20 metal folding chairs, a few cases of memorabilia, and a refrigerator for meet ing-night sandwiches and beer.

"All we need is a cinder-block building, maybe 800 or 1,000 square feet, with a bathroom," Miller said. "And some parking. We'd prefer being on the first floor, because some of our members are getting older and have a tough time with the stairs."

The Marines, who wear red jackets the color of the stripes on the American flag, range in age from 25 to 83, and their résumés are a travelogue of eight decades of American military presence around the globe.

"Our oldest member, John Finelli, was a China Marine from before World War II, and there aren't many of them left," said Miller.

The youngest is a veteran of the Iraq war.

In between, there was Guadal canal and Iwo Jima and Okinawa in World War II, the Chosin Reservior in Korea, Guantánamo Bay during the Cold War, Vietnam, Lebanon, and on and on. All places they served their country.

They still do, in less dramatic ways. The detachment participates in the Marine Corps annual Toys for Tots drive, and raises scholarship money for local stu dents. The members volunteer time in other community activities in the Nutley-Bloomfield- Belleville area.

"Maybe someone could help us," said Lawrence Obenhuber, who at 83, is one of the oldest members and a veteran of extensive action on the Pacific islands in World War II. "We just want a place of our own where we can meet and put our stuff."

The detachment has wartime memorabilia, American and otherwise, in cases around the room. A German field radio from World War II. A World War I wooden ammunition box. Japanese machetes and Chinese rifles. Helmets and canteens, mortar shells and cartridge belts. Displays of insignias and patches. Stacks of photographs. Behind each item, is a story to be told. Behind each story is a Marine who wants to tell it. All they need is a place.

"We can share a space with another group," Miller said.

"Or if someone gave us a small piece of property, we could float a loan to build a small cinder-block building," said Walt Michura, a charter member of the detachment. "It wouldn't take much."

But it would keep them together. To a man, the Marines said that is what is most impor tant to them.

"Not to get all smushy about it," Messina said.

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com or (973) 392-1728. To reach the Marine detachment, call Kent Miller at (973) 471-2088.

Ellie