HOMEPAGE for this issue: November 10, 2010

Veterans recall their time in service

By John Gleason

On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Americans will pause to remember the nation’s men and women who have served their country in the armed services.  Last week, the Denver Catholic Register spoke with three veterans who served at different times in our nation’s history. Their profiles follow.

Armand Marchionna, WWII

When he was 17, Armand Marchionna talked his father into signing a waiver allowing him to enlist in the U.S. Navy.  The year was 1943 and the Pennsylvania youth wanted to be part of the nation’s effort to fight the Axis power in World War II.

“Most of my friends were older than me and they all enlisted,” said Marchionna, who is now 85. “It’s what everyone was doing so I talked my dad into it.”

After basic training, Marchio-nna was sent to the Pacific and was assigned to the troop transport U.S.S. Rockbridge where he drove a landing craft.

 “I drove the troops up onto the beach and lowered the ramp so they could all jump out,” he said. “The tough part was when you went to leave.  If you backed-up too fast, the craft could turn around and tip over.”

Later he was assigned to a sub-chaser, PC 1139, one of whose officers was an actor who had interrupted his then-Broadway career to also serve his country—Kirk Douglas. 

“Our job was to use sonar in hopes of detecting a sub,” he said.  “And when we had one in our sites, we’d drop depth charges.”

In talking with Marchionna, who attained the rank of petty officer third class, about his wartime experiences, he said the most significant event he witnessed took place in Japan’s Tokyo Bay.

“Our boat was very close to the USS Missouri where the surrender ceremony was being held.  Our captain said we’d be witnessing something historic,” he said. “I took a pair of binoculars and watched the whole thing.  It was really something to see.”

In 1946 Marchionna was discharged.  He married and worked in a ball bearing factory for 30 years.  Now retired, Marchionna has been a parishioner at Shine of St. Anne Parish in Arvada since 1979.  He spends a lot of time on his hobby, working in stained glass.  His current project is creating angels, which he sells and then donates the money to a trust fund for the Denver Archdiocese’s seminaries.  He said that on Veterans Day he’ll observe a moment of silence, remembering those friends of his who didn’t return home from war.

“We all went because knew it was what we had to do,” he said.  “And we’re glad we did.”

Cynthia Lazzara, Cold War

Cynthia Lazzara joined the U.S. Air Force right out of high school in 1974 as a way to further her education and see the world.  Now 54 and a member of St. James Parish in Denver, the mother of two and self-professed “Cold War Vet,” still works for the Air Force as a budget analyst.  She said enlisting was the right thing to do and, if given the opportunity to do over, wouldn’t change a thing.

“I was in the Air Force for eight years,” she said, “and I’m proud of my time there, it was what I wanted to do. It gave me a chance to serve my country—and it’s the place where I met my future husband.”

Following basic training in San Antonio, Texas, Lazzara was briefly stationed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs before receiving orders that sent her to Germany.  There she was assigned to accounting and finance at Spangdahlem Air Station.  Although she spent most off her time in an office, there were occasions when her time in the military took on a much more serious tone.

“In order for us to get to Berlin, we’d have to drive through East Germany,” she said.  “At the check points, we’d see the East German troops at the guard stations; baby-faced kids with machine guns looking us over as they examined our passports. It was unnerving.”

During these instances, which were before the Nov. 9, 1989, fall of the Berlin Wall, Lazzara couldn’t help but think what would happen if for some reason, they weren’t allowed to return to their base.

“The soldiers would take our passports for long periods of time and we’d wonder what would happen if they didn’t give them back,” she said. “Would we ever be seen again?”

When she got out of the service, Lazzara used the G.I. Bill to finish her education and today works as a civilian employee at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora. 

She has friends on active service who have been deployed around the world and knows what it means for them and their families to be separated.

“We keep in touch with them by e-mail and send off care packages,” she said. “They’re never far from our minds.  It’s hard for anyone who hasn’t been oversees to know how lonely it can be.  I have a mother’s heart and it brings me to tears to see the sacrifice that these young people are called on to make.”

Lazzara said that she’ll go to Mass on Veterans Day and go to the cemetery to put flags on the veteran’s graves.

“It’s a quiet way to honor those who’ve done what they were asked to do,” she said.

Paul Kelly, Operation Desert Storm

On Jan. 1, 2011, Paul Kelly, 38, will be officially retired after a 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force.  Entering the service right out of high school, he also saw the military as a way to get an education while serving his country—and he’s served in many places.

“Following basic training in Texas, where I was trained in communications, I was sent to Misawa, Japan, where I worked signal collection for four years,” he said. 

“After that, my job took me to Fort Meade, Maryland, where I worked for the National Security Agency, and then it was on to Korea for a year at Osan Air Force Base.”

Despite all his travel and work, Kelly managed to find time to take classes and earned a degree in computer science.  His last job, before coming to Colorado, was in Iraq where he volunteered for duty attached to an Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team—a bomb disposal unit.

“I was doing CSI (crime scene investigation) at all the incidents that occurred in my area,” he said.  “Following training in biometrics and forensic analysis my team and I would go out and do post-blast analysis and gather evidence and intelligence.  It certainly was different from communications training.”

As far as why he and others of his generation were so quick to enlist in the military, Kelly believes timing was central.

“Operation Desert Shield was just underway when I signed up,” he said.  “During my basic (training) the posture changed to offensive—to Operation Desert Storm—and I was surrounded by people who wanted to go and be a part of it, to serve in this offensive. It made people feel proud to help.” 

In addition to serving his country and getting an education, Kelly feels he received a special gift from the military.

“It instills a sense of pride and citizenship I don’t believe you can get any other way,” he said.