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Not all veterans’ scars visible, crowd in Vineland reminded
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VINELAND - Like his father, Tony, Joe Isabella served in the U.S. military.
The scars on his father's face, his missing eye and how he earned a Silver Star for valor during World War II were all part of a story never told throughout his life. All Isabella knew was that his father was a proud veteran.
Isabella, a retired U.S. Navy captain himself, headlined a Veterans Day event held at the American Legion hall in Vineland. More than 200 people, veterans, their families and supporters alike, made up the standing-room-only crowd Wednesday afternoon.
After a parade of officials stepped to the podium to present proclamations and pronounce their gratitude to all veterans and the service men and women currently serving our country, Isabella recounted what he had learned from his father.
At the end of his life, Tony's battle came against cancer, Isabella said.
Tony joined the military when he was 20 years old, hoping the experience would eventually gain him an education and a good-paying job. Somewhere along the way to that end, Tony became a pilot and the man who saved the lives of 20 others.
On a mission in Europe, as other planes were being shot down around him, the 20 mm caliber shell from the gun of a German plane was fired into his cockpit. The round exploded and, in the words of Isabella, took half of his father's face.
Before he succumbed to cancer, Tony, not an especially religious man, told his son that he blacked out in mid-air that day. He was the only one that could have safely landed that plane.
While he was unconscious, a man in a white suit presented himself in a vision and told Tony to come with him.
Tony told the man "no."
He finally came to and brought the plane down safely. Every member of the crew survived.
Isabella, stopping to compose himself several times during his speech, said his father endured multiple surgeries and that the shrapnel in his head was never completely removed. When he came back to the states, he got job interviews and found that good-paying job he had set out for.
While his father wore the effects of war and courage on his face, Isabella said, the wounds of many veterans are not so obvious. Veterans Day, he said, is a day to celebrate all veterans and servicemen and women, and to remember the sacrifices each has made for their country.
"Let this be a lesson on how to treat our returning veterans," he said. "Their scars are not as visible as Tony's."
The veterans in attendance appreciated the support from the public as well as from the various organizations present at the event, including the Vineland High School marching band and local Boy Scouts.
Jim Martine was especially happy with the great turnout.
A U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, Martine appreciates that veterans from all wars now are being acknowledged.
"A lot of people treat (Veterans Day) like a paid holiday, but it's nice to see the support here," he said. "If feels really good."
Contact Edward Van Embden:
856-649-2072
Posted in CUMBERLAND on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 11:35 pm Updated: 12:32 am.
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