by Greg Corrales
“Fight”
Response by Edward O’Toole to the question printed in the 1940 San Francisco High School of Commerce yearbook, of what he would do to defend the high school and America.
On June 25, 2011 the San Francisco Chronicle published an obituary for Edward O’Toole, for which the Department of the Army paid. It informed readers that Army First Class Edward Lawrence O’Toole, of San Francisco, who had been missing in action from World War II, died November 20, 1944 in Sueggerath, Germany as the result of enemy action. His remains were recovered February 2, 2010 and his eventual identification was made by the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command. The obituary then revealed a bit of information that touched many of us, “PFC O’Toole has no known living relatives.”
The day before O’Toole’s services, the Chronicle printed a story by Carl Nolte, their outstanding reporter/columnist. He reported that Edward O’Toole was born in San Francisco in 1921, the youngest of seven children. The family lived first on Kansas Street, and then at 695 Rhode Island Street. The O’Toole family received a telegram telling them that their son was missing. Later, he was presumed dead. Eventually, the rest of the family died. What jumped out of Nolte’s excellent column were two particular sentences, “No members of his family will be on hand to mourn Edward O’Toole. He has no known close, surviving relatives.”
On July 15, 2011 PFC O’Toole was buried with full military honors: an honor guard, a rifle salute, and a bugler playing taps, at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno. I am delighted to report that the man who had “outlived his family” had 300 people at his service, including a distant cousin, who lives in the same house on Rhode Island in which O’Toole had grown up. His cousin, who was 2-years-old when O’Toole went missing, saw Carl Nolte’s story, and was at the service and received O’Toole’s flag.
The American Legion was well represented. I represented the Police-Fire Post. SFPD sent a motorcycle escort, half of whom are members of the Post. Paul Rodriguez, American Legion Area 2 Commander, and Michael Bloom, representing District 28 attended, as well as a large contingent of the Legion Riders.
Many veterans organizations were represented, including a very sharp contingent from the Marine Corps League. Among the many veterans attending were retiree Jerry Salvador. It was also very gratifying to see that large number of civilians that read the obituary or Carl Nolte’s story and felt compelled to honor PFC O’Toole with their presence. Among the civilians was recent SFPD retiree Maggie Ortelle. Rest in Peace Private First Class Edward L. O’Toole.
The Marine Corps Times reported that Sgt. Sean Barner and a friend were returning to a birthday party after going outside to get some fresh air when he felt the muzzle of a gun on his back. He discovered that two armed robbers had entered the home and were holding everyone hostage. They stole money, cell phones, and other items from the partygoers. Barner and the five other male partygoers were then forced into a back bedroom; the four women were split into two groups and sent into two separate bedrooms.
When the men overheard the robbers’ plan to rape the women and then shoot all the victims, Barner said he decided that he had to take action. The sergeant, licensed to carry a concealed weapon, waited until the robbers were far enough from the bedroom that he could grab the .40 caliber handgun in his bag. Barner entered the living room, and fired at one of the robbers before the man jumped out of a window. He then kicked down the door to the bedroom, shouted for the women inside to get down, and a firefight ensued, in which the robber was killed. The second robber was later arrested. He is serving a life sentence plus 35 years in Georgia’s Smith State Prison.
For his heroism, Barner received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal during a June 14 ceremony. It’s the highest honor a sailor or Marine can receive for valor in a non-combat situation.
Marines and soldiers are most important when it comes to national defense, according to a recent Gallup Poll that surveyed Americans across the country. The Marine Corps and Army were “essentially tied,” Gallup reported, when it asked Americans: “Just off the top of your head, which of the five branches of the armed forces in this country would you say is the most important to our national defense today?”
The results are based on a survey of 1,020 adults, conducted June 9-12. The poll reports that 25 percent of Americans view the Army as most important and 24 percent believe it’s the Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps can take pride in the fact that Americans continue to view the Corps as the most prestigious service. The last four Gallup surveys have put the Marine Corps at the top of this list. This year, 46 percent named the Marine Corps the most prestigious branch of the service.
A man who had been caught embezzling millions from his employer went to a lawyer seeking defense. He didn’t want to go to jail. His lawyer told him, “Don’t worry. You’ll never go to jail with all that money,” And the lawyer was right. When the man was sent to prison, he didn’t have a dime left.
San Francisco Police-Fire Post 456 meets on the second Tuesday of every month. Meetings are at the Veterans War Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, Room 214. Meetings start at 1800 hours and refreshments are served at the conclusion of business. All veterans are welcome. If you are interested in joining, please contact me at Mission Station, 558-5455 or at gc1207@comcast.net.
These words apply equally to the Americans who have died in Afghanistan, Iraq, and in my war, Vietnam, and to those that preceded them dating back to the Revolutionary War. As our society drifts further away from the realities of war, it is necessary to remind the public of what the tiny minority does for the vast majority. That is what Memorial Day is really all about.
A van packed with illegal immigrants, all wearing military digital cammies, hoped to cross a border checkpoint March 14 east of San Diego. But two U.S. Border Patrol agents, both former Marines, were suspicious and posed a surprise question: “When is the Marine Corps’ birthday?” The driver didn’t answer. When asked for an “oorah,” none of the passengers responded. Agents arrested 13 men and two suspected smugglers.
On January 10, Bill Bower, 93, the last Doolittle Raid pilot, died at his home in Boulder, Colorado. He was one of the 79 airmen who flew on the 16 Army Air Force B-25s on that history-making raid on April 18, 1942. He took off from the USS Hornet for the 600-mile journey to Japan. After bombing Yokohama, Bower’s plane headed for China. Engine failure caused the crew to bail out of the Werewolf, but Chinese villagers rescued all of them. Bower went on to make the Air Force his career until retiring in 1966. Only five Doolittle Raiders (crewmen) remain alive.
U.S. troops in Afghanistan are using a brand-new weapon that experts are calling “a game-changer.” The XM25 is a rifle-sized, shoulder-fired grenade launcher that uses “smart” ammo: grenades embedded with microchips that allow U.S. forces to home in on the enemy. As The American Legion Magazine reports, the XM25’s smart grenades can search out and target an enemy “even when the enemy is hidden behind walls or other cover.” The XM25 fires 25 mm shells up to 2,300 feet. Troops can program the shells to burst at a specific distance and height. The XM25 has been described as “300 percent more effective than current weapons at the squad level.”
Police-Fire Post 456 would like every veteran in the SFPD and SFFD to become members of the post. If interested, please contact me at Mission Station at 558-5455 or at greg.corrales@sfgov.org. The post meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 1800 hours. Meetings are held at the War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, Room 214. Refreshments are served at the conclusion of Legion Business.
