When Carl Marchese became a U.S. Army infantryman in the early ‘60s, he knew he might be heading to Vietnam, but that is not how things turned out.
Instead, Marchese was assigned to train soldiers to face firefights in Vietnam and the Russian Army across the Berlin Wall during the height of the Cold War.
“It just wasn’t in the cards for me to be there,” said Marchese, the newly elected commander of American Legion Post 349 in Mineola.
“Many of them went on to combat,” Marchese said of those with whom he trained.
During ROTC training at the City University of New York, where he earned an accounting degree, his cadet commander was future Secretary of State Colin Powell.
“I was privileged to serve with him,” Marchese said.
Marchese was commissioned into the infantry and sent to Fort Bragg, N.C. for airborne training. In 1961, he trained with the U.S. Rangers at Fort Benning, Ga. Then he received his posting to Fort Dix, N.J. as a company officer for advanced infantry training. What was supposed to be a six-month service stint was extended to 18 months with an escalation of the Berlin Wall crisis.
Marchese served in the active Army reserves for three or four years after his training stint concluded.
Training for combat conditions carried risks, like the errant mortar shell that exploded near him and the young soldier who accidentally fired an arc of tracer bullets when his trigger finger got stuck in his weapon. Marchese vividly remembers those soldiers he prepared for combat, and as legion post commander he’s now focused on helping those soldiers who are coming home from combat now.
“Our post is a service organization. We’re not social. We’re here to be there for the veterans coming back,” he said.
Marchese, 73, developed deep ties in Mineola as resident since 1970. He already served one stint as post commander in 1999 and 2000. An active member of the Corpus Christi Parish, he was a member of the choir when he was younger, and a member of the board for the parish’s former school. His current mission to help fellow veterans is fueled by his faith.
“I think we’re commanded as Christians to be there for one another and I take that seriously,” he said. “My faith is very important to me. It’s what helped me get through with the support of this community.”
He and his first wife, Joanne, lost their youngest son, Christopher, in an auto accident when he was attending Sienna College in Albany in 1988. Marchese lost his wife to cancer one year later. He eldest son died several years ago and he lost his second wife, Carole, two years ago after nearly 20 years of marriage.
He said meeting Carole Minuski, the sister of Pat Hinck, wife of former Mineola Mayor Robert Hinck was “providential.”
Keeping himself productively occupied is a tonic for the grief he still struggles with.
“Taking over as commander again is good,” he said. “I’ve got to get out and I’ve got to be active and the positions affords me the chance to do that.”
He said he wants to increase the number of visits the post makes to the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Northport and he wants reinvigorate the post with new members.
“I’m trying to look down the road and bring young blood into the post,” Marchese said. “I want others to step up.”
A past commander and past grand knight of Knights of Columbus Post 2502 in Mineola, he intends to encourage his brother knights in that organization to join the American Legion post. He also wants to actively encourage female veterans to join the organization as well.
“I look at all veterans as brothers and sisters,” he said.
Marchese grew up in Brooklyn and credits his parents, Frank and Concetta, for passing on their Christian values to him.
While he was in college, he recalled seeing the man who would be first commander-in-chief, John Kennedy, riding in a motorcade through his Bay Ridge neighborhood when Kennedy was campaigning for the presidency.
“I remember seeing his reddish hair and his bright smile. It was a thrill,” he said.
It wasn’t the first time he encountered someone who would attain legendary status. A fervent Brooklyn Dodger fan, Marchese lived with his family on Bedford Avenue, a few blocks from where his childhood idol, Gil Hodges, lived. He remembers the excitement of Ebbetts Field – and his sorrow over the Dodgers’ departure for the west coast.
“When they left Brooklyn, it broke my heart,” he said.
But that was nothing compared with the sense of loss he felt when John Kennedy was killed several years later.
“I cried when Kennedy died,” he recalled.
As post commander, Marchese will oversee observances for all deceased veterans in Mineola next year on Memorial Day. He’ll be collaborating with his friend, Manny Grilo, commander of Adolph Block VFW Post 1305 in Mineola, to plan this year’s Veteran’s Day observance.
Marchese developed a strong sense of organization in his career as a certified public accountant. He was chief financial officer for the Comprehensive Employment Training Act program in Nassau County – part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” initiative – in the 1970s.
He later worked as Village of Mineola auditor for four years and as the village deputy treasurer for four years.
As vice president of business affairs at Malloy College for several years, Marchese credits himself as being the “catalyst” for the school establishing a degree program in accounting. He thought the program could enable good career opportunities for young women.
It was just one part of a life focused on helping others as much as he can.
“You don’t know if you’re going to be here tomorrow and I want to do what can while I’m still here,” he said.
