James Butera:
CLASS OF 1958
St. Colemans SchoolClass of 1958
Ardmore, PA
Monsignor Bonner High SchoolClass of 1962
Drexel hill, PA
James's Story
One of our classmates, Jim Talone, has written a superlative memoir of his 13 months as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam (There It Is: A Helicopter Ride and a Purple Heart). Here is an excerpt mentioning St. Coleman's.
"OK, Lieutenant, what about listening posts? Second Platoon has that duty tonight; I'm heading over to that 105 battery where I think I have a buddy. Jim was one of my best friends growing up, playing pick-up games in grade school -- football in the fall and baseball in the spring.
Hey Marine, I'm looking for Lieutenant Butera. Can you direct him to me?
He took me to a low bunker that looked like a large mound of dirt maybe three fee high and showed me the steps leading down.
Is that Jim Talone I see before me. Remember the last time we talked at that bar in Bryn Mawr.
I remembered it well; we sat and talked over beers ab...Expand for more
out college and what was ahead in the Marine Corps where we were both headed.
We each had our jobs to do... but we did get together a couple times in the month that we were in and out of the same camp. We talked about old times, girlfriends, dances and friends who were far away.
It wasn't a beer in Bryn Mawr, but it was beer in a bunker with a good friend.
Four months later Jim would come to my aid again when we were surrounded by NVA up on Mutter's Ridge.
I spent a few minutes marveling at the crazy chances of fate that brought two altar boys from St. Colman's church to this dusty base 12,000 miles away. At that point there were nearly 500,000 US service members in Vietnam and the chances of meeting anyone you knew were slim.
We were so deep into "being there" that sharing a beer with this friend from home was like an afternoon of R&R.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to start a reunion event!
Photos
