Costello shares memories, honors WWII veterans
Staff reporter
Proudly standing in front of the veterans' memorial Monday at Marion Cemetery, war veteran Ed Costello took the podium.
Introduced by Roger "Bud" Hannaford II, a member of James William Miesse Post 22 American Legion of Marion, Costello spoke of the sacrifice more than one million soldiers made during WWII from Dec. 7, 1941, through Dec. 31, 1946.
Costello told the audience of the day he'll never forget.
"It was Sept. 1, 1939," Costello began. "My mother woke me at 6 a.m. in the farm house south of Tampa to do farm chores."
"Once I was fully awake, she told me Hitler had invaded Poland."
This event has been a part of Costello's memory ever since, stating it "stuck in my mind and would have a profound affect on me and millions of others all over the world."
That memorable day in September in 1939 was the actual declaration of war, beginning the war to end all wars, Costello stated.
"There have been 11 wars that the U.S. has been involved," Costello said. "There has been descent about the wars except World War II."
Costello recalled rationing of food and gas. There were coupon books for gas, sugar, coffee, and butter.
All manufacturing efforts were directed toward the war effort. Women were working in the place of men in traditional male jobs and "Rosey the Riveter" was born.
"If you wanted to buy a new car, forget it," Costello said. New tires were not available either; only retreads.
In 1940, mandatory military draft was implemented.
After Dec. 7, 1941, the draft was in full swing. All men ages 18-35 were subject to draft.
Costello had information distributed to the audience regarding the number of soldiers who served and casualties.
From Dec. 7, 1941, through Dec. 31, 1946, there were 16,353,659 soldiers serving, by far the most U.S. soldiers ever to serve in a war. The population of the U.S. was 140,000,000 which means more than 10 percent of the total population was serving in the military.
"That was a lot of people taken from a civilian life," Costello said.
One of the greatest acts of courage, Costello recalled, were the pilots and personnel aboard the aircraft carriers.
On D-Day, 1,500 aircraft carriers landed on ships, carrying 30 men on each craft, totaling 150,000 soldiers. There were 10,000 casualties on that day alone, Costello said.
"There's a gentleman in town who was a part of D-Day — Ed Sandwell," Costello said.
Sandwell was a part of an engineer brigade that built bridges.
"They could put up bridges about as fast as the Japanese could blow them up," Costello said, adding all of this building took place with "mortars and shells all around them."
"Ed is a hero," Costello said. "Give Ed a call between now and Sunday to thank him."
In closing, Costello said he salutes all veterans who served and he said a prayer for his fallen comrades.
