Medal of Honor (2018) s01e06 Episode Script
Joseph Vittori
[man.]
More than 40 million Americans have served in the United States armed forces.
Of those, fewer than 3,600 have been awarded the military's highest honor.
[loud thrum of insects.]
[Korean soldier shouts nearby.]
[soldier issues orders.]
[rousing music.]
[Ronald Reagan.]
Where did we find such men? We find them where we've always found them, in our villages and towns, on our city streets, in our shops, and on our farms.
[Dwight H.
Johnson.]
summoned a degree of courage that stirs wonder and respect, and an overpowering pride in all of us.
[George W.
Bush.]
It recognizes gallantry that goes above and beyond the call of duty.
[Barack Obama.]
We may not always hear of their success, but they are there in the thick of the fight, in the dark of night, achieving their mission.
[male film narrator.]
The armed invasion of the Republic of Korea continues.
This is in fact an attack on the United Nations itself.
The Korean War, referred to as "the forgotten war," kind of fell in between those two cracks, the end of World War II and the Vietnam Conflict.
[male footage narrator.]
At the midpoint of the 20th Century, Korea was once again a devastated country.
North Korea attacked a government, South Korea, that wasrecognized as legitimate by the United Nations, so American forces made the decision to intervene.
[male footage narrator.]
Some two million refugees again moved southward to escape the advancing communist army.
To South Korea, the Korean War forged an alliance founded in blood because we, the Americans, proved that we were willing to shed blood and stay the course, to protect them.
The larger context of the war was over American credibility worldwide.
The war in Korea proved, essentially, to our allies and to our enemies that we were willing to fight to sustain democracy abroad.
By 1951, the war became prolonged and more complicated, and more and more casualties of American soldiers occurred.
Truman decided to try and bring about an armistice to end the fighting.
We wanted to reestablish an independent South Korea.
[James.]
It became strategically very important to find where the line was finally set between the two Koreas.
[William.]
Corporal Vittori actually was involved in campaigns that initially recaptured Seoul and pushed the line as far north as possible.
Hill 749 was on the west side of a rim of hills.
It was a good defensive position.
You would control the high ground, you were in an area where you could look at forces coming from the north, trying to advance.
As long as it was held by us, it essentially made it extraordinarily difficult for the enemy to infiltrate behind the line.
So, if Vittori and his unit lost that hill, that would give the enemy a major breakthrough.
[James.]
Hill 749 was a very strategic moment in time, very important, uh, for the final outcome of what became of the two Koreas.
Vittori was a member of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines.
The hill in question, 749, was one that had been heavily fortified and one that they were willing to not give up without a huge fight.
Fall back! [man.]
Hey.
Hello, sir.
Come on! Couldn't sleep.
Had to do something.
You're being promoted, Joe.
All due respect, sir, I don't want it.
I came here to fight alongside my friends, not give them orders.
- Someone's gotta give them orders.
- Yes, sir.
Just not me.
Joe Vittori was a first-generation Italian American who grew up on a farm outside of Beverly, Mass.
Growing up, one of the things he always loved was comic books, and almost had the affectation of some of the superheroes.
Now, he would stand out.
Joe was always pulling something funny on somebody, and one time Lyle found a dead body floating down the river.
I was standing in a river and this body rolling down there bumped against me and I couldn't feel to get clean, I was washing my legs.
Joe Vittori comes up behind Lyle and grabs his legs, and he's "Oh!" and Lyle just jumped right out of his skin! Phew! Christ! I almost had a heart attack! It was Joe! And I turned around and I attacked him.
I was no match for him, but he held me underwater for a couple of seconds and I finally cooled off, but Oh, man! [laughs.]
That son of a gun.
Just a good guy.
[James.]
Although he was the son of Italian immigrants, he came to develop a highly developed sense of duty and patriotism.
Even though they tried to reassign him to a a safer rear area once he'd been wounded, he was not the kind of person who could willingly accept that.
To He could have been in the rear, out of the fire, but he volunteered to go up on the line.
He was just a kind of guy you could depend on in a tight spot.
[birds chirping.]
You really wanna go back out there? Yes, sir.
[laughs.]
Joe! They sent the word down for Joe Vittori and a rifleman to go on the point.
So I said, "Oh, hell, I'll go.
" Why I said that, I don't know, but I did.
And I said, "Wait a minute, Joe.
" But he didn't wait, he just kept going.
The damned machine gun's jammed! [volley of gunfire.]
Ammo, Joe, ammo! Zayas, I'll take it.
[gunfire.]
I was the first ammo courier for a machine-gun squad, and my job was to if the machine gun ran out of ammo, I'd take the ammo up to it and then, if something happened to it, I had the parts to fix it.
[volley of gunfire.]
[soldier groans.]
Help get him out of here.
[Tom.]
I'll get you more ammo as fast as I can! I grabbed the marine and I put him on my shoulder and I carried him off.
I carried him to the aid station, and that's the last time I saw Joe during that battle.
[machine-gun fire.]
The idea that the Marines who were manning guns were in some type of difficulty or in harm's way, you know, it wasn't that Vittori abstractly felt that he needed to hold this specific hill.
It was something as simple as, "My friends are in trouble, I gotta go help my friends.
" That's the type of person he was.
[volley of gunfire.]
[Lyle.]
Damn it, Joe! I told you to wait! They want their hill back, Conaway.
[Lyle.]
Yeah, well, tough shit! [continuous machine-gun fire.]
The stuff was really flying.
Boy, every just I just couldn't describe how much fire, how much noise there was there at that time.
I mean constant bang, bang, bang, crash, bang, boom! I mean, maybe 100 rifles and machine guns at one time.
[volleying gunfire.]
So when you're in a battle, or you're setting up basically a defensive position, you will set up machine-gun nests, and from them, you will basically have what we call fields of fire.
You'll have one machine gun covering from here to there, another from here to there, another from here to there, so you will basically create a field of fire where anyone attacking your position can't go anywhere that a machine gun doesn't cover.
[volley of gunfire.]
[Joe.]
Shit! Alright, I'm out.
What do we got in here? [rapid gunfire continues.]
Thompson.
Oh, gimme that! I'll take Thompson.
[enemy shouting in Korean.]
I remember, you could hear the shouting, or they'd say, "Marine, marine, you die tonight!" And all kind of stuff like that, you know.
And they'd say, "President Truman eat shit!", you know.
They'd come up with a lot of stuff that just just to aggravate us, you know.
[explosion.]
[groans with frustration.]
[no audible gunfire.]
[tense music.]
Why the hell aren't they firing? [tense music builds up.]
- [thump, shell whistles.]
- Down! They fired this gun from about a mile away and it was called a 76 Mountain Gun.
[James.]
The 76 mm is a type of Howitzer that will fire single shells, and when the round impacts, it in addition to an explosion, it scatters shrapnel in many directions.
One tactic is to fire artillery or mortar rounds on machine-gun nests or infantry to keep their heads down.
[shell whistles.]
And you could hear that sucker.
Hee Bang! It would hit the tops of the trees and get a tree burst.
All this time, they were doing that so that they could have their guys crawl up underneath 'cause they knew we'd be ducking down.
But you'd never know they were there, they could crawl up to you.
[silence.]
[scrub rustles.]
Joe says, "Here they come! Here they come! Look at 'em!" So I was trying to see they weren't coming.
And they were standing there like it was a Sunday afternoon, looking the place over, and everything broke loose.
Argh! [Joe.]
Conaway! I can't see anything.
This whole side of my face was swollen, and the blood had run down into this eye.
I remember looking up at Joe and I could just make out his silhouette.
[machine-gun fire continues.]
I can't move my right arm.
Then you try your left.
- [groans.]
- See, you're good, okay? Come on.
- Ugh what are you doing, Joe? - Alright.
Bullets for me, grenades for you.
[machine-gun fire.]
You load 'em up and I'll shoot 'em.
[continuous gunfire.]
[volleying gunfire.]
When you're in an actual combat situation, especially when you're hugely outnumbered, and your group breaks down as his had on that night, you're basically using a combination of your training, but also your instincts.
The only advantage he had was that he was above them.
He was at the top of a hill and they had to come up and go after him.
[volley of gunfire.]
[continuous gunfire.]
There's holes in the line.
- [explosion.]
- [gunfire.]
We can't let them think that the line's breaking.
I gotta fix it.
[incessant rapid gunfire.]
Now, you keep fillin' 'em up.
[volley of gunfire.]
[shells whizz.]
[Elliot.]
Vittori left his fighting position and ran to position number two where there was a machine gun.
And that machine gun had a malfunction in it so it wasn't operable.
While the other Marines were trying to clear that malfunction and get the machine gun back in action, the enemy scored a direct hit on gun nest number three.
[relentless machine-gun fire.]
[Joe.]
Keep it firing! [volleying gunfire.]
When he got to machine-gun position number three, they were both dead.
[panting.]
[relentless distant gunfire.]
[volley of gunfire.]
[enemy solider yells.]
[volley of gunfire.]
[Elliot.]
Vittori goes over to machine-gun position number four, and discovers that those Marines have been killed as well.
- [explosions.]
- [gunfire.]
[panting.]
[incessant volley of gunfire.]
[machine-gun fire.]
[dramatic music.]
[gunfire continues, explosions.]
[Elliot.]
Back at machine-gun nest number two, he also finds that the two men he had left behind are dead.
Now, Joe Vittori is the only one left alive on the front line except for Lyle Conaway, who's badly injured.
[enemy shouts inaudibly.]
[shouting continues.]
[gunfire continues.]
The Marines and Joe Vittori on one side and the North Koreans on the other side.
As much as it's about people shooting at each other, it's also about their will.
Are the North Koreans gonna wanna take this position more than Joe is gonna wanna hold it? A guy like Joe sort of understood the situation he was putting himself into, had made the decision that he was gonna go do this, and then at a certain moment, just turned off the part of his brain where worry and ideas of risk subsided and decided this is what I'm gonna do, and, you know, the chips are gonna fall where they may.
[enemy shouting.]
[volley of gunfire.]
Come on.
[unremitting gunfire.]
[shouts indistinctly.]
[intense volley of gunfire.]
[machine-gun fire continues.]
[James.]
Vittori'd managed to deceive the enemy by moving rapidly from one fighting hole to the other, making the enemy believe that there were far more Marines defending the position than there actually were.
[dramatic music.]
Every time he changed fighting positions, he exposed himself to possibly being shot, and the fact that under cover of darkness, he was able to do these things for such an extended period of time, that is courage under fire.
[volley of gunfire.]
[grenade explodes.]
A defensive position is designed to be manned by 40-odd marines.
He's simulating strength in the line, but also making sure that his position doesn't get overwhelmed.
To have one person running between all of these positions, trying to man it by themselves, it takes a, you know, a Herculean amount of effort to get that done, and had they known that there's just one or two Marines up there, they'd likely be emboldened to get up and charge the line, and know that there actually wasn't much there.
Alright.
- [gunfire continues.]
- [explosions.]
[shell whizzes.]
[Lyle.]
We were under attack for two hours, I'd say.
Joe was the one that stopped them.
I didn't do much.
[muttering.]
Okay.
But we were the only ones there.
Joe and I threw 37 grenades.
And after I got hit, I could only throw with my left hand! [panting.]
Joe you're hit.
And he opens his shirt and he looks like this, and rubs, and I see the blood going through his fingers, and he went back just like nothing happened.
[breathing heavily.]
Heck, there's no one else.
Okay We just have to hold the line a little bit longer.
[panting.]
[gasping.]
[Lyle.]
Everything stopped.
Everything stopped just as sudden as it started.
And it stopped so sudden, I thought I went deaf or I was dead or something.
[panting.]
[groaning.]
Vittori's ability to hold the line caused the enemy to retreat.
And he was able to project at least the impression that the Marines were holding that position with superior numbers that the North Koreans wouldn't be able to overwhelm.
The hill's still ours.
[gasping.]
Still ours.
The hill's still ours? [laughs.]
He said, "We need help here.
You're hurt bad.
" You go.
I'll cover ya.
[groans.]
No.
"You go first.
I'll cover you.
" That was his last words, and he got shot right in the face.
No.
[groans with effort.]
[explosion.]
I fired over there all I had in that mag in that one clip.
[anguished cry, sobbing.]
Now they don't know if there's somebody left there or not, see? That's one good thing that happened there.
Otherwise none of it was good.
[groaning.]
Zayas, wait! Stop! There's no one left down there.
Joe? [breathes heavily.]
[whispers.]
No.
That son of a bitch held the line by himself.
[Tom.]
He kinda saved all our butts.
They would have got us, too, you know, but we were the flank and they stopped us from getting back there 'cause they could have got behind us, and Joe and Lyle stopped all that.
I tried to get the ammo back here as fast as I could.
It's not your fault, Zayas.
[James.]
There's a thread that runs through Medal of Honor citations that seems to indicate that, at the end of the day, it's the bond between the individual and the group that he belongs to that is so strong and so developed that it propels them to do what they do.
[narrator.]
Vittori had single-handedly defended an entire battalion's position.
The line held.
When it was over, nearly 200 of the enemy lay dead around Corporal Vittori, some just feet away.
And his fellow Marines would eventually go on to secure Hill 749.
[poignant orchestral music.]
[male announcer.]
On October 25th, after a series of meetings, an agreement was reached on a provisional truce line with the front at that time serving as the demarcation line between North and South Korea.
The battle line as of that moment was finally agreed upon.
[narrator.]
The Korean War was over.
The peninsula was at peace.
But for America, the stakes of the conflict had never been truly clear, and with nearly 40,000 of the nation's soldiers dead, there were questions.
Had it been worth it? What, exactly, had been accomplished? I'm very much struck by a picture that I think many Americans have seen.
And if not, they should all see it, and it's a picture taken from outer space of the Korean Peninsula at night.
South of the Demilitarized Zone, you see nothing but light all over the South Korean Peninsula.
North of the Demilitarized Zone, you see nothing but darkness.
And for any veteran of the Korean War, if that veteran is wondering whether their sacrifice was worth it, all they have to do is look at that picture, and they should feel very good about themselves.
[narrator.]
There's plenty of good feeling between the survivors of the assault on Hill 749.
Lyle Conaway, who was with Vittori in his final moments, and Tom Zayas, who supplied ammo for the many foxholes Vittori manned, are reuniting for the first time since the battle.
- [Tom.]
Hey, goddamn! - Tom Zayas! - Look at you, you old son of a bitch! - Been a long time, - it's been a long time.
- Oh, I know.
Jesus Christ! How much, 50-some years at least.
- Oh, 66.
- 66? - Yeah.
- Oh, whoa! - Look how old we are! Jesus Christ! - Yeah, son of a gun! I thought you were dead, though, from you know, after the battle? - They said you were hurt, you know.
- Yeah.
And then somebody said, "He won't make it,"Â 'cause you were hit so bad.
Yeah, I was hit pretty bad.
No, you wouldn't want to fool with Joe.
He was just that type of guy.
You wouldn't Like I say you don't want to fuck with him, you know.
Yeah, that's right.
He was tough.
He was noted for being courageous, and he proved that to me, I'll tell ya.
- He had a sense of humor, too.
- That time he grabbed me by the ankles - He pulled some of the damnedest things.
- Yeah.
[both laugh.]
Yeah.
Well, yeah, he was just a good guy and he was a good guy.
He was the bravest man I ever [narrator.]
It seems only natural that someone like that grew up here in Beverly, Massachusetts, a small town that's American to its bones.
Billing itself as the birthplace of the U.
S.
Navy, today, Beverly seems proudest of its favorite son.
'Course I knew the story of Joe Vittori.
We all did.
And 'cause he was a hero of ours when we were growing up.
[man.]
Beverly did a lot of things for Corporal Joe as a legacy.
There are several ballparks in this town that have specific statues attributed to just him.
The city of Beverly has a plaque currently in the brand-new high school, which has a legacy of Joseph Vittori, has a lot of his pictures and a presentation of his citation that goes back to when he received a Medal of Honor.
Young people learn early about the war hero who grew up right here.
The Vittoris, like so many others, work the land.
They had quite a few acres here.
It was a beautiful working farm.
It was all vegetables.
It was nice.
We had greenhouses.
My grandmother had a giant asparagus bed.
It was a great place to grow up.
Dora Vittori expected her children to help out with the family business, even the son destined for greatness.
My grandmother spoke of him my whole life, so we always felt that we knew him because, you know, he lived through her.
He was a happy-go-lucky and good-natured human being.
That's what they told us.
She always would choke up and tear-up when she talked about him.
She obviously adored him.
[narrator.]
Losing him would leave his mother changed.
I watched the way my grandmother mourned him, you know.
He was only 22 years old.
One of Dora's most difficult moments would also be among the proudest when she and her husband Pietro were presented with Joe's Medal of Honor by a local congressman.
The event, far more bitter than sweet, would be evoked every Memorial Day, when Joe's commendation would be read aloud at his gravesite.
[Marie.]
It was very hard for my grandmother.
You could see she'd listen to them read that citation, and she would just, you know, look down and her eyes would tear-up, and it was like she was reliving it all over again.
She relived it her whole life from the time he passed away.
You know, you could just tell it killed her.
She never got over it.
She never, ever got over his his death.
You know? Little by little, my grandmother sold off property and then she donated this piece of land to the Legion Post.
The Vittori-Rocci Post is named for Corporal Vittori and Private Tom Rocci, who was killed in action in Normandy in 1944.
The post is dedicated to helping veterans and their families.
This post has been in existence for well over 50, 60 years, and I hope it continues long beyond that.
[playing "The Last Post".]
[narrator.]
Every Memorial Day, Beverly gathers to honor Corporal Vittori, but this year is special.
The entire Vittori clan is gathering for the first time in more than a decade, to welcome a surprise guest.
Sixty-six years it took me to get here.
Today is an opportunity, for one who witnessed Corporal Vittori's superhuman efforts, to share them with his family.
It's an honor for me to meet you and be able talk to you.
- It really is.
- [Tom.]
Oh, thank you.
Meeting Tom Zayas today was amazing.
Hearing stories about him actually knowing Joe and being at the battle with him I have no words to say how much how important that is.
I'm gonna see if I can find some with Joe on.
What do we got? This is our machine-gun squad here.
See, all these guys knew Joe.
[Marie.]
That was pretty special 'cause I've never met anybody that's been in the war with him.
I heard there was people that were still alive, but I've never met any of them, so it's nice to know somebody that was actually with him and had some good stories to tell instead of, you know, the bad stories that you hear.
- If you can get up, I can get up.
- [chuckles.]
So glad to meet you.
Glad you came by.
We meet here at 9:00 in the morning on Memorial Day, we go down to the cemetery.
[man.]
Ever since I can remember, they do a ceremony every year at the cemetery.
So this is every year, they keep his memory goin'.
- Just anywhere? - Anywhere you want, Tom.
You earned it, man.
There you go, buddy.
[Dorothy.]
Nana would put flowers on the grave and, you know, all of the memories and what have you.
We'd clean the stone and we started bringing my daughter, and now we have my grandson.
It's who we are.
And so, we gotta keep it going.
Every The kids have gotta remember and we have to keep the generations coming back.
[Joe Spechuilli.]
Meeting Tom was like meeting Joe, for me.
Became that missing link that I was looking for in my life, to find out about him.
So, for me, it was special.
You know how much better that makes me feel, to know that he wasn't alone? [narrator.]
Tom was able to give Joe's family a rare gift: the truth.
So, for years, [mournful.]
we thought he was alone on that hill.
And for years, Nana thought he died alone.
[sniffs.]
[voice cracks.]
And I found out he had friends with him [teary.]
and that they loved him.
It would've been good for her to hear that.
[tearful.]
I'm very glad that I met you.
Thank you for coming today.
[narrator.]
Nearly three quarters of a century had to pass, and then, in just minutes, old ghosts are laid to rest, allowing a family to heal and celebrate the hero at its heart.
I hope that people always remember Joe Vittori.
He is forever young.
In our hearts and in our minds, he'll never be any older than the day he died.
But he was a great citizen, a great person in the city of Beverly, and we all love him and we respect him.
[narrator.]
Half a world away, a corporal takes an entire company's mission on his young shoulders.
He holds the line.
He gives his life.
Today, his blood and spirit flow through a small American town, showing us that the Medal of Honor's true legacy isn't the recognition of one man, but its power to hearten and inspire everyone.
[male film narrator.]
This is Korea.
[male narrator 2.]
The 1st Marine Division.
Hill after hill.
Some theirs, some we made ours the hard way.
Where that guy is with the rifle is the front of the war.
The orange cloth on that guy's back is an air marker to indicate the front lines to planes.
The marine air with rockets and napalm to burn' em out.
Ammo up! [rapid machine-gun fire.]
The Auto Rifle.
Always moving up.
Always another hill.
[explosions.]
[more explosions.]
With hills, cost.
And how they cost.
I'm of the opinion as I'm now in my early 70s or approaching mid-70s, I'm of the opinion that erm if we think, if we start thinking nationally that somehow this is a manifest destiny of some sort, that we're chosen by God to be imbued with all these wonderful things, uh, we're making a big mistake.
Where we are today, in the world, is a direct result of the United States doing the right thing against a determined enemy and as exemplified by the actions of Marines like Vittori.
Joe had a BAR, and we had a machine gun, and he could almost do the same thing we could with the machine gun.
See, actually, ordinarily, the BAR just has one clip, and it fires 20 rounds.
And he had his taped, two taped back-to-back, and he could just flip them back and push the other one in, where, usually, you have to pull it out of your belt and put another one, and he could get 40 rounds off when you when ordinarily a man could do 20.
He said, "Load these magazines.
" And I was picking [stammers.]
rounds up out of the dirt, puttin' He took a second to chew my ass out.
He says, "You're loading 'em backwards, like Pete does!" [laughs.]
And then, I said, "I'm sorry, I can't see, you know.
" And I was scared shitless, you might say.
[laughs.]
You bet.
Yeah, I was frightened through the whole damned thing.
Beyond description sometimes.
But I did my job, I think, but jeez, I was scared, yeah.
Remember it used to rain, we had a tent for the mess, we could eat? [Lyle.]
Yeah.
And one time, Joe and I were sitting in the back and this tent the wind was blowing and the tent was starting to fall down because all the stakes - stakes were getting loose.
- Sure.
So, I told Joe, I said, "Look at that stake," I said.
"I'm about ready to go kick it.
" He says, "Goddammit, I'll do it!" Remember that? That's the kind of guy he was, you know.
Yeah, that was Joe.
And then he turned around and that whole tent fell, the guys grabbin' on the wall.
Is that the time we had got issued our beer ration, remember they gave us three or four cases of beer each guy? - [Tom.]
Yeah.
- [Lyle.]
And we had some, we had a lot, but never enough, you know.
I remember waking up about 2:00 in the morning, looking up at the beer, and here's a guy laying on top with a Thompson submachine gun across him, sleeping, passed out from drinking beer! Remember we used to get that Japanese beer, too.
- Remember the Asahi beer? - Asahi, yeah.
And then that hooch! That hooch was bad! - Oh! - Yeah, that was You just kiss the bottle because it was so strong.
I know, I drank a couple of them one time and I - I got drunk, but - Yeah.
But I didn't get sick.
I could have.
Anyone who has fought in a war, when you come back, and you start reckoning with that experience, one of the things, you know, you realize is that you have become the custodian of a certain memory, and that the only reason people are going to recall these events is because you are the one who has come home to talk about them.
So, you know, for Tom Zayas and Lyle Conaway, uh the way they remember Joe Vittori's action, is the way that they are, you know, paying a tribute to him.
Uh, and that's something I can certainly recognize, and I think that's the way that they are honoring the fact that, you know, he gave his life so that they could continue to have theirs.
Good afternoon.
I'm Mayor Mike Cahill.
I've got a couple of acknowledgements to make.
When I was a kid, I played my Little League at Vittori Park and that was the first time I heard the Vittori name, as a young boy playing Little League, and it wasn't long after that that I learned that Corporal Joseph Vittori was a Medal of Honor recipient.
When you know someone and you love that person, and that person does great things and makes the ultimate sacrifice, the way Corporal Vittori did for our country, then you want to make sure that that is kept alive.
And I know that that has been a passion for a long, long time for the people that did know him personally.
and he gave his life so that those he was serving with could live.
And we do have with us today, here, one of his mates, a gentleman he fought with.
I'd like to ask Mr.
Tom Zayas to stand.
He would be my uncle.
Joe Vittori would have been my uncle.
- [Lyle.]
So, you would be his nephew.
- Yes, sir.
- Nice to see you.
- Nice to see you.
- Yep.
- Joe was a very br Joe was the bravest man I ever knew.
Ever.
And a lot of other people said that, too.
While Joe was holding them off by the hundreds, I mean literally, the hundreds.
There was they hit us with about 700 troops.
- Wow! - A regiment.
And there were almost 300, I'd say 300 dead the next morning in front of our hole where I could see before I left.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
You're a good man, my friend, to give up part of your life for this and carry it with you the rest of your life.
I appreciate it.
Well thank you.
It's something I've carried all my life.
I can tell.
I can tell.
I think he was very patriotic, especially after reenlisting a second time after he was literally safe at home, and then he chose to go back there and help, you know? And it was just two weeks later he was killed.
So, I think he was very patriotic.
I think we're a very patriotic family.
I see that American flag waving, and it gives me goosebumps.
I mean, I have some Corporal Joe stories.
But the background of the battle, my dad never wanted to talk about the battle.
His sister lost her boy.
So, there were times when we had big get-togethers, and nobody wanted to talk about it and I always wanted to hear about it.
So, when you're a kid that age and you try to be respectful to the elders and not push the issue, 'cause every time we did, it somebody was upset.
So, for me, this is filling a big void in my life, too.
I work with veterans now, in my job.
A lot of them are getting out of the service and finding that agriculture is a soothing activity and better for them.
It helps them with their PTSD, and what have you.
And And so I've been working with veteran farmers in New Hampshire, putting projects and programs together to help them because they learn better when they're with each other than when they're in large groups of people.
Or it's easier for them, I should say, and And er I feel honored that I'm doing that 'cause I feel like I honor Uncle Joey and my and my father and my grandfather, all the men in my family that were veterans.
And farmers.
So, it's funny how life works out the way it does.
- [Dorothy.]
Pleased to meet you.
- [Tom.]
He was my friend.
Hi! - This is my daughter, Antoinette.
- [Tom.]
I figured.
- I hear you have a lot of stories.
- Beg your pardon? - I didn't know Uncle Joey.
- Oh, you didn't? - [Dorothy.]
Other than through the family.
- Oh, right.
[Dorothy.]
Oh yeah, no.
Only my sister Donna.
- She was two years old - You'd have to be older than 66 to - to know him.
- That's right.
Yeah.
That's how many years ago.
Yeah.
- I'm 86.
- But you know, my grandmother and every they kept his memory alive.
That's what they did.
You know what I mean? We knew all about him.
From the time he was little He used to hide under the kitchen table to read comic books because, you know, on the farm, you weren't supposed to be wasting any time, and he liked to read comic books.
And Nana would find him.
That's how he'd get her.
Yep.
- What the hell is that PTSD? - [Tom.]
Yeah.
He says, "Oh, I don't want to offend you, but I think you have" Oh, and I said, "Well, I don't want it.
" What was it they used to call, sti Uh Somethin' fright, oh, what is it? - What? - "Battle fatigue.
" - Oh yeah, well it used to be called - Battle fatigue.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Why do these people do these very brave things? You know, what's the emotion that they're feeling as they go to do this? Well it's not courage because courage is not an emotion.
You know, no one wakes up feeling brave.
You never woke up and said, "I feel brave today.
" And you know, it's love.
Like, these guys love each other.
Erm, just like if you're you know, I have children, say if one of my children were in the street or in danger.
Y'know, I would run in the middle of the street to save my child.
These guys love each other that way.
And you see it.
And, you see it in the way they treat each other, y'know, but you see it in the way they joke with each other.
And so, the same thing that probably made him a jokester, you know, it was probably the same representations of the love he felt for these guys that made him ultimately, you know, run up to these machine-gun positions and, you know, and ultimately wound up in him getting killed.
More than 40 million Americans have served in the United States armed forces.
Of those, fewer than 3,600 have been awarded the military's highest honor.
[loud thrum of insects.]
[Korean soldier shouts nearby.]
[soldier issues orders.]
[rousing music.]
[Ronald Reagan.]
Where did we find such men? We find them where we've always found them, in our villages and towns, on our city streets, in our shops, and on our farms.
[Dwight H.
Johnson.]
summoned a degree of courage that stirs wonder and respect, and an overpowering pride in all of us.
[George W.
Bush.]
It recognizes gallantry that goes above and beyond the call of duty.
[Barack Obama.]
We may not always hear of their success, but they are there in the thick of the fight, in the dark of night, achieving their mission.
[male film narrator.]
The armed invasion of the Republic of Korea continues.
This is in fact an attack on the United Nations itself.
The Korean War, referred to as "the forgotten war," kind of fell in between those two cracks, the end of World War II and the Vietnam Conflict.
[male footage narrator.]
At the midpoint of the 20th Century, Korea was once again a devastated country.
North Korea attacked a government, South Korea, that wasrecognized as legitimate by the United Nations, so American forces made the decision to intervene.
[male footage narrator.]
Some two million refugees again moved southward to escape the advancing communist army.
To South Korea, the Korean War forged an alliance founded in blood because we, the Americans, proved that we were willing to shed blood and stay the course, to protect them.
The larger context of the war was over American credibility worldwide.
The war in Korea proved, essentially, to our allies and to our enemies that we were willing to fight to sustain democracy abroad.
By 1951, the war became prolonged and more complicated, and more and more casualties of American soldiers occurred.
Truman decided to try and bring about an armistice to end the fighting.
We wanted to reestablish an independent South Korea.
[James.]
It became strategically very important to find where the line was finally set between the two Koreas.
[William.]
Corporal Vittori actually was involved in campaigns that initially recaptured Seoul and pushed the line as far north as possible.
Hill 749 was on the west side of a rim of hills.
It was a good defensive position.
You would control the high ground, you were in an area where you could look at forces coming from the north, trying to advance.
As long as it was held by us, it essentially made it extraordinarily difficult for the enemy to infiltrate behind the line.
So, if Vittori and his unit lost that hill, that would give the enemy a major breakthrough.
[James.]
Hill 749 was a very strategic moment in time, very important, uh, for the final outcome of what became of the two Koreas.
Vittori was a member of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines.
The hill in question, 749, was one that had been heavily fortified and one that they were willing to not give up without a huge fight.
Fall back! [man.]
Hey.
Hello, sir.
Come on! Couldn't sleep.
Had to do something.
You're being promoted, Joe.
All due respect, sir, I don't want it.
I came here to fight alongside my friends, not give them orders.
- Someone's gotta give them orders.
- Yes, sir.
Just not me.
Joe Vittori was a first-generation Italian American who grew up on a farm outside of Beverly, Mass.
Growing up, one of the things he always loved was comic books, and almost had the affectation of some of the superheroes.
Now, he would stand out.
Joe was always pulling something funny on somebody, and one time Lyle found a dead body floating down the river.
I was standing in a river and this body rolling down there bumped against me and I couldn't feel to get clean, I was washing my legs.
Joe Vittori comes up behind Lyle and grabs his legs, and he's "Oh!" and Lyle just jumped right out of his skin! Phew! Christ! I almost had a heart attack! It was Joe! And I turned around and I attacked him.
I was no match for him, but he held me underwater for a couple of seconds and I finally cooled off, but Oh, man! [laughs.]
That son of a gun.
Just a good guy.
[James.]
Although he was the son of Italian immigrants, he came to develop a highly developed sense of duty and patriotism.
Even though they tried to reassign him to a a safer rear area once he'd been wounded, he was not the kind of person who could willingly accept that.
To He could have been in the rear, out of the fire, but he volunteered to go up on the line.
He was just a kind of guy you could depend on in a tight spot.
[birds chirping.]
You really wanna go back out there? Yes, sir.
[laughs.]
Joe! They sent the word down for Joe Vittori and a rifleman to go on the point.
So I said, "Oh, hell, I'll go.
" Why I said that, I don't know, but I did.
And I said, "Wait a minute, Joe.
" But he didn't wait, he just kept going.
The damned machine gun's jammed! [volley of gunfire.]
Ammo, Joe, ammo! Zayas, I'll take it.
[gunfire.]
I was the first ammo courier for a machine-gun squad, and my job was to if the machine gun ran out of ammo, I'd take the ammo up to it and then, if something happened to it, I had the parts to fix it.
[volley of gunfire.]
[soldier groans.]
Help get him out of here.
[Tom.]
I'll get you more ammo as fast as I can! I grabbed the marine and I put him on my shoulder and I carried him off.
I carried him to the aid station, and that's the last time I saw Joe during that battle.
[machine-gun fire.]
The idea that the Marines who were manning guns were in some type of difficulty or in harm's way, you know, it wasn't that Vittori abstractly felt that he needed to hold this specific hill.
It was something as simple as, "My friends are in trouble, I gotta go help my friends.
" That's the type of person he was.
[volley of gunfire.]
[Lyle.]
Damn it, Joe! I told you to wait! They want their hill back, Conaway.
[Lyle.]
Yeah, well, tough shit! [continuous machine-gun fire.]
The stuff was really flying.
Boy, every just I just couldn't describe how much fire, how much noise there was there at that time.
I mean constant bang, bang, bang, crash, bang, boom! I mean, maybe 100 rifles and machine guns at one time.
[volleying gunfire.]
So when you're in a battle, or you're setting up basically a defensive position, you will set up machine-gun nests, and from them, you will basically have what we call fields of fire.
You'll have one machine gun covering from here to there, another from here to there, another from here to there, so you will basically create a field of fire where anyone attacking your position can't go anywhere that a machine gun doesn't cover.
[volley of gunfire.]
[Joe.]
Shit! Alright, I'm out.
What do we got in here? [rapid gunfire continues.]
Thompson.
Oh, gimme that! I'll take Thompson.
[enemy shouting in Korean.]
I remember, you could hear the shouting, or they'd say, "Marine, marine, you die tonight!" And all kind of stuff like that, you know.
And they'd say, "President Truman eat shit!", you know.
They'd come up with a lot of stuff that just just to aggravate us, you know.
[explosion.]
[groans with frustration.]
[no audible gunfire.]
[tense music.]
Why the hell aren't they firing? [tense music builds up.]
- [thump, shell whistles.]
- Down! They fired this gun from about a mile away and it was called a 76 Mountain Gun.
[James.]
The 76 mm is a type of Howitzer that will fire single shells, and when the round impacts, it in addition to an explosion, it scatters shrapnel in many directions.
One tactic is to fire artillery or mortar rounds on machine-gun nests or infantry to keep their heads down.
[shell whistles.]
And you could hear that sucker.
Hee Bang! It would hit the tops of the trees and get a tree burst.
All this time, they were doing that so that they could have their guys crawl up underneath 'cause they knew we'd be ducking down.
But you'd never know they were there, they could crawl up to you.
[silence.]
[scrub rustles.]
Joe says, "Here they come! Here they come! Look at 'em!" So I was trying to see they weren't coming.
And they were standing there like it was a Sunday afternoon, looking the place over, and everything broke loose.
Argh! [Joe.]
Conaway! I can't see anything.
This whole side of my face was swollen, and the blood had run down into this eye.
I remember looking up at Joe and I could just make out his silhouette.
[machine-gun fire continues.]
I can't move my right arm.
Then you try your left.
- [groans.]
- See, you're good, okay? Come on.
- Ugh what are you doing, Joe? - Alright.
Bullets for me, grenades for you.
[machine-gun fire.]
You load 'em up and I'll shoot 'em.
[continuous gunfire.]
[volleying gunfire.]
When you're in an actual combat situation, especially when you're hugely outnumbered, and your group breaks down as his had on that night, you're basically using a combination of your training, but also your instincts.
The only advantage he had was that he was above them.
He was at the top of a hill and they had to come up and go after him.
[volley of gunfire.]
[continuous gunfire.]
There's holes in the line.
- [explosion.]
- [gunfire.]
We can't let them think that the line's breaking.
I gotta fix it.
[incessant rapid gunfire.]
Now, you keep fillin' 'em up.
[volley of gunfire.]
[shells whizz.]
[Elliot.]
Vittori left his fighting position and ran to position number two where there was a machine gun.
And that machine gun had a malfunction in it so it wasn't operable.
While the other Marines were trying to clear that malfunction and get the machine gun back in action, the enemy scored a direct hit on gun nest number three.
[relentless machine-gun fire.]
[Joe.]
Keep it firing! [volleying gunfire.]
When he got to machine-gun position number three, they were both dead.
[panting.]
[relentless distant gunfire.]
[volley of gunfire.]
[enemy solider yells.]
[volley of gunfire.]
[Elliot.]
Vittori goes over to machine-gun position number four, and discovers that those Marines have been killed as well.
- [explosions.]
- [gunfire.]
[panting.]
[incessant volley of gunfire.]
[machine-gun fire.]
[dramatic music.]
[gunfire continues, explosions.]
[Elliot.]
Back at machine-gun nest number two, he also finds that the two men he had left behind are dead.
Now, Joe Vittori is the only one left alive on the front line except for Lyle Conaway, who's badly injured.
[enemy shouts inaudibly.]
[shouting continues.]
[gunfire continues.]
The Marines and Joe Vittori on one side and the North Koreans on the other side.
As much as it's about people shooting at each other, it's also about their will.
Are the North Koreans gonna wanna take this position more than Joe is gonna wanna hold it? A guy like Joe sort of understood the situation he was putting himself into, had made the decision that he was gonna go do this, and then at a certain moment, just turned off the part of his brain where worry and ideas of risk subsided and decided this is what I'm gonna do, and, you know, the chips are gonna fall where they may.
[enemy shouting.]
[volley of gunfire.]
Come on.
[unremitting gunfire.]
[shouts indistinctly.]
[intense volley of gunfire.]
[machine-gun fire continues.]
[James.]
Vittori'd managed to deceive the enemy by moving rapidly from one fighting hole to the other, making the enemy believe that there were far more Marines defending the position than there actually were.
[dramatic music.]
Every time he changed fighting positions, he exposed himself to possibly being shot, and the fact that under cover of darkness, he was able to do these things for such an extended period of time, that is courage under fire.
[volley of gunfire.]
[grenade explodes.]
A defensive position is designed to be manned by 40-odd marines.
He's simulating strength in the line, but also making sure that his position doesn't get overwhelmed.
To have one person running between all of these positions, trying to man it by themselves, it takes a, you know, a Herculean amount of effort to get that done, and had they known that there's just one or two Marines up there, they'd likely be emboldened to get up and charge the line, and know that there actually wasn't much there.
Alright.
- [gunfire continues.]
- [explosions.]
[shell whizzes.]
[Lyle.]
We were under attack for two hours, I'd say.
Joe was the one that stopped them.
I didn't do much.
[muttering.]
Okay.
But we were the only ones there.
Joe and I threw 37 grenades.
And after I got hit, I could only throw with my left hand! [panting.]
Joe you're hit.
And he opens his shirt and he looks like this, and rubs, and I see the blood going through his fingers, and he went back just like nothing happened.
[breathing heavily.]
Heck, there's no one else.
Okay We just have to hold the line a little bit longer.
[panting.]
[gasping.]
[Lyle.]
Everything stopped.
Everything stopped just as sudden as it started.
And it stopped so sudden, I thought I went deaf or I was dead or something.
[panting.]
[groaning.]
Vittori's ability to hold the line caused the enemy to retreat.
And he was able to project at least the impression that the Marines were holding that position with superior numbers that the North Koreans wouldn't be able to overwhelm.
The hill's still ours.
[gasping.]
Still ours.
The hill's still ours? [laughs.]
He said, "We need help here.
You're hurt bad.
" You go.
I'll cover ya.
[groans.]
No.
"You go first.
I'll cover you.
" That was his last words, and he got shot right in the face.
No.
[groans with effort.]
[explosion.]
I fired over there all I had in that mag in that one clip.
[anguished cry, sobbing.]
Now they don't know if there's somebody left there or not, see? That's one good thing that happened there.
Otherwise none of it was good.
[groaning.]
Zayas, wait! Stop! There's no one left down there.
Joe? [breathes heavily.]
[whispers.]
No.
That son of a bitch held the line by himself.
[Tom.]
He kinda saved all our butts.
They would have got us, too, you know, but we were the flank and they stopped us from getting back there 'cause they could have got behind us, and Joe and Lyle stopped all that.
I tried to get the ammo back here as fast as I could.
It's not your fault, Zayas.
[James.]
There's a thread that runs through Medal of Honor citations that seems to indicate that, at the end of the day, it's the bond between the individual and the group that he belongs to that is so strong and so developed that it propels them to do what they do.
[narrator.]
Vittori had single-handedly defended an entire battalion's position.
The line held.
When it was over, nearly 200 of the enemy lay dead around Corporal Vittori, some just feet away.
And his fellow Marines would eventually go on to secure Hill 749.
[poignant orchestral music.]
[male announcer.]
On October 25th, after a series of meetings, an agreement was reached on a provisional truce line with the front at that time serving as the demarcation line between North and South Korea.
The battle line as of that moment was finally agreed upon.
[narrator.]
The Korean War was over.
The peninsula was at peace.
But for America, the stakes of the conflict had never been truly clear, and with nearly 40,000 of the nation's soldiers dead, there were questions.
Had it been worth it? What, exactly, had been accomplished? I'm very much struck by a picture that I think many Americans have seen.
And if not, they should all see it, and it's a picture taken from outer space of the Korean Peninsula at night.
South of the Demilitarized Zone, you see nothing but light all over the South Korean Peninsula.
North of the Demilitarized Zone, you see nothing but darkness.
And for any veteran of the Korean War, if that veteran is wondering whether their sacrifice was worth it, all they have to do is look at that picture, and they should feel very good about themselves.
[narrator.]
There's plenty of good feeling between the survivors of the assault on Hill 749.
Lyle Conaway, who was with Vittori in his final moments, and Tom Zayas, who supplied ammo for the many foxholes Vittori manned, are reuniting for the first time since the battle.
- [Tom.]
Hey, goddamn! - Tom Zayas! - Look at you, you old son of a bitch! - Been a long time, - it's been a long time.
- Oh, I know.
Jesus Christ! How much, 50-some years at least.
- Oh, 66.
- 66? - Yeah.
- Oh, whoa! - Look how old we are! Jesus Christ! - Yeah, son of a gun! I thought you were dead, though, from you know, after the battle? - They said you were hurt, you know.
- Yeah.
And then somebody said, "He won't make it,"Â 'cause you were hit so bad.
Yeah, I was hit pretty bad.
No, you wouldn't want to fool with Joe.
He was just that type of guy.
You wouldn't Like I say you don't want to fuck with him, you know.
Yeah, that's right.
He was tough.
He was noted for being courageous, and he proved that to me, I'll tell ya.
- He had a sense of humor, too.
- That time he grabbed me by the ankles - He pulled some of the damnedest things.
- Yeah.
[both laugh.]
Yeah.
Well, yeah, he was just a good guy and he was a good guy.
He was the bravest man I ever [narrator.]
It seems only natural that someone like that grew up here in Beverly, Massachusetts, a small town that's American to its bones.
Billing itself as the birthplace of the U.
S.
Navy, today, Beverly seems proudest of its favorite son.
'Course I knew the story of Joe Vittori.
We all did.
And 'cause he was a hero of ours when we were growing up.
[man.]
Beverly did a lot of things for Corporal Joe as a legacy.
There are several ballparks in this town that have specific statues attributed to just him.
The city of Beverly has a plaque currently in the brand-new high school, which has a legacy of Joseph Vittori, has a lot of his pictures and a presentation of his citation that goes back to when he received a Medal of Honor.
Young people learn early about the war hero who grew up right here.
The Vittoris, like so many others, work the land.
They had quite a few acres here.
It was a beautiful working farm.
It was all vegetables.
It was nice.
We had greenhouses.
My grandmother had a giant asparagus bed.
It was a great place to grow up.
Dora Vittori expected her children to help out with the family business, even the son destined for greatness.
My grandmother spoke of him my whole life, so we always felt that we knew him because, you know, he lived through her.
He was a happy-go-lucky and good-natured human being.
That's what they told us.
She always would choke up and tear-up when she talked about him.
She obviously adored him.
[narrator.]
Losing him would leave his mother changed.
I watched the way my grandmother mourned him, you know.
He was only 22 years old.
One of Dora's most difficult moments would also be among the proudest when she and her husband Pietro were presented with Joe's Medal of Honor by a local congressman.
The event, far more bitter than sweet, would be evoked every Memorial Day, when Joe's commendation would be read aloud at his gravesite.
[Marie.]
It was very hard for my grandmother.
You could see she'd listen to them read that citation, and she would just, you know, look down and her eyes would tear-up, and it was like she was reliving it all over again.
She relived it her whole life from the time he passed away.
You know, you could just tell it killed her.
She never got over it.
She never, ever got over his his death.
You know? Little by little, my grandmother sold off property and then she donated this piece of land to the Legion Post.
The Vittori-Rocci Post is named for Corporal Vittori and Private Tom Rocci, who was killed in action in Normandy in 1944.
The post is dedicated to helping veterans and their families.
This post has been in existence for well over 50, 60 years, and I hope it continues long beyond that.
[playing "The Last Post".]
[narrator.]
Every Memorial Day, Beverly gathers to honor Corporal Vittori, but this year is special.
The entire Vittori clan is gathering for the first time in more than a decade, to welcome a surprise guest.
Sixty-six years it took me to get here.
Today is an opportunity, for one who witnessed Corporal Vittori's superhuman efforts, to share them with his family.
It's an honor for me to meet you and be able talk to you.
- It really is.
- [Tom.]
Oh, thank you.
Meeting Tom Zayas today was amazing.
Hearing stories about him actually knowing Joe and being at the battle with him I have no words to say how much how important that is.
I'm gonna see if I can find some with Joe on.
What do we got? This is our machine-gun squad here.
See, all these guys knew Joe.
[Marie.]
That was pretty special 'cause I've never met anybody that's been in the war with him.
I heard there was people that were still alive, but I've never met any of them, so it's nice to know somebody that was actually with him and had some good stories to tell instead of, you know, the bad stories that you hear.
- If you can get up, I can get up.
- [chuckles.]
So glad to meet you.
Glad you came by.
We meet here at 9:00 in the morning on Memorial Day, we go down to the cemetery.
[man.]
Ever since I can remember, they do a ceremony every year at the cemetery.
So this is every year, they keep his memory goin'.
- Just anywhere? - Anywhere you want, Tom.
You earned it, man.
There you go, buddy.
[Dorothy.]
Nana would put flowers on the grave and, you know, all of the memories and what have you.
We'd clean the stone and we started bringing my daughter, and now we have my grandson.
It's who we are.
And so, we gotta keep it going.
Every The kids have gotta remember and we have to keep the generations coming back.
[Joe Spechuilli.]
Meeting Tom was like meeting Joe, for me.
Became that missing link that I was looking for in my life, to find out about him.
So, for me, it was special.
You know how much better that makes me feel, to know that he wasn't alone? [narrator.]
Tom was able to give Joe's family a rare gift: the truth.
So, for years, [mournful.]
we thought he was alone on that hill.
And for years, Nana thought he died alone.
[sniffs.]
[voice cracks.]
And I found out he had friends with him [teary.]
and that they loved him.
It would've been good for her to hear that.
[tearful.]
I'm very glad that I met you.
Thank you for coming today.
[narrator.]
Nearly three quarters of a century had to pass, and then, in just minutes, old ghosts are laid to rest, allowing a family to heal and celebrate the hero at its heart.
I hope that people always remember Joe Vittori.
He is forever young.
In our hearts and in our minds, he'll never be any older than the day he died.
But he was a great citizen, a great person in the city of Beverly, and we all love him and we respect him.
[narrator.]
Half a world away, a corporal takes an entire company's mission on his young shoulders.
He holds the line.
He gives his life.
Today, his blood and spirit flow through a small American town, showing us that the Medal of Honor's true legacy isn't the recognition of one man, but its power to hearten and inspire everyone.
[male film narrator.]
This is Korea.
[male narrator 2.]
The 1st Marine Division.
Hill after hill.
Some theirs, some we made ours the hard way.
Where that guy is with the rifle is the front of the war.
The orange cloth on that guy's back is an air marker to indicate the front lines to planes.
The marine air with rockets and napalm to burn' em out.
Ammo up! [rapid machine-gun fire.]
The Auto Rifle.
Always moving up.
Always another hill.
[explosions.]
[more explosions.]
With hills, cost.
And how they cost.
I'm of the opinion as I'm now in my early 70s or approaching mid-70s, I'm of the opinion that erm if we think, if we start thinking nationally that somehow this is a manifest destiny of some sort, that we're chosen by God to be imbued with all these wonderful things, uh, we're making a big mistake.
Where we are today, in the world, is a direct result of the United States doing the right thing against a determined enemy and as exemplified by the actions of Marines like Vittori.
Joe had a BAR, and we had a machine gun, and he could almost do the same thing we could with the machine gun.
See, actually, ordinarily, the BAR just has one clip, and it fires 20 rounds.
And he had his taped, two taped back-to-back, and he could just flip them back and push the other one in, where, usually, you have to pull it out of your belt and put another one, and he could get 40 rounds off when you when ordinarily a man could do 20.
He said, "Load these magazines.
" And I was picking [stammers.]
rounds up out of the dirt, puttin' He took a second to chew my ass out.
He says, "You're loading 'em backwards, like Pete does!" [laughs.]
And then, I said, "I'm sorry, I can't see, you know.
" And I was scared shitless, you might say.
[laughs.]
You bet.
Yeah, I was frightened through the whole damned thing.
Beyond description sometimes.
But I did my job, I think, but jeez, I was scared, yeah.
Remember it used to rain, we had a tent for the mess, we could eat? [Lyle.]
Yeah.
And one time, Joe and I were sitting in the back and this tent the wind was blowing and the tent was starting to fall down because all the stakes - stakes were getting loose.
- Sure.
So, I told Joe, I said, "Look at that stake," I said.
"I'm about ready to go kick it.
" He says, "Goddammit, I'll do it!" Remember that? That's the kind of guy he was, you know.
Yeah, that was Joe.
And then he turned around and that whole tent fell, the guys grabbin' on the wall.
Is that the time we had got issued our beer ration, remember they gave us three or four cases of beer each guy? - [Tom.]
Yeah.
- [Lyle.]
And we had some, we had a lot, but never enough, you know.
I remember waking up about 2:00 in the morning, looking up at the beer, and here's a guy laying on top with a Thompson submachine gun across him, sleeping, passed out from drinking beer! Remember we used to get that Japanese beer, too.
- Remember the Asahi beer? - Asahi, yeah.
And then that hooch! That hooch was bad! - Oh! - Yeah, that was You just kiss the bottle because it was so strong.
I know, I drank a couple of them one time and I - I got drunk, but - Yeah.
But I didn't get sick.
I could have.
Anyone who has fought in a war, when you come back, and you start reckoning with that experience, one of the things, you know, you realize is that you have become the custodian of a certain memory, and that the only reason people are going to recall these events is because you are the one who has come home to talk about them.
So, you know, for Tom Zayas and Lyle Conaway, uh the way they remember Joe Vittori's action, is the way that they are, you know, paying a tribute to him.
Uh, and that's something I can certainly recognize, and I think that's the way that they are honoring the fact that, you know, he gave his life so that they could continue to have theirs.
Good afternoon.
I'm Mayor Mike Cahill.
I've got a couple of acknowledgements to make.
When I was a kid, I played my Little League at Vittori Park and that was the first time I heard the Vittori name, as a young boy playing Little League, and it wasn't long after that that I learned that Corporal Joseph Vittori was a Medal of Honor recipient.
When you know someone and you love that person, and that person does great things and makes the ultimate sacrifice, the way Corporal Vittori did for our country, then you want to make sure that that is kept alive.
And I know that that has been a passion for a long, long time for the people that did know him personally.
and he gave his life so that those he was serving with could live.
And we do have with us today, here, one of his mates, a gentleman he fought with.
I'd like to ask Mr.
Tom Zayas to stand.
He would be my uncle.
Joe Vittori would have been my uncle.
- [Lyle.]
So, you would be his nephew.
- Yes, sir.
- Nice to see you.
- Nice to see you.
- Yep.
- Joe was a very br Joe was the bravest man I ever knew.
Ever.
And a lot of other people said that, too.
While Joe was holding them off by the hundreds, I mean literally, the hundreds.
There was they hit us with about 700 troops.
- Wow! - A regiment.
And there were almost 300, I'd say 300 dead the next morning in front of our hole where I could see before I left.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
You're a good man, my friend, to give up part of your life for this and carry it with you the rest of your life.
I appreciate it.
Well thank you.
It's something I've carried all my life.
I can tell.
I can tell.
I think he was very patriotic, especially after reenlisting a second time after he was literally safe at home, and then he chose to go back there and help, you know? And it was just two weeks later he was killed.
So, I think he was very patriotic.
I think we're a very patriotic family.
I see that American flag waving, and it gives me goosebumps.
I mean, I have some Corporal Joe stories.
But the background of the battle, my dad never wanted to talk about the battle.
His sister lost her boy.
So, there were times when we had big get-togethers, and nobody wanted to talk about it and I always wanted to hear about it.
So, when you're a kid that age and you try to be respectful to the elders and not push the issue, 'cause every time we did, it somebody was upset.
So, for me, this is filling a big void in my life, too.
I work with veterans now, in my job.
A lot of them are getting out of the service and finding that agriculture is a soothing activity and better for them.
It helps them with their PTSD, and what have you.
And And so I've been working with veteran farmers in New Hampshire, putting projects and programs together to help them because they learn better when they're with each other than when they're in large groups of people.
Or it's easier for them, I should say, and And er I feel honored that I'm doing that 'cause I feel like I honor Uncle Joey and my and my father and my grandfather, all the men in my family that were veterans.
And farmers.
So, it's funny how life works out the way it does.
- [Dorothy.]
Pleased to meet you.
- [Tom.]
He was my friend.
Hi! - This is my daughter, Antoinette.
- [Tom.]
I figured.
- I hear you have a lot of stories.
- Beg your pardon? - I didn't know Uncle Joey.
- Oh, you didn't? - [Dorothy.]
Other than through the family.
- Oh, right.
[Dorothy.]
Oh yeah, no.
Only my sister Donna.
- She was two years old - You'd have to be older than 66 to - to know him.
- That's right.
Yeah.
That's how many years ago.
Yeah.
- I'm 86.
- But you know, my grandmother and every they kept his memory alive.
That's what they did.
You know what I mean? We knew all about him.
From the time he was little He used to hide under the kitchen table to read comic books because, you know, on the farm, you weren't supposed to be wasting any time, and he liked to read comic books.
And Nana would find him.
That's how he'd get her.
Yep.
- What the hell is that PTSD? - [Tom.]
Yeah.
He says, "Oh, I don't want to offend you, but I think you have" Oh, and I said, "Well, I don't want it.
" What was it they used to call, sti Uh Somethin' fright, oh, what is it? - What? - "Battle fatigue.
" - Oh yeah, well it used to be called - Battle fatigue.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Why do these people do these very brave things? You know, what's the emotion that they're feeling as they go to do this? Well it's not courage because courage is not an emotion.
You know, no one wakes up feeling brave.
You never woke up and said, "I feel brave today.
" And you know, it's love.
Like, these guys love each other.
Erm, just like if you're you know, I have children, say if one of my children were in the street or in danger.
Y'know, I would run in the middle of the street to save my child.
These guys love each other that way.
And you see it.
And, you see it in the way they treat each other, y'know, but you see it in the way they joke with each other.
And so, the same thing that probably made him a jokester, you know, it was probably the same representations of the love he felt for these guys that made him ultimately, you know, run up to these machine-gun positions and, you know, and ultimately wound up in him getting killed.