Veteran of the Month - Gene Baldi

Gene Baldi originally intended to join the United State Marine Corps, meeting with a Marine recruiter just before his 17th birthday as World War II continued to rage in the Pacific Theatre.  The recruiter took one look at his birth certificate, a document with several scratches where the date of birth is normally found, and scoffed.

“Try the Merchant Marines,” the recruiter told him.  “They won’t look as close.”

The 16-year old Baldi did as he was told.  Not old enough, Baldi “lied” and enlisted with the Merchant Marines, a decision that led him across the Pacific Ocean to aid in the post-war reconstruction effort.  He turned 17 while serving.

The SS Richard B. Moore was Baldi’s vessel, a Liberty ship created in short order during the American shipbuilding program.  Designed by Henry Kaiser, the Liberty ship was both famous and infamous, an amazing production effort with mixed engineering results.  The SS Robert E. Peary, also of Liberty fame, was reportedly built in four days, fifteen hours and 29 minutes.  Each Liberty ship carried 60-100 mariners and was 440 feet long.

“Those ships carried a ton of cargo,” Baldi said.  “And a large number of them fell apart.”

Japan signed the armistice while Baldi was still in basic training, but the need for the Merchant Marines was still strong as millions of American soldiers and their cargo needed transport around the pacific and back to the states.   Baldi joined this effort.

Serving as an oiler in the Moore’s engine room, Baldi recalls being a proud member of the “death crew,” an affectionate nickname for those who made the ship run.  He had a busy job, ensuring the machinery kept the propeller going as his Liberty ship island hoped from Hawaii to Japan, making stops at Guadalcanal, Saipan, Japan and Guam among others.

“Saipan was one of the prettiest places I have ever been too,” Baldi said.  “The people were cautious at first about the Americans.  The Japanese had told them that if we ever came, we would eat them.  We didn’t.”

The islands visited by the Moore were home to some of the most famous battles of World War II, hard fought land secured by U.S. Marines.  Although the war was over, dangers still filled the ocean waters.  While Baldi shrugged off the hostilities he and his fellow mariners faced, the Merchant Marine fleets were forced to navigate unwelcoming seas littered with mines as they moved precious cargo.  While the Moore stayed afloat, more than 49 Merchant Marine ships were lost after VJ Day.

“We were too young and stupid to realize that anything might happen,” Baldi said.  “But some of the older guys (the men in their forties), or at least I thought they were old at the time, kept reminding us that danger still existed.  We ignored them, but they were the smart ones.”

The Moore was the first American ship in Indochina and the first to sail into French-held Saigon.  Baldi remembers being able to walk freely in the Vietnamese city, a packed marvel that was very welcoming to the American soldiers.  He said there were people everywhere, curious about the Americans who would return decades later during war.

“That was an experience,” Baldi said.  “Our other stops were at military bases, but in Saigon, it was an all civilian population.  We got our liberty from the ship and were able to see the city. 

Despite national calls for assistance from U.S. mariners during WWII and after, the government did not recognize Merchant Marines as veterans for decades, a sore spot for Baldi who served with distinction, among distinguished men on a ship adorned with a battle star from wartime service.  Unlike members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, the mariners did not enjoy the post-war benefits that bolstered the greatest generation.

In 1988, the pentagon partially relented, granting veteran status to all mariners who served during wartime periods.  Baldi was one of them, joining his fellow Merchant Marines as they officially entered the veteran community complete with its entitlement and long-denied thanks.

Those who recommended Baldi for our Veteran of the Month program insisted that few have done more for veterans or local residents in general.  Around devoted family and work time, Baldi, for decades, has driven to NH to help a disabled former Merchant Marine Prisoner of War.

That’s just in NH.  Here in Massachusetts, Baldi became heavily involved in the Malden Bread of Life program, devoting thousands of hours to meet the organization’s mission of feeding the hungry and assisting the homeless.  During our interview, Baldi insisted that I stop interviewing him and go help out at the Bread of Life.

“If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we are here to help others,” Baldi said.  “Ryan, when you think you’ve done enough, do a little more.  There is nothing else.  You will learn.  The rest is just stuff.”

Baldi is also a stalwart in the Masonic Wheelchair Program, a small outfit in Malden that provides wheelchairs and assistance equipment to anyone that needs it free of charge.

“I went down there on a Saturday looking to get something for someone I knew,” Baldi said.  “The guy asked me what I was doing the next Saturday.  I said nothing, so he handed it to me and said I’ll see you next Saturday.  I went the next Saturday and I guess I never stopped.”

And then Baldi got a truck.

“So I’m inside the place and he comes in and says whose truck is that.  I say it’s mine.  So now I’m the truck guy.  And guess whose delivers stuff now?  I never should have bought that truck.”

Everyone watching us as we conduct this interview is greeted by Baldi.  Questions about family and life fly – where are you from, what do you do, want to see pictures of my family?  83-years old and Baldi is as sharp as a tack, only cutting our conversation short because he needs to get home to take care of his wife.  It’s all unassuming, just a part of Baldi’s nature and in no way boastful.  It just is and it is just enough to make you question what you have done to serve.

Our office is proud to have Eugene A. Baldi Jr. serve as our Veteran of the Month for April and May, a true service member and community servant.  Another example of how Melrose is full of veterans who understand that service does not end with honorable discharge.  If you run into Baldi, be careful, you’ll be accompanying him to a community dinner before you know it.

“It’s simple,” Baldi said.  “You just go and meet some people and help out where you can.”

If you would like to nominate a future Veteran of the Month, whether it is a family member, a friend or a respected member of the community, please contact Veteran Services Officer Ryan McLane at Melrose Veteran Services (781) 979-4186 or rmclane@cityofmelrose.org.