Surfing Served as Motivation to Get Home

I know I have written about this in years past on Memorial Day, and while it is in one form or another, a repeat question, it is important that I bring it to the surface once again. It is after all, the one time of the year, where we can put aside our vast political differences to remember and pay tribute to our Nation's War dead. Memorial Day Weekend. The question is:

"How Many Surfers have been killed in Americas Wars?"

And to be fair, I am referring to those who served from WWII to the current Global War On Terrorism. How many surfers serving in the Military have been killed in action? If surfers were surfing in the early 1940's it is entirely conceivable that a few WWII vets were killed in action who had just started surfing on the West Coast and in the Hawaiian Islands.

400,000 Americans died in WWII. Some had to have been surfers.

I don't know who would have such a statistic, but I bet anything it is significant. And certainly post WWII times, many returning vets took up surfing. And by the time the Korean War broke out and a whole bunch of those who served in WWII were drafted back into the ARMY, well, it only stands to reason that more Surfers were killed in Korea.

38,000 Americans died in Korea. Again, some had to be surfers.

By the time the 60's rolled around. Everybody was surfing. Just like the Beach Boys sang..."Everybody was surfing, surfing USA!" And they were. And not just in California. Hell the whole East coast was mirroring what the West Coast was doing. We all went surfing. And right around 1965 another war was just getting wound up. Vietnam.

From 1965 to 1975 close to 60,000 Americans died there.

I know some of them were surfers, because some of them were friends of mine. I know I have written this in the past too. And that is; "Vietnam was the First REAL Surf War." So many of us who served there were surfers.

Hell, I used to get Surfer Magazine sent to me when I was there.

I used to carry each new issue in my pack. My friends all thought I was crazy. "Man you sure are crazy about this surfing huh Ralph?" I would just smile and nod.

And I would smile at my other two buddies in my platoon who were surfers as well. PVT Hood was from Florida. He surfed all the breaks on the Atlantic side of Florida. I used to give him a hard time about Florida's waves. Then there was CPl Tavolacci from California. He was a short little guy who was built like a fire hydrant. He surfed his home break of Moss Landing. He always had a photo of Moss landing on him that he would show us.

But the three of us used surfing as motivation to get back home.

How many times have I said that "Surfing Heals All Wounds?" Well, of the three surfers in my platoon only Hood got messed up. He lost his left leg from the knee down running to a chopper.
I told him as he was loaded on the Medevac that "You're going home Hood, and you will surf again!" I never knew what happened to him. I have no idea if he ever did surf again. Once I came back home I lost touch with everyone. I hope he did surf.

But there were others who I knew, that were killed, who were hardcore surfers. And if I knew surfers who were killed in Nam there had to thousands more. I knew others, like my best friend Joe Somogyi who was exposed to gallons and gallons of Agent Orange while working Special OPS in some of the most dangerous covert missions of the war, who died after coming home to the "World." (Slang for USA) .

And that seemed like the cruelest joke of all. To survive what Joe did, only to die a few years later from Agent Orange was beyond sad. The only saving grace was Joe did get to surf for almost 7 years before he wilted away to almost nothing.

The wars that followed Vietnam though not as big, were as significant if you happened to be in Combat. From Beirut to Somalia, from the GULF War to Bosina and Kosovo. If you were engaged in combat it was war. And if you were a family member of someone who was killed in the war, well...you never forget it.

I knew a surfer by the name of Nick Zangaro. Nick was a Marine who was badly wounded in Beirut in 1983. Nick who surfed the Wall a million times could have easily been a casualty of that forgotten war.

The list of Surfers killed in America's Wars and conflicts was growing with each new engagement. Each war left fewer surfers in the line-ups around the country. Sometimes forever.

Then came the current War on September 11, 2001.

I guess it would be an understatement of colossal proportions if I said that there have been many surfers who have served in the military in this current Global War On Terrorism. As far as how many who have been killed in combat or in the War? Well that again is one for the Surfologists to figure out. I do know however of several who were Surfers, who died in the war.

His mother Nat is a dear friend of ours and she loves surfing.

She along with several other New Hampshire Gold Star Mothers (Gold Star Mothers are the moms of service men and women who were killed in the military) recently unveiled the Wall Of Heroes at the VA Medical Facility in Manchester, NH .

There are the 50 plus members of our military from the State of NH who have their portraits hanging in this corridor that is designated to the fallen of this current GWOT.

Danny is one of them. Like I said, Danny was a surfer.

Another Surfer and ironically a member of that same SEAL Team as Healy. Michael Murphy was KIA on the same day, on the same mountain in Afghanistan. Murphy however was awarded the Medal Of Honor. He died while calling for help for his 4 man team while surrounded by 100's of Taliban fighters. He actually used his cellphone to get through to his back up.
In doing so he had to expose himself to direct enemy fire.

He was hit several times before he finally succumbed to his devastating wounds.

There is a book that was written by the only Survivor of that battle Marcus Lutrell called LONE SURVIVOR. It is soon to be a major motion picture. Not sure if there will be any surfing in the flick, but I'm sure there will be shots of them in Hawaii, and it does not take too much imagination to know that if these guys were surfers, it's a good chance that they surfed in Hawaii.

Besides, these guys were SEALS. You know damn well they surfed. You kidding? They more than likely had their own secret spot that only SEALS have access to.

OK so I had a moment of disappointment this morning that I need to share with you. I had opened the NEW Surfer mag and was reading the story about John Smith. AKA Johnny AWOL. I guess this Johnny was a surfer and had decided to enlist in the ARMY. Part of the reason why was so he could get stationed in Hawaii. Seems reasonable enough. I just mentioned the SEALS above who surfed in Hawaii.

However, the similarities stop there. Why? Because lil Johnny went AWOL while stationed in Hawaii. He bugged out. The story in Surfer which just so happens to fall on Memorial Day weekend was about this surfer's dilemma about staying AWOL and surfing in Hawaii, or turning himself in.

I was pissed to say the least, so I penned this letter. I want to share it with you now in case SURFER decides not to run it. But this is my email to Surfer exactly how I wrote it this morning.

To The Editor:
Here it is Memorial Day Weekend, and I just finished reading your piece on Johnny AWOL's ARMY adventure. This is what you guys decided to run on Memorial Day? Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how many people in the Military read your mag? Do you have any idea how many SURFERS who served in the military were KIA (Killed in Action)?

Was this story supposed to inspire young surfers?
And if so, how?

Perhaps a story on how many SURFERS have been killed fighting in America's wars might have been more appropriate. But I'm sure that might not sit well with some of you saltwater geniuses. From WWII, KOREA, and VIETNAM, to the conflicts and wars from April 30, 1975 to the current GWOT, there have been hundreds of thousands of American Surfers who not only served, but have been wounded, and some who paid the ultimate price. They died.

Men like Joe Somogyi and ARMY Ranger in Vietnam 1969, a hard core surfer. Dan Healy a NAVY SEAL who was KIA in Afghanistan in 2005, a surfer. The list is miles long. I could fill this whole post with names and places.

Instead, we read about poor Johnny AWOL's dilemma of surfing the North Shore for two years, while struggling with his commitment to the US ARMY. Such a heart warming story. I'm sure the families of the fallen, who have old SURFER Mags stashed away in the bedrooms of their sons and daughters who have been killed in America's wars, feel fine after reading that.

Next year try thinking outside of the box. Take a stand and acknowledge the very reason why you guys get to make millions selling SURFER and like minded products to the millions of surfers out there. You get to do it, because of the brave men and women who did NOT go AWOL, but instead, they fought and died for your freedom.

Let me repeat that for you. They died for your freedom.

"For those who fought for it, Freedom has a taste, the protected will never know."

Ralph Fatello USMC Vietnam 69-70. Surfing since 1964.

Now for Some Of My Weekly Global Observances:

Kalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) the Mastermind behind 9/11 and his band of losers are still at GITMO. Once again, my favorite photo for your viewing pleasure. They really should project this image in court during his trial. Be fun to see his disgust at looking at himself in this degrading and most unflattering of photos.

This looks more like a photo to the sequel to ANIMAL HOUSE II. Like I said last week, I plan on keeping this photo up every week until his trial is over. Loser.

The battle is heating up between Obama and Romney...things will get uglier before they get better. Oh brother is it ever.

There was a fire on board a Nuclear SUB this week here in Portsmouth, NH. How the hell does that happen? Regardless, our local Firefighters helped quell that blaze. Thank you guys.

Celtics WIN GAME 7 against the 76ers 85-75! Yea baby!

So it's the DEVILS and the KINGS in The Stanley Cup Finals. Man what
a difference a year makes huh? seems like last year the Bruins were in the Finals. What's that, they were? DOH!

What's the saying? Maybe next year ...right.