For Tradition and Americanism, Marty Costello Keeps Memories Alive

The sun is just starting to rise at 6 a.m., but Joe’s Place is open. Owner Marty Costello wakes up at 3:30 a.m. each day to ready himself and the Wayne luncheonette for the morning crowds.

Over the years, Joe’s Place has become a sort of neighborhood clearing house. Neighbors talk local issues over no-frills coffee.

“You never know who’s going to be sitting at my counter,” he said. “It’s a who’s who.” 

“The place I have, there’s not many like it anymore.”

But one thing’s for certain. There always seems to be some connection to the past. As he tells the story of a brash young pilot who had once wandered in and ended up being the son of a Tuskegee Airman, you can see the pride and enthusiasm wash over him.

Costello grew up on Garrett Hill in Radnor Township. He was born there, as was his father. His grandfather, who passed away in 1925, was one of the first property owners in the neighborhood.

But it’s more than just Radnor’s ties to his family lineage that appeals to Costello, now 63. It’s the generations of individuals, the fiber from which the threads of his community were sewn that truly interests him.

Costello graduated from Radnor High School in 1966. It wasn’t a great time to get out of high school, he said. The Vietnam War was at its peak.

He served in the Navy from ‘67 – ‘71, spending much of his enlistment as a mechanic on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. He was a member of what he lovingly calls, The Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club. 

“It was quite a place to be when you’re 18 or 19 years old,” he said. 

Costello was discharged in 1971, and attended Temple University. There, he studied insurance risk and actuarial science. He had planned to go into insurance. But when Costello’s father, a WWII vet, was close to dying in 1979, he asked that he keep Joe’s Place going, as it had been since 1946.

“He didn’t want it to close,” he said. “It was all that he had. He was a poor boy from Garrett Hill. And he asked me to continue it. And here I am. Still doing it.”

“I continue to serve, just in different capacities.”

As commander of The American Legion Bateman-Gallagher Post #668 in Wayne, Costello has spent the past three years of as reigning commander working to actively engage the township in its shared history of dedicated residents, some who gave the ultimate sacrificed to keep our country free, like Emlen Tunnell.

Just like Costello,

“Emlen was a fantastic athlete,” said Costello. “At Radnor, he was so gifted as an athlete he would practice with the Villanova football team. He went on to become the first black man to play for the New York Giants.”

Tunnell joined a segregated military in 1943 and enlisted in the Coast Guard as a steward.

Twice in his service to his country, he tells, he saved the lives of fellow soldiers. Because of these two acts of heroism, his officer put him in for the Silver Star lifesaving award. But it wasn’t until 2011 that he was recognized and awarded not only his combat ribbons, but his silver lifesaving award.

“Our post got together with the township and donated a flagpole in Emlen Tennel park down on Garrett Avenue, which was named after this man back in 1975,” said Costello. 

They dedicated it in February, during Black History Month. “It was quite the event,” he said.

“It’s Americanism, it’s what people are supposed to do.”

Costello won’t be running for a fourth term as commander of Post #668. He plans to move on to be the commander of the Delaware County’s Legion.

“Each of the members of this post, almost 200 veterans, take an oath when you enter the service,” said Costello. “And it doesn’t end when you get discharged. You have to keep on serving. And that’s what we do here.”

Working around the community under Costello, the Legion’s members have come together on many projects. Like the reconditioning of the Radnor War Memorial on South Wayne Avenue a year and a half ago. Friends, neighbors and fellow servicemen pitched in nearly $48,000 in gifts and labor to restore it the way it is today, he said.

But that project’s legacy has just begun. It’s recently inspired a new project that Costello is nurturing. With the help of other people that he knows, he plans to bring "Americanism" back into the schools.

“It’s called Saving Hallowed Ground,” he says. “Americanism isn’t taught anymore. Were going to get kids from the high schools and kids from the grade schools involved with remembering those who served.”

He tells the story which helped to inspire the project of children in the Netherlands that are assigned a soldier during their 7^th grade year.

“These soldiers came from Canada, they were killed in WWI and WWII,” said Costello. “Thousands of Canadian soldiers were killed and laid to rest. Kids have their own soldier. They’re given a name, go to the cemetery, and are responsible to take care of that site through the year. They write to the families of the soldiers and tell them they’re taking care of them. If it wasn’t for those Canadian soldiers, Holland wouldn’t exist today.”

“So we’re going to try to do this here,” he said. “We're going to start this program here in Radnor Township. St. Katharine’s, Radnor Middle School and Radnor High School are on board with this.”

“And you can see why this has to be done,” he said. “Like we did with Emlen Tennell.”

Tennell died in 1975, he said. “The kids today, have heard about him. They know they have a statue or a bust of him down at Radnor High School. But since it's been three or four generations, they forget."

"And we can't allow that to happen," he said. "We have had a lot of great people who have sacrificed their lives and done remarkable things here in Radnor. If we just let their names be up on a wall, and don’t remember, they’ll be forgotten. These soldiers in Holland live on. If you talk about someone, even if they’re dead, they never die. They’re immortal.”

“Even the guys who came back, they’re forgotten,” he said. “Like Cowan Field."

Leslie Cowan was one of five Cowan boys that fought in WWII, said Costello. The twin brother of Charlie Cowan. His two sons run .

"The Post awarded them with a flag with a gold star," he said. "I gave them one with four blue stars and a gold star for their family’s history. All five brothers fought. Leslie was the only one that was killed. But people have forgotten. And its no fault on these people. They’re new. They don’t even know who Leslie Cowan is. They don’t even know why it was called Cowan Field."

"So I said, 'You gotta hang this up. And you’ve got to keep on promoting the sacrifices that your family gave in the 1940's to keep this country free. Hang it up and retell the story so people don’t forget again'.”

“I’m here for rights, freedoms and liberties tonight.”

In 2001, Costello was diagnosed with multiple melanoma and given only 30 to 35 days to live, he said.

“As you can see, I didn’t die,” he said. “I had a Rabbi pray over me, the monsignor gave me the last rights twice.” And Tony Campolo, a Baptist minister, and who speaks around the world was there for him and over the years, his family, as well. The memory conjures up a brief moment of emotion.

Though Costello has been serving in one capacity or another since his late teens, he’s been rededicated and newly inspired, ever since his brush with death.

“As far as this community, I wouldn’t trade it for any other place in the world,” he says. “It's got it's flaws, but they can be corrected. People come into my store and ask ‘How do you do it?’ ‘How do you go to those township meetings when you work 90 hours a week?’ And I say, ‘How can you not go?’

He started attending Radnor Township Board of Commissioner meetings about eight years ago to speak  against the then-newly proposed Wayne Overlay district.

“I’ll admit, back in 2004, I was the most ignorant man when it comes to municipal government,” he said. “It took me almost a year to figure out how it ran. It took three and a half years of going to every meeting to knock out the things that were completely and utterly ridiculous.”

During his fight with the township, he said he absorbed a lot of ridicule.

“I absorbed a lot of comments that shouldn’t have happened. And I know that when you put yourself out there, you open yourself up… But unless I’m in the hospital dying again, I’m not going to miss another meeting.”

He said he’s missed three since 2004. 

“You have to go,” he said. “What makes this country great is the constitution. And the right to assemble and the rights to free speech. If you give those rights, freedoms and privileges up, and you lose them, try and get them back. You can't get them back. So don’t give them up.”