PHOTO BY MARK LORENZ
Steve Castinetti listens as Larry Capuzzo speaks about his experience in the Vietnam War and receiving a Purple Heart, at the American Legion Hall.
By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
SAUGUS — Steve Castinetti, president of the Saugus Veterans Council, is searching for Purple Heart Medal recipients to honor in this year’s Memorial Day parade.
Rather than having a single grand marshal for the May 27 event, each Purple Heart veteran will be recognized for his or her service. The council set out to personally invite each one but was faced with the realization that a master list does not exist at the local, state or national level.
“We have over 1,400 veterans in Saugus and I’m guessing we have more than the six that we’ve identified,” Castinetti said. “We’re trying to get people in Saugus to identify the Purple Heart recipients. We don’t want anyone to be left out.”
Purple Heart Medals are awarded to members of the armed forces who are wounded in combat and posthumously to the family members of those who are killed in action or have died from wounds sustained in action.
Larry Capuzzo, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient, was injured about five miles outside Da Nang Air Base when he and a fellow Marine were repairing a bridge that had likely been damaged to bait them, he said.
The Marines were attacked with sniper fire and Capuzzo was shot in his arm. He spent two weeks recovering in Hong Kong before he returned to active duty in Vietnam. His friend was killed within the month. Capuzzo served in the military for eight years and spent 13 months in Vietnam.
“Over there you never had any time to grieve,” Capuzzo said. “Your best friend was killed next to you and you couldn’t think about it until after you were home. On Oct. 31, I was in a firefight for 12 hours. On Nov. 2, I was on the streets of Boston. You’re used to living in a situation where there are no rules; you do deadly things. Then two days later you can’t spit in the street.”
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Bill “Boomer” Boomhower, a Saugus Purple Heart veteran, received multiple Purple Heart medals after he was injured in three different tank explosions.
“The real meaning of the Purple Heart is to remember the ones who gave it all,” Capuzzo said. “They’re the ones who sacrificed it all.”
In 2007, the Saugus American Legion Post 210 was renamed the Cpl. Scott J. Procopio American Legion Post 210. Procopio was killed in Iraq in 2006. A portrait of Procopio, painted by his father Kevin Procopio, hangs in the hall.
Three military members from Saugus were killed in Vietnam and one killed in Iraq, said Castinetti.
In past years, a single veteran has been chosen as the grand marshall.
“The idea that we could have multiple grand marshals came up at a meeting and the members (of the council) voted unanimously to recognize all Purple Heart veterans,” said Castinetti.
All honorees will have a Purple Heart decal on their car and ride in the parade, which steps off on Jackson Street at 9 a.m. and travels to Riverside Cemetery for a ceremony at 9:45 a.m. By 10:30 a.m., the parade will make its way to Saugus Center, where there will be entertainment; a military show by Sgt. Daniel Clark “The Singing Trooper;” and a brief ceremony.
“We will remember everybody that day who is a Purple Heart recipient,” said Castinetti.
Castinetti asks that anyone who knows of a Purple Heart recipient living in Saugus or belonging to the Saugus Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, or American Legion, to contact the Saugus Veterans Council.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.