Father served in the Merchant Marines
Thank you for your recent editorial on behalf of the Merchant Marines. My father, Dick Berardinelli, was a mariner starting in World War II. He passed away in December at age 91.
Along with his best friend, Jack Cooley, my father quit school in the ninth grade and joined up. They made several trips across the Atlantic on Liberty ships. Although they never came under attack, an “old salt” who befriended them had been torpedoed three times.
I once asked, “Were you ever afraid, Dad?” “We were too young and stupid to be afraid,” he said. “It was the adventure of a lifetime.”
After getting out, my father also served a hitch in the Army. He was 18 years-old by that time.
I also enjoyed your story in May about Pete Ladisic, a 92-year-old Cokeburg resident, finally getting his high school diploma. There are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They are everywhere.
Richard Berardinelli
Cokeburg