[TPR] SFC Castorini - MANLOVE

Thu Dec 9 02:39:29 PST 2010

Well that was a great story Mad  Dog -------------- but actually the R&R part brought back the most memories for an old West Pack sailor. Bangkok, What a Place !! !!

Bud #3400 (The 7 Banger)

 --- On Wed, 12/8/10, Mad Dog Antenucci <teampantera at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Mad Dog Antenucci <teampantera at yahoo.com>
Subject: [TPR] SFC Castorini - MANLOVE
To: "Brian Ward" <brian at trinityarmco.com>, asajay at asajay.com, tpr at teampanteraracing.com
Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 8:30 PM

I don't have any memorable war stories...... 41 years ago I had the privilege of serving with one of the best infantry airborne veterans of 3 major wars (WWII, Korea & Vietnam) and this is one story that is still pretty clear in my head so I'll share it with you guys before it becomes a distant memory and I am in a Veterans Home in Sacramento.  

When I 1st met SFC Castorini I was still wet behind the ears. I sure as hell didn't think I was. I had already been in the Army 2 years but SFC Castorini was about as close to God with a upper case G as I had been close to besides my own dad......He had to of been 45 years old if he was a day old and to a 20 year old kid like me his face had a 1,000 miles of bad road on it...... 

He was a legend for several reasons....both for what and where he had been and for who he was and for what he was still doing ....which was soldiering in a airborne infantry company when most NCO's his age were flying a supply desk in the rear with the gear.  He had made combat jumps in all 3 wars and was my 1st platoon leader in Nam when I was in the 2/173rd Airborne.  I never saw Castorini laugh, or yell and only saw him smile one time........... and that was in Bangkok. Yea war is a serious business and everything about SFC Castorini was serious.

In fact he never showed any emotion that I saw even when he busted my ass back to SP4 for getting drunk on duty.  By his mere presence  he commanded immediate respect.  Of average height and not weighing more then 140 pounds soaking wet he was hard as nails and probably chewed on them before breakfast working up an appitite after his morning coffee to chew on young airborne fok-ups like myself who did not belong in HIS army. Even the company 1st Sergeant and C.O. who were pretty damn good soldiers themselves made it clear to anyone who was within ear shot that there was not a better NCO in the U.S. Army then SFC Castorini.

SFC Castorini  was still on jump status 23 or 24 years after he made his 1st combat jump in France in '44.  Shortly after I arrived I was standing tall  in front of him and the C.O. and the 1st Sergeant after getting busted . A serious offense in a airborne infantry unit. 

And while I got busted  he later got promoted to master sergeant and then became company 1st sergeant. Shortly afterwards he got wounded during Tet '68 and  ended up being medivaced back to the states where he ended up in a training company at Fort Dix New Jersey training LEGS (non-airborne soldiers) in Basic Training which had to be the most insulting thing that could have happened to a man like this.  

About  18 months into my 22 months in Nam SFC Castorini was BACK in Nam looking as mean as ever....but when I met him again he had been busted back to SFC!!!! The irony of him being busted and previously recommending my being busted back in rank a year earlier was not lost on me.....At the time I was a part of a MACV advisory Team (ARVN Rangers) and NO NCO, officer or anyone else for that matter made my knees shake.....I had allot of attitude and Castorini noticed it soon as he met me. And he made sure I was assigned to  to his team shortly after our brief meeting! But what started out as hate turned back into respect and love as I learned allot about soldiering and life from that man. 

Now I wouldn't say we ever hugged one another for I was still a fok-up by his standard but I was HIS fokk up and he never let me or anyone else in his command forget that either.......  I had by then thanks in part to him hard (sergeant) stripes again but just not as many as he had.  ;-)  I think I even saw him grin once..... commenting on my being "out-of-uniform" which is another excuse for a senior NCO who loves you to acknowledge your existence......or something like that! ;-)

On heading to Bangkok on R&R I found out we were on the same scheduled flight.....just before we headed in totally opposite directions in Bangkok he caught me eyeballing him and he slowly turned his head around inn my direction and said, "Antenucci, what are you still doing in my Army?"  He didn't want an answer...but he did grin!!!

He obviously wanted a hug and that was his  way of showing me the LOVE! ;-) And when I started to answer him he smiled again and said, "stay out of trouble".....and with that I proceeded to party  24 hours a day for 5 days in a row until we flew back to Nam.  I never saw him on the flight but I knew he had his eyes on my sorry bloodshot eyes.

But I do remember that one or two  times he smiled at me. . .And the last time I saw him  I drove him out to the helipad to catch a chopper to connect with a freedom bird flight back to the states.  Castorni  had more rows of decorations  then I had seen on anyone except maybe a general officer.   His CIB had 2 stars meaning he had been awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge for all 3 wars..... his master jump wings had 3 gold combat jump stars. You could spend a long time in the Army before you ever saw one man with those kind of earned decorations and I could not turn away. Finally as he got out of the jeep and grabbed his bag he slowly turned his head  in my direction one last time and said, "get a haircut and stay out of trouble".....and with that I watched him walk to the  Huey and fly away. No hugs, no waves, no bands, no nothing....I was just thinking I wish I had thanked him for helping me be a better soldier and more importantly a
 better man. But everyone was better for having known him.

Mad Dawg Antenucci 
Team Pantera Racing 
The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing 
www.teampanteraracing.com

From: Brian Ward <brian at trinityarmco.com>
To: Brian Ward <brian at trinityarmco.com>; Mad Dog Antenucci <teampantera at yahoo.com>; asajay at asajay.com; tpr at teampanteraracing.com
Sent: Tue, December 7, 2010 7:01:20 PM
Subject: RE: [TPR] Service Thank Yous Re: NPC NRC DOG

Speaking of which, ex father-in-law refered to as the blackhat was another
honorable soldier. Marine Recon during Nam. Joined State troopers in Maine
then decided he hated civilian life, 2 years later went Army Special Forces.
He retired as the First Sgt of Pathfinder School. Nick Caisse retired 2001.
Great man and will always look up to him no matter how dam short he is :)
Brian

-----Original Message-----
From: tpr-bounces at teampanteraracing.com
[mailto:tpr-bounces at teampanteraracing.com] On Behalf Of Brian Ward
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 8:41 PM
To: 'Mad Dog Antenucci'; asajay at asajay.com; tpr at teampanteraracing.com
Subject: Re: [TPR] Service Thank Yous Re: NPC NRC DOG

Wish I was around for that... Mine would have been the most exotic place and
time that I had sex... Battalion CQ Airborne School on top of Command Sgt.
Major McCoy's desk with my blackhat's(Airborne instructor) daughter which I
later married. She is my ex now but Boy those were some good times...
Brian

-----Original Message-----
From: tpr-bounces at teampanteraracing.com
[mailto:tpr-bounces at teampanteraracing.com] On Behalf Of Mad Dog Antenucci
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 7:39 PM
To: asajay at asajay.com; tpr at teampanteraracing.com
Subject: Re: [TPR] Service Thank Yous Re: NPC NRC DOG

Funny.....Larry in Ohio not to be confused with Larry Finch in California
asked 
me, Mike Drew, Chuck "Guns" Atkinson and maybe a couple of you others to
give 
him a little military bio for a USO SHOW he was doing where Larry (another
great 
guy) is in a USO band that travels around...in any case Chuck and I
contributed 
our boring no doubt embellished this is the best we can remember 
stories.....then Mikey wrote about the time he was stuck in Paris on
expenses or 
the time he was some other exotic place in the world sipping pina colada's
or 
whatever the hell it is Mike drinks but it cracked me up. 

Mad Dawg Antenucci 
Team Pantera Racing 
The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing 
www.teampanteraracing.com

________________________________
From: "asajay at asajay.com" <asajay at asajay.com>
To: tpr at teampanteraracing.com
Sent: Tue, December 7, 2010 5:25:20 PM
Subject: Re: [TPR] Service Thank Yous  Re:  NPC NRC DOG

Not to mention some short tours I did in Spain, Germany and Japan.

General:  "Is the radio workin' sarge?"

Me:  "Yes Sir."

General:  "See you next week."

Me:  "Yes Sir."

Ahhhh, nude beaches and foreign women. <sigh>  I miss those days.

Asa Jay

Quoting Brian Ward <brian at trinityarmco.com>:

> OHHH YOU ARE BAD...YOU ARE SO BADDDD...BAD DOGGY....
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tpr-bounces at teampanteraracing.com
> [mailto:tpr-bounces at teampanteraracing.com] On Behalf Of Mad Dog Antenucci
> Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 7:08 PM
> To: Asa Jay Laughton; tpr at teampanteraracing.com
> Subject: Re: [TPR] Servie Thank Yous Re: NPC NRC DOG
>
> Hey Mr. U.S. Air Force Reserve, Retired!  ;-)>
>
> I bet Brians 3 years of active duty in the U.S. Army was longer then you
> ever
> spent in those 4-start USAF Reserve billets you called air bases....okay
> inter-service fighting can now begin! ;-)
>
> Mad Dawg Antenucci
> Team Pantera Racing
> The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing
> www.teampanteraracing.com
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Asa Jay Laughton <asajay at asajay.com>
> To: tpr at teampanteraracing.com
> Sent: Tue, December 7, 2010 4:53:05 PM
> Subject: [TPR] Servie Thank Yous  Re:  NPC NRC DOG
>
> Brian,
>
> Although your service was short, thank you for making the sacrifice
> over the time you did.  And pass on a thanks to your father and
> step-father as well.  It's because of their willingness to protect
> everyone else, we still have a great country to live in.
>
> Asa Jay
>
> --
> Asa Jay Laughton - sent from somewhere other than home
> ******************************************************
> http://www.racingagainstautism.com
> http://www.teampanteraracing.com
>
>
>
> Quoting Brian Ward <brian at trinityarmco.com>:
>
>> When we were in Hawaii we soon realized that purebred dogs were rare for
> two
>> reasons. 1)Due to any animal or plant imported had to be quarantined for
> six
>> months before you could take them home. 2) Not native Hawaiians but other
>> cultures that populate Oahu will steal a dog in a heartbeat for their
fine
>> dining. We can all joke whether we like it or not, If you need to
survive,
>> you eat whatever you have to.
>>
>> On another note... I guess I didn't realize how many vets were actually
on
>> here. Please to make your acquaintances and on behalf of myself and my
>> family, thank you for your service.
>>
>> Brian
>> US Army 1992-1995
>> Father
>> US Navy 1966-1974 & 1985-2005
>> Step-Father
>> US Army 1970-1990
>>
>> No flower power here...
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: tpr-bounces at teampanteraracing.com
>> [mailto:tpr-bounces at teampanteraracing.com] On Behalf Of Bob Radefeld
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 6:06 PM
>> To: tpr at teampanteraracing.com
>> Subject: [TPR] NPC NRC DOG
>>
>> Boy 'o boy, Patrick, your joke about eating dogs sure brought back some
>> unpleasant memories of Nam! I never ever wanted to ask them what was in
> that
>> pot they were cooking in but I know they liked dog meat a lot. :o((
>>
>> Bob
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
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