FORT BENNING, Ga., (July 29, 2015) -- Retired Army Master Sgt. Vincent Melillo, a WWII Merill's Marauder and a Korean War 5th Regimental Combat Team veteran, spent his 97th birthday showing off his collection of Army memorabilia at the National Infantry Museum.
"I figured instead of staying back home there doing nothing, instead of watching TV, I'd rather be out here with Soldiers and the Rangers, because the Rangers are keeping the Marauders going," Melillo said.
Several Rangers came by the museum to wish Melillo a happy birthday, June 23, and to talk to him about his life and Merrill's Marauders, a special operations jungle warfare unit that fought in the China-Burma-India Theater during WWII and is the unit from which the 75th Ranger Regiment draws its lineage.
"He's been in two wars. Not only did he fight in one - the hardships of moving through the jungle 30 miles a day, not only that - (but) he gets out and then the Korean War happens and he gets back in and does it again. To me, that exemplifies exactly the type of people we need in the military and in Ranger Regiment," said Sgt. Daniel Wood, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.
Wood said meeting a Merrill's Marauder helps bring history to life.
"It's this legendary unit and it's a big part of Ranger history," Wood said. "It gives me an example of what I should be as a Ranger, as far as the hardships he went through and the dedication."
Spc. Adam Noakes, 75th Ranger Regiment, Special Troops Battalion, gave Melillo a hat from his battalion and a battalion coin from the 75th Regimental Special Troops Battalion. He said meeting Melillo meant getting to meet the foundation of the unit he's associated with.
"That's something very rare, especially as old as our military is today. It's exceptional to be able to meet somebody who is an original and to me, it all starts with him, him and the other guys," Noakes said.
The 75th Ranger Regiment, Noakes said, was formed around men like Melillo.
"The older these gentlemen are getting the harder it gets to just shake their hands and say hello. So, anything he has to say, I'll take a knee and listen as long as I can," Noakes said.
Cpl. James Cacciapaglia, 75th Ranger Regt., said Rangers today model themselves after men like Melillo.
"Not just our tactics, but the type of people we are. So, actually meeting him in person is huge. It means the world," Cacciapaglia said.
Melillo enjoys talking to the Rangers as much as they enjoy listening to him.
"(I tell them) the stories of my life and so on, about coming into the Marauders and why I joined the service and what I saw in various parts of the world," Melillo said.
"I joined the military, actually, to see the world to tell you the truth. To see what was outside of the little town that I was in," he said. "There was nothing there. We didn't have a car, we didn't go any place."
The fifth born child to Italian immigrants, Melillo was orphaned as a baby when his mother died in the 1918 flu epidemic. He was raised by Sisters of St. John the Baptist in New Jersey.
"The first chance I ever had to get away from the little town is when I was in the orphanage and the sisters used to take us to New York. We used to eat at Child's Restaurant and then beg off the street for money with the sisters. That's the first time I ever left the town," he said.
Melillo said he finally got to see more of the world when he joined the Army.
"I sure did, and I almost got killed," he said.
For Melillo, the world wasn't actually what he thought it would be.
"Volunteering will get you killed. I just didn't volunteer once, but I volunteered twice." He laughed to himself as he said, "The third time I was on orders to go to Vietnam and I said 'Hell, they tried to kill me - I quit.'"
Melillo, who displays his memorabilia at many different venues throughout the year, said he does it to let people know exactly what war is like and what he and other Soldiers had to go through.
"I don't know how we survived it," he said.
He said it's surprising that most people don't know about Merrill's Marauders and China-Burma-India Theater.
"So, we have to teach them and let them know. We were the only American troops to fight and there were just 3,000 of us," he said.
Several of Melillo's friends came by to wish him a happy birthday and enjoy a piece of cake.
Bill Spies said he has known Melillo since the 1960s.
"The two great things about him, not only did he serve with the Marauders, but he was in one of the earliest fire fights with the Marauders. And, in Korea, he served in the unit that spent the most time in combat as a (member of the) 5th (Regimental Combat Team). I'm proud of him, it's just an honor to be with him," Spies said.
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