Memorial Day
Today in the USA, we honor the men and women who gave their lives in the service of this country. I like to make the day more personal and remember my friend Lenny Malagrino. I met Lenny when we were in grade school in Westerly RI. He lived a street away from my family’s home. Lenny and I shared a love of music. We had many good good times together. When I was in college in the late 1960’s Lenny was in Vietnam. He joined the Marines. While there his unit was obliterated. Lenny was severely wounded in the leg. Polio had slightly compromised that same leg when he was a child. In his pocket he kept a photo of his younger brother. A bullet pierced that photo. Lenny was picked up by a chopper and spent a year in the hospital. When he came home it was rough going for him for quite a while, but Lenny was a tough mother. He turned it around had a family and eventually got a job counseling returning vets to obtain training and employment. I lost track of him for a few years but reconnected with him in the 1990’s. I went to visit him at his rented home in South Kingston RI. He had remarried and seemed to be enjoying his secluded home that bordered a small pond surrounded by wild rhododendron. We had many a good talk looking out over that still pond reflecting the wild blooms. At one point he said to me: “Mark, we never belonged over there.” I just nodded to him. I could have never done what he did nor endured the suffering that he went through. His immune system was compromised by his wounds so his health began to deteriorate in the early 2000’s. I was in touch with him until he died at his home on 2007. I went to his wake and paid my respects. Lenny had a lot of friends. I could not bring myself to go to the funeral the next day. It was too damn sad. I honor your memory and bravery, brother. The whole country does. Lenny’s name is not on that long low black wall in D.C. , but it should be. Vietnam is what killed Lenny.