Joe “Peppy” Sciarra, 101, doesn’t stand on ceremony.
He’ll lean over to give his handshakes an extra heft, but more often than not, he will open his arms for a hug and throw out winks and charming asides for the ladies. All with the trademark “Peppy” smile.
But one ceremony he did stand proudly for was the one at SkyRose Chapel at Rose Hills Memorial Park on Memorial Day, May 25.
The Arcadia resident was a special guest, along with retired Army Col. Lisa Costanza of the California National Guard, at the 104th annual Memorial Day event at the park. The 300th Army band performed, and the Whittier Museum brought a display of artifacts. Vintage planes flew over the scene, and more than 10,000 flags stood guard over veterans’ graves.
The boys and men he knew from the 25th Infantry Division, mortar platoon, could not have been too far in his mind that day. Sciarra was 16 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and the thought that 3,000 Americans died there still makes him tremble with anger. Drafted into the Army one day after graduating from high school, Sciarra would make platoon sergeant at age 20, surviving battles big and small, malaria, and what stays close with him all these years later: the loss of his fellow soldiers.
“My buddies who were killed, we wrapped them up to protect them, but we had to leave them,” he told me once. “I made it home. I speak for them.”
And speak he does. Sciarra’s oral history is recorded in the archives of the city of Arcadia, the hometown where he and his beloved Lu (for Lucille) raised their son, and where Sciarra still lives. At Holy Angels Catholic Church, where he is a longtime usher at the 9 a.m. Mass, he greets parishioners before, after and during Mass, a walker his only acknowledgment that the years are creeping on. He is surrounded by his family, including the next generation of Joseph Sciarras. His message remains the same.
“I speak of love for our country, our love for the Constitution,” Sciarra said.
The National World War II Museum in New Orleans will present its interview with Sciarra sometime this year, and many local groups, from service clubs to schools and even the Los Angeles Dodgers, have honored him and invited him to speak.
As the nation prepares to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the Rose Hills commemoration honors the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation, said Jeff Nordschow, president of Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary.
“For nearly 2½ centuries, generations of service members have defended the freedoms that define our country. Their courage, sacrifice and unwavering dedication continue to inspire us, and it is our responsibility to preserve their legacies and ensure their stories are never forgotten.”
That their buddy Peppy was there meant everything. Only about 45,000, or .5% of World War II veterans, are with us today, out of the 16.4 million Americans who served in that war, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National World War II Museum.
That we have Peppy still, and every day, is a gift I marvel at. Saving a hug for when I see you at church, you charming, brave and true and good good man. You and your buddies are the greatest.
