Sgt. Grit,
Before I proceed on the subject about which I'm writing to you, I would like to assist fellow Marine Kent Yates. In his story found in the Sgt Grit newsletter dated October 20th, he was trying to remember the ITR camp at Camp Pendleton. That would be San Onofre or 52 area. In the 80s and 90s it still had the old corrugated steel Quonset huts. The only camp farther north of it is Camp Mateo (62 area). The home of 5th Marines and 1st Combat Engineers. I was in 2/5 when we made the move from Camp Margarita (33 area) to Camp San Mateo (62 area) and 7th Marines moved out to 29 Palms.
Now, it is my sad duty to inform you that one of the greats, Sgt Salvatore (Tom) Battaglia passed away this October 9th, 2011 at the age of 92. He was a veteran of Tarawa (where he was awarded a bronze star), Saipan and Tinian. For the past number of years, Tom has been our oldest Marine present at our Marine Corps League Birthday ball. I have enclosed a picture of him during the cake cutting ceremony at last years birthday ball seated in the wheelchair.
At this time, I would like to relate a neat story about Salvatore as told me by fellow Marine Jim "Bulldog" Treher. Jim was a young kid before WWII and that summer of 41 his parents took the family on vacation to an uncle's country club in Ohio. It was a grand week of fun with the climax being a dance at the club ballroom that Saturday night. The jazz band playing that evening was great and led by a handsome young saxophonist named Tommy Batts. All the girls swooned for him and his performance left quite an impression on Jim and his sisters. For many years the family would reminisce about that wonderful vacation and the climactic dance headlined by Tommy Batts and his band. Years later, Jim had an occasion to ask his uncle if he knew where Tommy Batts was now and his uncle related to him that he had heard that Tommy had joined the Marines during WWII and been killed in combat. In the 80's Jim was at the local American Legion bar relaying this story to some friends. At the end of the story, a voice down at the end of the bar spoke up and said, that's me. I'm not dead. It was Salvatore (Tom) Battaglia. You see, his last name was too long to put on the bass drum for advertisement, so they shortened it to Tommy Batts. That was his nom de guerre in those days.
Semper Fi Tommy Batts
From Shawn Kane USMC