This story is unlike most that we cover on this show, and that's because this one is about my great uncle Thomas Steven Pilleri, a man I never met but still feel connected to at times. Our names are only separated by one letter. He's Tom and I'm Tim. And we both share the same last. There aren't many Pilleri's out there.
There are some Tom Pilleri’s in the Boston area who I am also related to, and they were named after the original Tom Pilleri that you're about to hear about. This is a true story about a mostly unknown American hero in my family, and I'd like to try and help change the unknown part. Tom was born on April 15th, 1922 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He was the fourth of seven kids that Angelina and James Pilleri. Both of Tom's parents were born in Naples, Italy before the turn of the century. They were married and already had two children before leaving Italy for America on the SS Canopic just days after the official end of World War I. I wondered if their decision to leave Italy was because of the war and political unrest. To keep their family safe. But I suppose if that's true, it would be darkly ironic.
They were a working class family, like so many other big immigrant families living in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the time. There was Mom Angelina, dad James, older brother Pasquale who went by Pat, Josephine, Rose, Tom was fourth in line, then came my grandfather, Francis Rudolph, next was Mary, then Elvira, who went by Honey. We’ll be hearing a letter from Honey later.
Growing up, Tom was an excellent three sport. Fast as lightning, he excelled at baseball, football, and basketball. After high school, Tom and his older brother Pasquale were working in a candy store to help support the family.
Tom was 19 years old when suddenly his life and the lives of millions of Americans changed on one fateful day. On December 7th, 1941, Japanese fighter jets surprised US forces at Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. They bombed the base and killed over 2,400 American service members and 68 civilian. The United States had officially been pulled into World War II, where up until this point, we'd resisted.
Now, I don't know this to be true, but I think that 19 year old Tommy was so pissed off about the attack on Pearl Harbor that he enlisted in the Marines that same month, because just 31 days later on January 8th, 1942, he was already reporting for duty. It was a scary time for young kids like Tom, who went from doing homework and playing basketball in high school to firing guns and running for their lives on battlefields across the globe.
Tom's family didn't want him to go. My grandfather, Frank Pilleri, was just 16 years old when his big brother deployed. I can hardly imagine how emotional that goodbye scene was. The family knew Tom was being sent to war and that there was a chance they'd never see him. I picture my 16 year old grandfather giving his older brother a bear hug.
Sister Honey mentions their family goodbye in a 1979 letter to the US government.
I last saw my brother January 6th, 1942. Within a few days on January 25th, I would've been 12 years. He promised me he'd be back for my birthday, but he couldn't make it. I remember calling him and crying at the window. He blew kisses to me and mom and waved. He yelled back, I'll see you soon. We didn't, but he couldn't help it. It is 37 years now and I still remember.
See the full letter: https://missingmarines.com/thomas-s-pilleri/
Tom was first sent to basic training at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and I learned from my new friend, Judy (tell you about her later), that Tom took a train across the country to San Diego, California, and he eventually left on a transport ship that was a converted ocean liner, nicknamed the Wacky Mack that left from San Francisco and went out right under the Golden Gate Bridge.
I wondered where Tom was when he turned 20 on April 15th, 1940. Judy told me that he likely celebrated his 20th birthday in New Zealand or Australia before actually going to battle. Well, I just hope he had a good time. If when I turned 20 was any indication of what Tom was like when he turned 20, well, it would've been a good party.
Tom was then sent to the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands are these small isles off the coast of Papa New Guinea and Australia. It looks positively beautiful in the limited photos I've seen on the internet, but I've never been. And back when Tom was there in 1942, it looked a lot different. It sounded a lot different.
When I think of the Solomon Islands today, I think it sounds windy with a side of mosquito buzz. But as a podcaster, I'm always thinking about audio quality. And back in 1942 when Tom was there, there was also gunfire, bombs, and screams. Guadalcanal Island is where Tom ended up, and today in 2022, you can purchase guadalcanal.com for only $6,500. It seems like the island's official site, if it has one at all.
If you're a big history or World War II buff, you may have heard of the Battle of Guadalcanal. It was featured in the James Jones book and Terrence Malick film, The Thin Red Line, and more recently in the TV series, The Pacific produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
It was apparently one of the turning points in the war, and the US had all of their military branches on the island during this bloody battle that went from August of 1942 to February of 43. Now, I've learned a lot about the battle of Guadalcanal since starting this deep dive into Tom and I understand the main objective of this tug of war over this was an airstrip later named Henderson Field. It became an important launching point for the Allies during their time in the South Pacific.
And while doing research about Guadalcanal at that time, I found this incredible video on YouTube. It's called USS Wasp, CV seven Burning in Sinking very rare footage, 1942.
This aircraft carrier was sunk by three Japanese torpedoes on September 15th, 1942, just off the coast of Guadalcanal. And I have to wonder if Tom saw it. I mean, someone filmed it sinking. There were probably hundreds of soldiers watching it sink, a bunch more jumping off the carrier, maybe swimming to the beach. I can't imagine what watching that aircraft carrier sink did to the hope of the service members on that island.
And then it occurred to me, could I be watching the same thing today on YouTube from the comfort of my home office that Tom saw from that island in 1942? And then I realized, no, I know he didn't see this because a couple of nights earlier on September 13th, 1942, Tom and his battalion, the Third Battalion, first Marines division, were guarding a throughway called the Overland Trail Down the trail led to their entire headquarters and Henderson Field, which was the airstrip mentioned earlier.
That was so important during the war. Tom and five others volunteered to protect this trail over. Lieutenant Joseph Terzi, Private First Class Pilleri, Mixter, Laurence, Jabo and McDermott were the six men who set up a listening post to protect the trail that night. Armed with Thompson's submachine guns, and they must have been pretty quiet.
They seemed to be expecting to see the Japanese. Major Eiji Mizuno's Kuma Battalion was already a day late when they arrived that night, and this is the description that Private First Class Leo McDermott gave in Jason Abady's book Battle at the Overland Trail.
Six of us ran into a company of Japs. Pilleri, Mixter, Laurence, Jabo, Joe Terzi and myself, heard 'em come in and shot hell out. Some of them, they tossed about 20 or 30 grenades. Addison, we went through to the is. We stayed in the river under an overhanging bank while the jab feed along both banks shooting, screaming. We stayed in the river about three hours damn near froze to death, and we climbed up.
The bank, stayed there till time. That that night was the worst I've ever spent, and it's only a miracle that I'm here writing this. Mixed and Jabo came back about four days later. Lawrence admitted back to our lines tonight. The firefight started. The lieutenant and I came back the morning after. Larry didn't come back at all.
We’re leaving Tom on this island. He died there that night. We didn't find out till four days later. Tom was a good friend and a swell guy.
That passage from Jason Abady's book is one of the only descriptions of that night that you can find anywhere. But if you go to https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/205002, you will find some more information about that night. You'll also find that Private First Class Thomas S. Pilleri was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
For conspicuous, gallantry and intrepid in action, in connection with operations against the enemy at Guadalcanal on the 13th and 14th of September, 1942, Private First Class Pilleri was manning a machine gun for the all volunteer forward element listening post when a Japanese battalion initiated a full scale assault to overrun the marine control of Henderson.
In the ensuing heavy firefight, Private First Class Pilleri heroically remained at his station to cover the ordered withdrawal to the unit perimeter. Due to the lethal fire he provided against the enveloping enemy, the other members of the post were able to withdraw. The Japanese surge was checked and the defensive positions were altered to maximum readiness.
Private First Class Pilleri's actions ultimately cost him his life, but helped save the lives of other members of his unit, and also helped the 11th Marines to repulse the Japanese attack by his initiative. Courageous actions and complete dedication to duty. Private First Class Pilleri reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
Naturally, my family was devastated when they learned of Tom’s death. And there was an infinite sadness that took over the family. I can't begin to understand what that must have felt like, but I try. I actually try every day while covering missing persons on one of my podcasts called Missing. This one time, not even that long ago, after we stopped recording with a mom of a missing young woman, we thanked her, she thanked us and turned off for Zoom, or at least she thought she did. What my friend and co-host Lance Reenstierna and I saw was a woman who had kept it all in for an hour just to speak to us about her missing child. We now saw visual evidence of how hard that was for her to do, but she delayed that pain and pushed it down for an hour because it could possibly help find her kid. When she realized she was still on the Zoom, she quickly and instinctively shut it off, almost like she was embarrassed to show us that hurt. But not after letting out what I can only describe as a groan, a sound of deep pain. We've spoken to a lot of family and friends of missing people over the years, and a loss like that leaves a hole in their lives that can't be filled.
Angelina and James got divorced, which was kind of rare for that time. James died a few years before my father was born, so he never met his grandfather from Italy, but he had this to say “My siblings and I weren't overly close with, with our grandmother, Angelina. The only thing we really knew is she was a good cook. And she was divorced and she had a bunch of kids. Other than that, we didn't know that much about her.
TIM: What did you hear about her divorce to James?
FRANK: James was, uh, I guess he, he had a drinking problem. That's really the only thing that I know.
TIM: Do you know, was he an alcoholic or a big drinker before Tom went missing?
FRANK: You know, that's a great question. I know less about him than I do my grandmother, Angelina. So I'm not sure. I mean, there were a couple rumors, but I don't have a lot of info about James or Angelina.
I know Tom's mom Angelina missed him dearly. She dictated a paragraph to honey in their 1979 letter to the US government.
I want my son Tommy to come home. I cannot not rest till we have him here. I dream of Tommy all the time. He don't want to be where he is. He want to come home. We must find a way to bring him home now. He is my boy. Tell them I wanted my boy when they told me I could send for him. Then I get another letter. They tell me the Japanese have bombed where the graves were, and they said it would be hard to find him. I want my boy and I must find him. I cannot rest until we bring him home.
See the full letter: https://missingmarines.com/thomas-s-pilleri/
My grandfather didn't talk about his brother much. I was lucky enough to have my grandfather in my life for 24 years, and I never heard him talk about him. And he was great to me. My sister, parents, cousins, we never witnessed that kind of sadness in him. Was it there? Did time help heal that hole that Tom left in him? Maybe having kids and grandkids did? I wondered. I needed to know from my dad if his father ever talked about Tom. Did he ever break down in front of his family? I asked him.
FRANK: My father was very tightlipped about anything that happened in the war. I can probably name four or five different things that he mentioned about that particular time, or his brother Tom. It was pretty much never spoken.
TIM: So your father basically never mentioned his missing brother Tom to you or your siblings?
FRANK: Not really. Other than at the dedication for Thomas Pilleri Square in Cambridge. He mentioned that that was his older brother and he passed. And other than that he never really mentioned him.
TIM: Were you at the dedication for the Square?
FRANK: I was, yeah.
Thomas Pilleri Square exists right near where the family was raised at the corner of Second Street and Cambridge Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. If you're familiar with Boston or Cambridge, this is very close to the Lechmere train station, but you could easily miss this sign if you weren't looking for it. It stands about 10 feet high. The sign is black with a gold star on it, it reads Thomas S. Pilleri Square, Private, United States Marine Corps World War. Born April 15th, 1922. Killed in action September 7th, 1942. Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
FRANK: It was a pretty proud moment. It was. It was very nice. It was a short ceremony. I think the mayor, I forget, maybe Senator Kennedy might have been there or some politicians were definitely there, but I don't remember which ones.
TIM: Did Papa get emotional either that time or at the dedication in the early 2000’s?
FRANK: He got emotional at both, at least somewhat. Your grandfather was a pretty stoic guy and he didn't show all that much emotion, especially if it was tearful emotion. But I do think that he learned some things at the dedication. I don't know that he knew the full scope of what Tom had done to protect the rest of his platoon.
TIM: You mentioned Papa's sisters. Did they ever talk about Tommy, or did you ever see the impact of his loss on them?
FRANK: Not so much. I do know that, you know, they still carried that loss up until I was an adult and started my own family. Especially the youngest sister, we called her Honey and her name was actually Elvira and they, and they called her Honey. She was extremely emotional about everything. She was that type of person and, and every time she talked of her brothers, she always mentioned Tom and a tear would come to her eye. So I got more information out of my aunts than my dad.
I'd always heard this rumor that my grandfather lied about his age to enlist in the service to sort of avenge his brother Tom's death. Although I can't find documented proof, there are some hints on ancestry.com and I asked my dad.
FRANK: My father was so distraught and ticked off that he went down and enlisted. But the problem was he wasn't of legal age to join the Marines or join any branch of service. So he forged his paperwork in order to go and enlist in the Marines, which is the same branch that Tom was part of. And the story that I heard was that my father was so angry at the enemy that he wanted to go and avenge his brother’s death. It was almost like a Marvel DC comic movie motivation, but he forged the paperwork to make himself that minimum age so that they wouldn't even question it, and they would accept him.
So that brings us to October 3rd, 2017 when I received a Facebook message from a familiar name, not a familiar person, but a name that was familiar because I grew up right across the street from not one, but two men named this exact same thing. And at this point in my life, I had been working on the disappearance of Maura Murray case and docu-series from Oxygen Network. In fact, it had just aired the second of its six parts a few days earlier.
So I opened this message and it wasn't from one of my old neighbors, it was a different guy who went by the same name. And his message was curious. He introduced himself and basically just asked me to confirm that I was who he thought I was.
And because of the docu-series, we had been experiencing more emails and theories than ever before about the Maura Murray disappearance case. The online trolls in that case are notorious, and in my head, I remember not replying to him for weeks, but in reality, I wrote him back in two minutes. Which is a sign of the times, I guess, to me at least, because I'm never on Facebook Messenger anymore.
So we agreed to have a phone conversation and we spoke the next evening. He told me all about the Honor Flight Network and he said that he wanted to fly a flag over the Capitol building in honor of my great uncle Tom. I recently spoke with Dave Nichols for this podcast and I asked him about it.
DAVE: I had a flag flown and I sent them the information about Thomas and, and actually my mother had gotten so deeply involved in this story that's how I kind of found out about it. Thomas is her adoptive veteran and kind of a guardian angel in a way. I had a flag flown for her. It came folded in a triangle as it does, and with a certificate saying this flag was flown over the US capital on such and such a date In honor of Thomas Pilleri. It's kind of a neat thing to do to honor someone.
Now, before we recorded, I thought that what Dave had done for Tom about the flag getting flown over the capital was actually a part of his work at Honor Flight, but I was wrong.
DAVE: Honor Flight is a national nonprofit. Our mission is to bring World War II, Korean and Vietnam veterans from all over the country at no cost to the veteran to DC to be honored at their memorials.
Our two co-founders had the realization that a lot of these veterans, even back then can't travel or didn't have the means to travel and would never get to see their memorials. So we started out taking World War II veterans. The first flight was a success. With two veterans on each, and they came from Ohio and since then we've had hubs in different parts of the country who charter a 747 and fill it.
So it's gone very big. But that's our mission to get as many veterans to see their memorials, that they dedicated their lives and made such a high sacrifice for him.
So at the end of it all he really wanted from you was a photograph of Thomas Pilleri for his mom. And guess what? I didn't have one.
So determined to find a photo of Tom, Dave wisely relied on his contacts. He put me in contact with a Katie from History Flight, not to be confused with Honor Flight. Dave and Katie met during the funeral service for a Tuskegee Airman who was lost during World War II, then found and identified. And they were apparently talking about Tom Pilleri, which led him to put me in contact with Katie.
Katie then put me in touch with US Marine Corps headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, specifically the prisoner of war and missing in action office. I was also put in touch with someone from the DNA Family Outreach program, and for the first time I wondered, hey, what are the chances Tom could actually be recovered?
They asked for my DNA and I told 'em, of course I'll send it. What if? How wild would that be? But unfortunately, as I know all too well being in the true crime space, sometimes DNA results take forever. Things are getting better though. Just check out dnasolves.com for evidence of that.
So after I sent my DNA to the government to hopefully try and make a match, the government actually sent me Tom's entire military records, which includes that letter from Honey and my great-grandmother, as well as one very faint photocopy of a photograph of Tom.
And you can barely make him out. But if this photocopy exists, then there's gotta be a real copy somewhere, right? I think this is probably a good time to play the entire letter from my great-aunt Honey and my great-grandmother, Angelina. To call the moment I read this letter emotional is probably an understatement. It was surreal reading the words from my great-aunt and great-grandmother. They were desperate to try to locate Tom to bring him back to Cambridge. And this letter from Honey and Angelina is actually the epilogue in a book called Leaving Mac Behind: The Lost Marines of Guadalcanal by Jeffrey W. Roecker.
July 17th, 1979.
Dear General, sir, I am writing this letter to you today in the hopes you may be able to help us. First of all, I am writing for. My feelings are very deep and very concerning. I am worried about my mom. Her health is declining. She is, or rather, will be 83 years old, August 6th, 79. She is a gold star mother and was dependent on my brother Tommy, as there were still four of us whom he supported.
Plus mom made. I last saw my brother January 6th, 1942. Within a few days, on January 25th, I would've been 12 years old. He promised me he'd be back for my birthday, but he couldn't make it. I remember calling him and crying at the window. He blew kisses to me and mom and waved. He yelled back, I'll see you soon.
We didn't, but he couldn't help it. It is 37 years now and I still remember. Oh yes, he did come back once and was called back and his leave was cancel. He left us again, but this time he never came back. I have had many birthdays since, but always I remember Tommy in my prayers, if only he could come home, I would feel very happy knowing he is where he belongs.
I have to think that way. Otherwise, I could become very. Here I am trying to nurse mom who cries constantly for Tommy. As I said, mom will be 83 years old. Now I am writing for her:
I want my son Tommy to come home. I cannot rest till we have him here. I dream of Tommy all the time. He don't want to be where he is. He want to come home, we must find a way to bring him home. Now he is my boy. Tell them I wanted my boy when they told me I could send him. Then I get another letter. They tell me the Japanese are bombed where the graves were, and they said it would be hard to find him. I want my boy and I must find him. I cannot rest til we bring him home.
My sisters four and brothers three. Those of us, the total seven plus me and Tommy was eight. We lost a sister, so now there are six of us left, oldest being in order, Patsy, Josie, Rosie, Frankie, Mary, and me Elvira. We all agree to be able to give Mom peace of mind to do what we can to bring Tommy.
More than a month now. We wrote to Ted Kennedy and asked him to please help us. I sent him copies of all the papers we have, all that I could find pertaining to our loss. Time is very important. Every day is a bonus as far as mom's concerned. Could you please advise us on how to get a quick reply? We realize that we are not the only ones needing help, but someone, some.
You should be able to tell us something. If you need any more information, please let us know. We had another family meeting the day before yesterday. We all agreed as to what to expect. We know after 37 years, I don't wanna go into that. But if it will put my mom at ease, we must hide our thoughts and our feelings for her.
We must believe as she believes it is important. Now you see, sir, I don't think any of us was really convinced Tommy was really dead. God help us. God help him. Please help us. Tell me what to do next. Only please make us hear from you. We plan to have a very quick, very quaint family thing in the serviceman section of Cambridge Cemetery.
My mom wants us to get her a place as close to where Tommy will be. It is sad. My mom lives with my husband and me. She cannot do for herself. She needs care. We have done it the last eight years, and she is not better. She is worse and every day counts. She cries in. So we have to do this. If you could call her and tell her you were doing what she can, it would help.
Sincerely, Mrs. George, Paula for Mom, Mrs. Angelina Pilleri.
See the full letter: https://missingmarines.com/thomas-s-pilleri/
I was shocked to read that they still weren't sure if Tom was alive or not. I think deep down they probably knew he wasn't, but they were still holding out hope. To hear how badly they wanted him to be buried in Cambridge is simply remarkable to me. I mean, that letter was sent 37 years after Tommy's disappearance.
Angelina was getting old and she passed away a few years later. She never saw Tom again after he left in 1942, and it's clear that the family never found closure. The government sent recovery missions in 1947 and 1949 to try and find Tom as well as other missing soldiers and Marines. To my knowledge, they weren't successful in locating him, and I'm reading from his official file.
This one is dated May 23rd, 1947. Private First Class, Thomas Steven Poller 35 47 27 was officially reported, killed in action on the 17th of September, 1942 at Guadalanal. British Solomon Islands entry and service record book shows buried in the field on the 17th of September, 1942, and then in a letter dated April 26th, 1949, it goes on to say that exact details are not.
And no further information is available and in the file it has coordinates. The island was searched from map coordinates 1 59 degrees, 55 minutes east and nine degrees 25 minutes south to one 60 degrees, 20 minutes east in nine degrees, 35 minutes south. It goes on After careful [00:31:00] consideration of all the facts involved.
The board unanimously resolved that the subject decedent be declared non recover. And then there's another letter I have from the 19th of September in 1949 that again says the remains of the subject have been declared nonrecoverable by special boards convened in the field and in the office of the Quartermaster General.
So it seems like the government tried to locate Tom but weren't able to, and I wasn't even able to locate a photograph of Tom. But then about two years later, pretty much out of the Pacific Blue, Dave emailed me a photo of Tom and what a sight. To be honest, to me, he kinda looked like me at that age.
And Dave finally had a photograph of Thomas Pilleri to show his mom. I asked Dave what it meant to him.
DAVE: Oh, I mean it, well, it's like any other time you put a name to the face, doesn't mean a lot. You're no longer a statistic, it becomes more personal. Even the Vietnam wall, you can see the names on there, and that brings it to another level. That's the only memorial that has the names. I'm often asked at the World War II Memorial, you know where the names are, but there are no names. There are gold stars. There's a gold star wall, and each gold star on that wall represents a hundred people that died during the war. But it's not personal because you don't know the names. They're not listed out in the memorial. But to get his face, just to see the person's eyes, you can kind of empathize a little bit with the family, cuz now, now you know what they're used to saying and could no longer see again. So it's very, it's very, very deep and very personal.
TIM: And this is right about the time that I started wondering why and how Dave and his mom became interested in Thomas Pilleri.
Dave said, Tom is kind of a guardian angel to his mom, and it was clear from our prior phone call that Dave's mom had a connection with Tom. Dave introduced me to his mother, Judy Knob.
JUDY: I come from a military family. I grew up and went to high school, always had this interest in World War II history. My huge interest in it.
With, um, William Bartsch’s article in the September, 1997, ‘Crucial Battle Ignored’. It really was a crucial battle because without what those folks did, especially your great uncle, people just did not realize his impact on keeping Henderson Field in American hands. And this is not to shortchange anything that the Raiders did on Edson’ Field, but there was an open flank, a wicked open flank on that right hand side. And if the Japanese had realized it, we might have lost, in fact, we probably would've lost Guadalcanal and Australia.
TIM: Wow. So that one battle and what Tom did seemed to have sort of alerted his entire battalion to the Japanese, is that how you understand it?
JUDY: Yes. On the 12th of September of 1942, KWA, gci. Attacked and Red Edson knew that they were gonna come back and so they were getting ready up on top of the ridge. But K-31 was over there and Tom was with a weapons platoon. Joe Terzi was in charge of that. Terzi went and he said, I think we should have a listening post. There had been another one up the day before. The orders that were given by Joe Terzi, Lieutenant Terzi, “scatter”, and they were in thick jungle.
Tom could have scattered. He did not. He stood his ground with a submachine gun and he blasted them to pieces and lost his life. Tom stood his ground. He stood his ground, he could have scattered. And what he did was he tied up those members of the Kuma Battalion because they were so mad because they thought they had run into the main line of the Marines. They didn't realize it was just their listening post because of the fight they put up.
What they did for quite some time was go up and down the Ilu river. Now of course, Tom, by that time Tom had lost his life, but the other ones had gotten into the Ilu River and. They were banging trees with huge giant trunks and the Japanese were going up and down both sides of the river yelling and screaming and firing into the water. And so it held them up. That gave the rest of the three platoons that were strung out there from Iron Bottom Sound to the 350 yards of nothing, a chance to make their machine gun placements on either side of the Overland Trail.
TIM: Judy felt so connected to Tom that she wanted to help memorialize him further.
JUDY: My son flew an American flag over the capitol in honor of Tom, and gave me the flag in the case for my birthday. And then for Christmas, one year, he gave me all Tom's files. Everything. And I had the picture of him from when he first signed up in January of 1942, so I knew him.
TIM: Wow. So how, how do you feel so connected to him?
JUDY: That's what I'll tell you. And not on the podcast. That is a story and a half. Yes. I'll tell you next summer. Okay. Yes, you, you can. Be prepared, Tim. Be prepared.
TIM: And prepared, I think I am. Do you have this type of connection with other veterans?
JUDY: No. No. He's, he's one of a kind. I'll tell you, and you can find out why.
TIM: Judy and Dave want to come up to Boston to see Pilleri Square and to meet with us. I can't wait. When I got all the letters that your great-grandmother had written and the heartache, and I think she really died of a broken heart, and she just wouldn't accept that he was gone because she had nobody. And I wondered if Judy thought there was any chance to locate Tom after all these. They said he's unrecoverable.
But you know what I said? I said, Angelina, I'm gonna give it a shot. If I can find all this stuff, maybe I can find where he is at. And I think, I know I looked at all the reports in 46 and 49 where they went over there and a lot of that deep jungle has been cut down its farms now. Tom was found and buried in the field.
There was a sketch of the grave, but all that's been lost. But they went to Point Cruise. That's not the right location where this place was. So they're looking in the wrong place. They found some people and they found their families. It's a long, laborious process. But I would just like, before I leave this earth, I’d just like to see him returned home.
TIM: You and me both, Judy.
I know enough by now after covering dozens of missing person's cases that I've got to hold out hope and I do. I just imagine being part of the process of bringing Thomas back to Cambridge and I get emotional. I think about the pain that Angelina and Honey felt and how good it would feel to help. Even though everyone who knew Tom has passed away, would it count as closure? I don't know. Is there any such thing? Knowing that Dave's mom has a photo of Tom is some form of emotional closure, I have to admit. Hearing about their connection makes me happy. Tom did make a difference and he continues to today.
Then as I was talking to my dad about producing this very episode, he found some unlabeled hi-8 tapes that he decided to get digitized, and guess what was on it? The ceremony for the Silver Star for Tom Pilleri back in 2000. I have some vague memories of being there back then, and I asked my father what he remembered.
FRANK: Boy, I'll tell you, I was absolutely floored by the amount of accolades and the newspaper articles. Thomas was an absolute hero.
TIM: And were those stories that you had heard before?
FRANK: No, the only thing I knew was that in Cambridge, near Lechmere Station, across the street from Lechmere Station was Thomas Pilleri Square. That's the only thing I knew about Thomas and I, and I thought, he probably did some pretty good things in the war. I had no idea. When everything came to light at that dedication and when he was given a medal at that ceremony, we had no idea. Well, I think your papa, my dad, probably knew some of it, but I don't even think they knew all of it.
TIM: Remember the passage from the book read earlier by my friend, voice actor Larry Butler? Well, my grandfather located Leo McDermott and they corresponded back and forth. And then Leo's letter to my grandfather was read at this dedication.
CAMBRIDGE VETERAN’S SERVICES SPEAKER: This letter was written in 1997 to Corporal Pilleri's brother Frank. Frank had been seeking information regarding this battle, which I can honestly say when pretty much overlooked by our historians. Leo wrote to Frank.
My name is Leo McDermott. I just finished reading the Old Green News (inaudible), your questions about your brother Tom.
Tom and I met sometime in February of 1942 when the first Marine Division was being formed. We were assigned to Weapons Platoon of K Company, third Marine Battalion. Tom was a gunner on the machine gun section. I was an assistant gunner, an air cool 30 caliber machine gun. We became good friends immediately, and I considered Tom as my best buddy. We were close.
This is what happened the night Tom died. K Company sat up on the western edge of the large field, barbed wire, strung about 50 to 75 yards to our front. Listening posts were sent out each evening inside the barbed wire.
One night, a squad from one of the rifle platoons came back and said they heard the Japanese. Our platoon leader, Lieutenant Joe Terzi, said he would take an all volunteer listening post group out the next evening. Five of us went out with Lieutenant Terzi, Lawrence, Jabo, Mixter, Tom. We did not stay inside the wire. We set up about a hundred yards outside the wire.
Sometime during the night, we heard a clanking noise. Then we could see the Japanese all lined against the sky. They were between us and our lines. Our listening posts became an ambush post as we opened fire on the Japanese, all hell broke loose and our listening post became every man for himself.
We had ambushed a Japanese battalion getting ready to assault our line. Lieutenant Terzi and I wound up in a creek behind us and spent all night in water up to our necks. We managed to make it back to our line the next morning. One man made it back that night, Laurence. Mixer didn't return for four days.
Jabo was picked up by I Company and made it to Walk Point. Tom was the only one who didn't make it. This all happened on the night of September. Lieutenant Terzi and I were sent to a field hospital with our wounds, and when I came back to the company, they told me that Tom had been found on the 17th of September.
I believe I'm the sole survivor of that lookout post Terzi was KIA'd on Cape Gloucester. Again, I was by his side. Mixter was killed in action on Guam. Tom died a hero, Francis, because the firefight alerted K company to a sure victory for the Japanese against Henderson Field.
Sincerely, Leo McDermott
TIM: And this next letter was written to my great-grandmother, Angelina, and it was written by Lieutenant Joe Terzi, who was also with Tom the night he died.
Dated April 23rd, 1943. Dear Mrs. Pilleri, I will do my best to tell you all I know about Tom. There comes a time in our immortal lives when words become hollow, meaningless sounds incapable of expressing our true feelings. Such as the case now.
I'm not writing this, not for myself, but for all of Tom's buddies and officers. All who knew him had nothing but admiration for his fearlessness and for those qualities which made him a man in the fullest sense of the word. I could go on and on enumerating his splendid attributes, but I know that you, his mother, need not be told what a good boy he was.
We, his comrades in arms can do little more than offer our most heartfelt condolences. I personally feel satisfied that Tom is in a better place than this world of turmoil and strife. Tom often confided in me and his prime consideration was for you, his mother. He would be unhappy if he knew you were mourning. So please remember that and bear your sorrow with courage and pride for so gallant a son. And someday in the hereafter, you will be united in the blissful realms of heaven.
Tom, though he went quickly and didn't suffer, died and buried a hero in the eyes of his commanding officer and fellow Marines. His memory will live with us forever and we shall never forget him in our prayers.
Again, let me offer our sincere condolences. May God bless you both. Keep your faith forever. Yours in sympathy, Joseph A. Terzi. PS. If the occasion should present itself, you can rest assured that I will pay you a visit at your home. Tom was one of my best men and you may well feel proud of his heroic death.
TIM: Regrettably, Lieutenant Terzi was killed in action at Cape Gloucester shortly after writing this.
I just wanna say I love that Judy and Dave feel this connection with Tom Pilleri. I just love it. It warms my heart. He was a hero. And here we are now in the holiday season and I can't help thinking about Tom and family ghosts and Angelina and Honey and my grandfather Frank Pilleri. I don't exactly know what Judy's connection is with Tom and my family, but I know I can wait to find out. And I just love that they brought me and my family closer to Tom and all their hard work has led me to put this episode out and to try and share Tom's story as far as I possibly can. So thank you Judy, and thank you Dave. And thank you to Frank Pilleri, my father and my grandfather and step grandmother, Sandy Pilleri.
Thanks to Sarah Sheckells who lent her fabulous voice. And my friend G. Larry Butler for lending his voice for Leo McDermott. Larry's a veteran himself. And before we go, I just wanna share one last story that Dave told me about his work with veterans.
DAVE: I'll give you a quick Marine story. Maybe it'll put you in the mind of maybe how Thomas would be now. We had a few World War II Marines on one of the buses with us on a particular. They were ima veterans. This veteran was with his guardian and he was in a wheelchair. He couldn't walk very well and he couldn't stand up very well. He was in his nineties. You can either take these steps up to it or there's a ramp that kind of goes around to wheel a wheelchair up to it. So he got the veteran in the wheelchair and started heading up, and the veteran told him to stop. He wanted to get out and walk up to the memorial, but he really couldn't. He said, I landed on this beach. I'm not gonna get wheeled up to this memorial. Two guardians got 'em by the arms and he slowly walked them up to that memorial and to see that is just amazing. He didn't want to be an old man at that memorial. He didn't wanna go in a wheelchair and he had other guys on his mind too, I'm sure. So that's just how some of the Marines are.
This episode was written and produced by Tim Pilleri. It's a story many years in the making, and it's not over yet.
Please follow us on social media, and if you'd like to contact me directly, you can email tim@crawlspacepodcast.com. Thanks a lot for reading.