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The United States Navy commissioned a new destroyer over the weekend in New York City and it was named after legendary World War II hero United States Marine Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone. Appropriately, the ship was commissioned on the weekend of the 249th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps and two days before Veterans Day.  Basilone i...

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After being canceled last year due to rain, the only parade in the country that honors a war hero is returning to Raritan. The annual John Basilone Parade honoring former Raritan resident, World War II hero and Marine John Basilone will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22. Basilone received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his gallant efforts...

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The John Basilone Memorial Parade, one of Central Jersey's biggest annual events, will be attracting thousands to the borough on Sunday. It's the only parade in the United States that honors a war hero, borough resident John Basilone, whose exploits were celebrated in the HBO series, "The Pacific." Basilone, who grew up in Raritan, was a Marine ser...

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Raritan Borough will host the 40th Annual John Basilone Memorial Parade Sept. 19, beginning at 1 p.m. The parade honors national World War II hero Marine Sgt. John Basilone. Basilone received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942 and the Navy Cross posthumously for more heroism in the Battle of Iw...

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Raritan's Annual John Basilone Memorial Parade is back this year following last year's cancelation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The parade will be held on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. in downtown Raritan, said Co-chairman of the Basilone Parade Bruce Doorly. Registration to march in the parade is now by computer only. No more postcards will be se...

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Now that the statue of Christopher Columbus has been removed from the park bearing his name, there is a petition circulating to install a statue of a Buffalo-born Medal of Honor recipient and rename the park for all such local heroes.  Attorney Joseph Sedita has started a petition drive to rename Columbus Park on the city's West Side the Buffalo M...

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Vice President Nelson Rockefeller once said, “I think of the 1.5 million Americans of Italian descent who made up ten percent of the armed might of the United States in World War II, and many of these men you have met in years still well remembered.” May 8th – VE Day (Victory in Europe) – is the anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany to the A...

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A Maine shipyard announced it celebrated the keel laying of a future Navy guided-missile destroyer on Friday. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works reached the milestone in the construction of the future John Basilone. A keel laying ceremony is one of the major events in the life of a ship. The ship's sponsors and a BIW welder authenticated the keel by...

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World War II, the war to end all wars — more than any other event in U.S. history — exhibited the love, loyalty and patriotism Italian Americans held in their hearts for our nation. Italian Americans rushed to enlist to defend the U.S., and more than 1.5 million Italian Americans served in the armed forces during World War II, amounting to some 10%...

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Raritan Borough is about 4,325 miles away from Italy but a common connection — a World War II hero named John Basilone — now ties the Somerset County town and a small Italian community even closer together. Basilone’s portrait hangs in the center of the Raritan Borough’s council’s chambers. A statue of Basilone stands proudly near the edge of town...

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