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Vol. 46 No. 27
September 26, 2007 |
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Gen. Pace to students: career inspired by
Chaminade grad killed in Vietnam
By Pete Sheehan
Senior Reporter |
Mineola — Nearly 40 years ago, Marine Lt. Peter Pace
met Chaminade High School graduate Guido Farinaro, and he
never forgot him. Farinaro was the first soldier to die
under his command.
Last week, General Pace, now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, visited Guido Farinaro’s alma mater here to tell the
students, faculty, some alumni, and some family members of
other Chaminade alumni who died in military service, how
much Guido Farinaro meant to him.
The sacrifice of Guido Farinaro and other young Marines,
Pace told the Chaminade gathering, inspired him to continue
to serve in the Marines for almost four decades. That
service earned him the rank of general, and for the past two
years, the post of top military advisor to the president,
National Security Council, Homeland Security Council, and
the Secretary of Defense.
The general accepted an invitation in 2005 to attend the
school’s annual Gold Star Mass for alumni who died in
military service but had to cancel because of a last-minute
schedule conflict.
“General Pace is going to be stepping down soon,” said Brian
Finn, a senior and a parishioner of St. Lawrence the Martyr
Church, Sayville. “He told us that he wanted to come visit
Guido’s high school before he left.”
“Not only did he come to recognize Guido,” said senior
Philip McAndrews, “he also recognized the Gold Star
families” and talked about how he could not fully understand
the magnitude of their loss and their sacrifice. “He focused
on them a lot,” noted McAndrews, who is a parishioner of St.
Joseph’s Church in Garden City and co-editorial editor of
Chaminade’s school paper, Tarmac.
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About a dozen students shared their impressions two days
after the general’s Sept. 19 visit. “General Pace said that
Guido gave him an example of dedication to serve his
country,” Brian Finn added.
In February of 1968, Pace said, he was a second lieutenant
when he met Lance Corporal Guido Farinaro in Vietnam. He
asked him why, having attended a school like Chaminade where
almost all the graduates go to college, Farinaro would join
the Marines.
“Guido told me that he was born in Italy,” had moved to the
U.S., and was able to attend a school the caliber of
Chaminade. “He wanted to pay back the country” that gave him
that opportunity.
Chaminade students also noted that the general learned a
life-changing lesson from Farinaro’s death in July of 1968
when a sniper’s bullet struck him down. Pace learned about
the importance of maintaining a “moral compass,” several
students noted, especially when making decisions at
emotional moments.
“You could lose yourself in the heat of a situation,” the
general explained, said Dennis Grabowski. The senior is a
parishioner of St. Patrick’s, Glen Cove, and Tarmac
co-editorial editor. Pace explained that his initial
response to Farinaro’s death was to order an air strike on
the village where the sniper was shooting from, but a look
on his sergeant’s face gave him pause. Instead, Pace ordered
a ground sweep of the village and “found it full of women
and children.”
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“The general said that had he ordered the air strike, he
would have felt guilty the rest of his life,” Finn noted.
“You are going to come up on situations in life that are
going to test you, he told us,” said Craig Hauser, a senior
from St. Aidan’s Church, Williston Park. “In those
situations, he told us, you go with your moral compass,”
weighing the effects on everyone involved.
“He also said in making a decision to ask God for the wisdom
to do the right thing and the strength to do it,” said Sal
Garofalo, a senior, Tarmac co-editor in chief, and a
parishioner of St. Aidan’s Church, Williston Park. “And
after you make the decision, thank God for the help.”
Chaminade students said that they were impressed with how
the general took questions from the floor on any subject,
rather than reading from questions written down. “I think he
was very brave in taking questions like that,” said James
Kovar, a sophomore from St. Christopher’s Church, Baldwin.
Questions covered such topics as the situation in Iraq, the
possibility of conflict with Iran, working with President
Bush, and the U.S. military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy
on homosexual actions by armed services personnel.
“He took a moment to reflect on each question,” Brian Finn
said. “You could tell that a lot of thinking went into his
answers.”
After finishing his talk, Philip McAndrews said, the general
shook hands with the students sitting nearby and told them,
“Go out and make a difference.”
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Last modified:
11/28/2007
© Copyright 2007 The Long Island Catholic |
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