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World War I had hit him hard, but he rejoined the Corps after Pearl Harbor
OUT in the San Fernando valley, which was a passably popular place even before they wrote a song about it, lives Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Capodice, a legendary man whose friends are legion and whom Marines of two World Wars call "Cappy."
Cappy served his country with honor in these wars. What is more, he served throughout World War II with one leg, having lost the other in France better than a quarter-century ago. Now that he has put his uniform away for the second time, Cappy has become the embodiment of the typical exMarine, in the highest sense of the word. Semper Fidelis is a way of life for Sgt. Capodice.
In 1917, when Woodrow Wilson asked that a state of war be declared with Germany, Cappy took it as a personal request. Cappy moved out of his Chicago home and into the barracks at Parris Island. (Even in these days of critical housing there are better places to live than Parris Island.) They cut off his hair and told him he could not go to France unless he qualified with the Springfield. So he shot Sharpshooter. Then he made Expert with the pistol to make up for this. After a short stay at Quantico, he sailed for France with a replacement company on the USS Henderson. His first commanding officer was Keller E. Rockey, now a lieutenant general, then captain of the 67th Company, First Regiment.
It wasn't long before Cappy got into the fight. His company was assigned to the famed "Fighting Fifth." He saw his first action at Verdun. After two months in the front lines, the Marines were returned to Paris for a rest. He was on hand the night of May 30, 1918, when the first of an endless procession of trucks and taxicabs moved out of the city, taking the Marines to a new and bloody front just 26 miles away. The Boche had started a desperate offensive.
The battle that followed, one of the greatest in history, was Belleau Wood. Cappy was at ChateauThierry in this mighty struggle and there he had about all the hell a man can take....