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We
are here today to remember Colonel William “Wild Bill” Massello Jr., to
dedicate this memorial to him. More than this remembrance are these: the guns of
Sixty
years ago at about this time, the voice of the last big gun on Bill
Massello was born
In
his First Class (or senior) biography, the editors of the Point’s Howitzer of 1932, described Bill as,”… never terror-stricken at
the thought of losing a file, and he was unable to become excited over the mad
scramble for chevrons. Yet there is probably not a man in the class who has
gotten more out of the place in the last four years. … He will be contented in
the Army, and beyond question the Army will be well satisfied with ‘Bill’
Massello.” How right they were. Massello
finished his First Class year in “E” Company, noted for its “vaunted
nonchalance, close-order drill streamer and brilliant ‘intermurder’ [as the
class referred to its intramural] record.” Upon graduation in June of 1932,
Bill was commissioned a shiny new second lieutenant. Between
graduation in 1932 and his first of two tours to the
Philippines, Massello found himself a
soldier in a peacetime army in the US, a country still gripped in
the Great Depression. Few billets were available. He eventually found himself
assigned as a camp mess organizer and investigator, a kind of troubleshooter for
the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a job at which he was to excel. He
continued in this role, moving from CCC camp to CCC camp fixing problems until
the end of 1934 when he was assigned to the 91st Philippine Scouts, Fort
Massello
returned to the states in 1937. He continued in various assignments in the Coast
Artillery for the next two and half years. In July of 1939 he married a “cute
little co-ed,” Olga Katherine Neill, whom he met while stationed at By
1941 tensions were increasing in the Pacific. With
his wife of less than two years safely away, Massello launched with a vengeance
into preparing his new command for war, “Erie” Evacuating
from the chaos at Mariveles as Bataan fell, to the Rock on April 9th, the
now-Major Massello volunteered himself, the men of “Erie” Battery and others
who wanted to get into the fight – in all about 100 strong, to return to
service the four, twelve-inch M1890 mortars of Battery Way. His first assignment
as that young second lieutenant had been with a similar mortar battery, Battery
Clinton at Fort H. G. Wright, On
Now,
after firing over ninety rounds of the heavy projectiles at Japanese forces on “If they ever [got] me, what a hell of a way for a soldier to go, with a goddamn broom in my hand!” he later recalled. The
remaining men of his battery rushed to his aid, dragging him to the safety of
the magazine and quick medical care. Massello, as full of fight as ever, yelled
at his men to get “back out there and fire that gun!” As they returned to
load the last mortar, they found that it had cooled from the constant firing and
the breechblock was frozen, rendering the gun useless. “The
old mortar had finally quit on us,” Massello recalled, “but it lasted long
enough to be the last big gun on Massello
had kept the battery in action for eleven straight hours while under constant,
heavy fire, fire he describes as “terrific,” suffering well over seventy
percent casualties, and his own severe wounds. (Photo: By Artillery custom, the guns of Btty Way are numbered 1-4 from right front to rear left)
After
being allowed only two weeks to recuperate from his wounds in the Malinta Tunnel
hospital, the Japanese barged a still-crippled Massello and many other POWs to Bill
Massello told of his “hell ship” journey and its arrival at Osaka. During the voyage he had been helping care for the critically ill. When the
time came to debark from the ship, none of the Japanese would move the sick men.
While suffering from the wounds in his arm and leg and with a still paralyzed
right hand, he carried the sick to the dock. Time and again he re-boarded the
ship, suffering severe beatings by the guards, to move one man at a time until
all were off the ship. Massello
and his men have been described in many accounts as 'Fighting Fools,' men who
ignored the counter-battery fire to service their last remaining weapon, and
Massello, himself, as “a fighting man, a real Coast Artillery officer.” For
his actions, a grateful nation awarded Major Massello the Distinguished Service
Cross, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, two Presidential
Unit Citations, four Purple Hearts and numerous campaign and theater ribbons. Col.
William Massello Jr. passed away Bill
Massello was and is a credit to himself, his family, his men, the
Philippines, and the United States. He is a hero deserving of
our remembrance. It is with deep humility that I dedicate this memorial to him.
MORE READING: INTERVIEW WITH COLONEL MASSELLO
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Murphy has been an amateur historian for many years and Corregidor is a special place for him, for Major William “Wild Bill” Massello is his uncle. Tom recalls..."It was his stories, very few...didn’t want to talk much about it, and family stories which really set off my interest. Last year I had the opportunity to visit Corregidor and the rest of the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bay forts with the CDSG. Anticipating the visit to Battery Way, I prepared a personal tribute to my uncle. I was going to place it on the last mortar, take photos and leave it. Well, the CFI got wind of it . " The rest, as they say, is history.
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EXTERNAL LINK - TO ROGER MANSELL'S ROKUROSHI CAMP ROSTER
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Corregidor - Then & Now GHQ | Coast Artillery - Harbor Defenses | 503d RHQ | 503d PRCT Heritage Bn. | Rock Force | Board |
H Version 09.09.11