Veterans column: Newark's Giorgetti survives the Korean war
From his hospital bed in California, George Giorgetti continued his letter to his sister Norma in November of 1940.
Here, he was recovering from his wounds sustained when the U.S.S. Brush hit a mine off the coast of North Korea. The letter was mailed to Norma at St. Anthony’s Convent in Steubenville, Ohio where she was a nun known as Sister Coletta.
“I want to thank you Norma for all the prayers you’ve said for me and thank everyone else who had ever said any prayers for me. As I now know Norma those prayers were the only thing that really saved me. To be truthful with you like I’ve told everyone else, that I was never really seriously hurt. For some reason or other and only received 2nd-degree burns and the two sailors sitting between both died from burns. The explosion threw me into the air and some way or other I landed underneath the mess table and behind the ice cream machine. I never lost consciousness and had time to say. “My mother, my confidence”, many times but anyhow after I said that ejaculation the fire went out as if someone blowed it out and I do know that no one aboard the ship put it out as it was at least 5 to 10 minutes after the fire went out before any came down to get us out. The ship was in complete darkness and had the fire continued to burn, I’d hate to think of what would have happened to me but I can imagine. Oh well it’s all over and hope I never have to go through another episode like that. If hell is anything like that I strictly don’t want anything to do with it, matter of fact I don’t want anything to do with that place anyway. Well what do you hear from home? Have you talked to mom lately? I certainly didn’t want anyone to hear about this accident as I knew how you people would worry as I know you, mom and all the rest of the family would always think the worse, but take it from me I really haven’t suffered too much. The suffering I did I appealed it for the poor souls in purgatory. Well Norma I guess I close for now. Madonna [his wife] was up yesterday and she’ll be up again Sunday. The hospital is 35 miles from San Francisco but closer than Japan huh? Love George. P.S. Send my mail to 9901 Fulton St. as I may get leave pretty soon.”
Thirteen men were killed on the U.S.S. Brush and 31 were injured. Giorgetti received a Purple Heart for his wounds sustained in the explosion.
Giorgetti returned to duty and served in the Navy until April 18, 1961, when he retired as a Chief Petty Officer with 20 years and 7 months of service. The 41-year-old then when to work for NASA as an Aerospace Engineer Technician before retiring in 1983.
George and his wife Madonna retired to Sun City West, Arizona. They were married for 54 years when she passed away on Oct. 9, 2004. Five months later on March 27, 2005, 85-year-old George died. The man who had witnessed the worst of two wars was at peace now forever.
Doug Stout is the Veterans Project Coordinator for the Licking County Library. You may contact him at 740-349-5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.org. His book "Never Forgotten: The Stories of Licking County Veterans" is available for purchase at the library or online at bookbaby.com & Amazon.com.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Veterans column: Newark's Giorgetti survives the Korean war
