The General who talks to a name on the wall

This is Veterans Day. What you notice about veterans, especially those who’ve seen combat, is that the stories they tell are rarely about themselves.

General Paul Kelley is the former commandant of the Marine Corps. Tough as nails, 37 years active duty.

General Kelley’s story at a veterans conference in Washington was about talking to a name on the Vietnam Memorial.

“There’s one name on there, John Banchini.”

It was 1966, in Vietnam, during a battle intended to capture a cluster of hills. Kelley was a Colonel and John Banchini was his point man.

“Suddenly there was an explosion,” recounted Kelley. “I saw John Banchini drop. John Banchini knew, knew, he was dying. John Banchini said to me, ‘Please careful, colonel. The hill is mine.’ His last words to me were, ‘please be careful colonel.'”

That’s who he talks to when he visits the memorial.

“I go over to the memorial and I’ll find John Banchini’s name, and I’ll put my hand on it, and I’ll talk to John,” he said.

Retired General Paul Kelley – tough enough to cry openly for the men he commanded because he knows he carries with him not just his own story, but the memories of those who enabled him to tell it.