Judging from a quick glance, an observer might believe these people are watching this NJT train on the Raritan Valley line in Raritan (NJ). Actually, they are all waiting for the 26th John Basilone parade to start to honor a home town boy who enlisted in the Marines and would later come to be described as a "Marine's Marine...". Leading off this year's parade lineup was the USMC band from Quantico, Virginia. A little history about who John Basilone was. He enlisted in the Army in 1934 and would serve four years. In 1940 he re-enlisted with the Marines because, as he told his mother, "The army's not tough enough for me." During the WW II battle of Guadalcanal in September, 1942, he would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in helping to ward off a Japanese regiment. Winning this medal assured John a stateside role in the military, but he had promised his men he would return to fight. Landing on Iwo Jima in the first wave, John would guide a trapped tank away from a mine field. Under heavy fire, he also single-handedly destroyed a Japanese blockhouse. On Febrauary 19, 1945, he would be killed in action. He was 28 years old. John Basilone is the only soldier in history to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, given posthumously, for his actions on Iwo Jima and a Purple Heart.
