(upbeat music)
Nicolas Manzo.
Morning sir.
Mr. Manzo. Yep.
You have a red-light violation
on Pleasant Valley Parkway.
Do you remember this?
Well, in fact,
I went and investigated it four or five times.
I was wrong, no question about it.
I made a right-hand turn,
and that's the first violation I've got
in 72 years of driving.
(chuckles) really?
Yep, look up my record.
I'm gonna look it up.
Now, Mr. Manzo, ask you a question.
Martha here indicates that you are 93 years old.
Right.
World War II veteran.
Spent 29 months in the Pacific.
Okay?
Without coming back.
And came back alive.
Where were you in the Pacific?
I was in the Navy.
You were in the Navy?
Yep.
How long did you serve?
I served three years.
1943, February, on my 17th birthday,
I joined the Navy, and I didn't come back for three years.
The truth of the story is,
I could tell you a little story if you got a few minutes.
Go ahead, I wanna hear it.
I joined the Navy when I was 16 years old.
I went up to Federal Hill, Holy Ghost Church,
I got my birth certificate, I forged it.
I made myself 17 years old,
and I went down to the recruiting station,
and I joined the Navy.
Everything went fine.
Until two weeks later, the policeman and the Navy
come up and they wanted to arrest me
because I forged my birth certificate.
But I waited another year,
and I left Mt. Pleasant High School,
and I went in the Navy,
and I spent three years, 29 months, in the Pacific.
Every battle that was in the Pacific, I was there.
I was in it.
I receive letters from people every day,
and I received a number of letters from veterans
who actually send me checks,
and the purpose for them sending me checks
is to help other veterans.
Now I would really dismiss your case outright anyway.
You know, I would dismiss it.
And it's not gonna go on your record,
but I'm not gonna have you pay anything of this.
But I have a gentleman who sent me a check for $50,
and he wants me to,
he said his father was a World War II Navy veteran,
and please use this honor him and his service as a veteran,
and you were World War II Navy veteran as well,
so I'm going to use this check,
this is from Anthony Christiansen,
and Mr. Christiansen is from, looks like Panhandle, Texas.
Tell me about your experiences during the war.
Well, I was on-board ship,
a big ship,
a battleship,
and we were in many many battles, many of 'em.
The worst one I seen was Iwo Jima.
That was a, that was terrible.
We lost more Marines in that invasion
than I think any other war
outside of the Battle of the Bulge.
That was the worse that's ever,
you couldn't believe how bad that was.
You were there?
I was there.
Yes I was.
I was on every battle in the Pacific.
From 1943 to 1945.
We didn't miss one.
Not one.
And they were brutal.
Well you have been known as the greatest generation,
and you were the greatest generation,
and you said something earlier,
second World War brought about a sense of patriotism
in this country that we have not seen since.
Right.
But there was such strong patriotism
that here you are a 16 year old boy,
and you wanted to go and fight for your country.
So much so that you even forged a document
to try to get into the service
to go and protect the country.
And I got caught.
(laughs)
But you went back.
I went back a year later,
right on my birthday, I joined the Navy.
And within three or four months, I was out in the Pacific.
My father was an immigrant.
Came into this here country at 18 years old,
and couldn't get a job, and things were tough,
so he joined the Army, and he went into World War I,
and he was there for 18 months,
and he survived, he came home.
And how that's he became a citizen.
They should build a monument to your family.
Between your father in World War I,
and you, and all your cousins.
My uncles.
And your uncles in World War II.
Unbelievable, and they all came back.
We all came back, yep, every one of us.
I can't thank you enough for your service.
Thank you, thank you.
You're welcome. Good luck to you.
And at 93, Judge, he's got a wonderful head of hair too.
(laughs)
I gotta commend him for that.
Well I remember when the judge had a nice head of hair.
(laughs)
Oh, he still does.
He still does.
Boy, if we could bring back them old days, huh?
They were wonderful days.
These are wonderful days too,
except that we don't have the sense of family, community
that we had back then.
You're right.
Thank you for your service.
We owe you a great debt of gratitude.
Thank you, you're welcome.
My pleasure just to be in your company.
(audience applauds)
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