Newsletter for the Alumni and Friends of
Hicksville High School Hicksville, New York

The Editors:
Buffalo Bob Casale '61	Linda (Piccerelli) Hayden '60
Pat (Koziuk) Driscoll '56	Bob (Gleason) Wesley '61

Contributing Editors: Bob Gillette & Walter Schmidt

Webmaster: Roger Whitaker

To contact the editors, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

---

WE NEED HELP, BADLY.

Hixnews.com recently marked its 20^th anniversary.  Although we're now well into the era of social media, many people continue to read it, and every month we're contacted by some new or returning readers.Alas, many of the people who established HixNews are no longer with us.  The work continues, but today there are too few volunteers on staff, and they are aging: our average age is now on the north side of 74.  How long can we continue without an infusion of new blood?  No one can tell.These days, getting HixNews out can be a challenge.  With such a small staff, a single person's illness, accident, family emergency, etc. can pose a serious obstacle.  Incidentally, as many of you already know, in October our Editor Bob Casale began a regimen of chemotherapy; being conscientious, he worked extra hard ahead of time, and prepared pieces of the November issue before his first session!  It is only a matter of time before there are additional serious challenges, and they may be impossible to surmount if we do not have more people on board.For a long time, Buffalo Bob has had to make up for the short staffing by putting in an incredible amount of work, and he has done a great job.  He deserves lots of Attaboys for that, and he has received some.  Unfortunately, Attaboys do not ease the workload.  If we had more (and ideally, younger) volunteers, our esteemed Editor could share with them the job of collecting content, so that he could more easily keep up the good work.  We'd also have a safety cushion, to help keep things on track if any of our staff had to temporarily spend time tending to personal matters.We also need a backup webmaster.  For a website that is updated monthly, such a position does not demand much time.  The skills involved are much better known than they were 20 years ago.  Some of you may already have the ability to do the job, or know of a family member who has.

We really need your help.  Please consider helping HixNews by volunteering at this critical time.  To start the process, or to ask questions, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thank you; your help is much appreciated.

The Staff at HixNews

P.S.  If you were in high school in the 1970s, 1980s, or later, your participation will not only help HixNews survive, it can also help revitalize it.  A younger perspective could help make HixNews relevant to more of our reader base.

HICKSVILLE VIETNAM WAR ERA MEMORIAL - PROJECT UPDATE

Our full Update for October appears in the Honoring Our Veterans section of this newsletter.

We had one new donor in October, bringing our full list of donors to 217! Additional donations are still welcome to help finance the Dedication Ceremony when that event becomes possible, plus future Memorial maintenance. Full details on expenses to date, current remaining funds and how to still donate are contained in the October Update.

With the Hicksville Public School System remaining consumed with the Pandemic and with winter on its way, we do not expect to have progress on a date for the Dedication Ceremony and the need for the associated permit and liability insurance for it, until further notice.

We remain pleased to tell you that our core action team is safe from the virus. We are thankful for this and hope the same is true for all our readers and alumni.

While the Dedication Ceremony remains on hold, please remember that the Memorial is complete and can be viewed by anyone visiting the Memorial Gardens located on the south side of the Jerusalem Avenue Middle School.

The project will be officially complete once we are able to conduct the Dedication Ceremony at the Memorial.

As always, should you wish to make any comments on the Update, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

On behalf of the Project Team,
Joe Carfora, HHS 1962

CLASS OF 1980 CLASS REUNION

August 7, 2021 7:30-11:30 pm
Oak Room at the Heritage Club at Bethpage. 
Cost $125 includes food and drink. 
Payment info will be released soon.
Nearby Hotels include: (Book sooner rather than later)
Hilton Garden Inn Round Swamp Road
Homewood Suites Round Swamp Road
Holiday Inn, Plainview on Sunny Side Blvd
Four Points by Sheraton in Melville, Plainview on South Service Road
Any questions? Contact Sue at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Newsletter

Photo Gallery

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Memory Lane

Different Kind of Golf Story

It is important for men to remember that, as women grow older, it becomes harder for them to maintain the same quality of housekeeping as when they were younger. When you notice this, try not to yell at them. Some are oversensitive, and there's nothing worse than an oversensitive woman.

My name is Ron. Let me relate how I handle a situation with my wife. 

When I retired a few years ago, it became necessary for Carol to get a full-time job, along with her part-time job, both for extra income and for the health benefits that we needed. Shortly after she started working, I noticed she was beginning to show her age.

I usually get home from the golf club about the same time she gets home from work. Although she knows how hungry I am, she almost always says she has to rest for half an hour or so before she starts dinner. I do not yell at her. Instead, I tell her to take her time and just wake me when she gets dinner on the table. 

I generally have my lunch every day in the Men's Grill at the Golf Club, so eating out is not an option in the evening. I am ready for some home-cooked grub when I hit that door. She used to do the dishes as soon as we finished eating. But now, it is not unusual for them to sit on the table for several hours after dinner. I do what I can by diplomatically reminding her several times each evening that they will not clean themselves. I know she really appreciates this, as it does seem to motivate her to get them done before she goes to bed.

Another symptom of aging is complaining, I think. For example, she will say that it is difficult for her to find time to pay the monthly bills during her lunch hour. But, boys, we take 'em for better or worse, so I just smile and offer encouragement. I tell her to stretch it out over two, or even three days. That way, she will not have to rush so much. I also remind her that missing lunch completely now and then would not hurt her any (if you know what I mean).

I like to think tact is one of my strong points. When doing simple jobs, she seems to think she needs more rest periods. She had to take a break when she was only half-finished mowing the front lawn. I try not to make a scene. I am a fair man. I tell her to fix herself a nice, big, cold glass of freshly squeezed lemonade and just sit for a while. And, if she is making one for herself, she may as well make one for me, too. 

I know that I probably look like a saint in the way I support Carol. I am not saying that showing this much patience & consideration is easy. Many men will find it difficult. Some will find it impossible! Nobody knows better than I do how frustrating women get as they get older. However, guys, even if you just use a little more tact and less criticism of your aging wife because of this article, I will consider that writing it was well worthwhile. After all, we are put on this earth to help each other.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Ron died suddenly on January 31 of a perforated rectum.

The police report says he was found with a Calloway extra-long 50-inch Big Bertha Driver II golf club jammed up his rear end, with barely 5 inches of grip showing, and a sledgehammer lying nearby. His wife Carol Anne was arrested and charged with murder.  The all-woman jury took only 10 minutes to find her Not Guilty, accepting her defense that Ron, somehow without looking, accidentally sat down on his golf club. 

A hole in one, so to speak!!

Casale's Corner

SIX BOYS AND THIRTEEN HANDS

Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth-grade class from Clinton , WI where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capital, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable. On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima , Japan , during WW II.

Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer, he asked, "Where are you guys from?"

I told him that we were from Wisconsin . 'Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story.'
It was James Bradley (author and son of John Bradley who until circa 2016 was identified as one of the six who raised the flag) who just happened to be in Washington , DC , to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who had died. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington , DC , but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.

When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night)

"My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin My dad is on that statue, and I wrote a book called 'Flags of Our Fathers'. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me."

"Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called 'War.' But it did not turn out to be a game."

Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I do not say that to gross you out, I say that because there are people who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even would talk to their families about it.

(He pointed to the statue) "You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph... a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima . Boys. Not old men."

"The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the 'old man' because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he did not say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country' He knew he was talking to little boys... Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers."

"The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona . Ira Hayes was one of them who lived to walk off Iwo Jima . He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?'"

So, you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down, drowned in a very shallow puddle, at the age of 32 (ten years after this picture was taken).

"The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky . A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows could not get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. Those neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away."

"The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley, from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada . Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell 's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.'"

"You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a combat caregiver. On Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died on Iwo Jima , they writhed and screamed, without any medication or help with the pain."

"When I was a little boy, my third-grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.' 'So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima , and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time."

Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero, nonetheless.

One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that is not mentioned here is that if you look at the statue very closely and count the number of 'hands' raising the flag, there are 13. When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God.

Great story - worth your time - worth every American's time. Please pass it on.