Episode Transcript
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0:00
This is a Glassbox Media Podcast.
0:06
Hey, missing listeners. We wanted to bring
0:08
another episode back that we really
0:10
enjoyed producing. This one is about
0:12
my great uncle, Thomas Polary, who
0:15
went missing during World War II.
0:18
This episode originally aired last
0:20
November, and there's been no
0:22
update, but I know we've
0:24
gotten some new listeners, and I just wanted
0:26
to make sure we shared this episode. Thank
0:28
you for listening everyone. Happy Holidays. Welcome
1:03
back to Missing. I am Tim here
1:05
today with Lance. Lance, how are you
1:07
today? I'm doing great today, Tim. I'm
1:09
super excited about this episode because it
1:11
is a bit of a deviation from
1:13
what we typically produce, and
1:15
it's a very personal glimpse into something that
1:17
you've been looking into for years. And
1:20
you put this together. I haven't
1:22
heard it. I know some of the
1:24
elements of it, and I can't wait to listen to it.
1:27
And I love the fact that this is being released
1:29
on Thanksgiving and the day before Thanksgiving. So
1:32
if you do hear this during this time and
1:34
you're with your family, just take a moment and
1:37
appreciate what you got going on around you. This
1:39
is a fantastic story. I'm going to stop talking
1:41
and I'll pass it over to you now. OK,
1:44
thanks a lot. Yeah, this is kind of
1:46
a holiday special. I guess we're going to
1:48
be releasing it on both of our podcasts,
1:50
Crawl Space and Missing, Missing
1:52
Tomorrow on Thanksgiving. My great
1:54
uncle Tom Pilari is technically missing. We'll
1:56
get into it in the story. Several
2:00
people in this episode, one of them is
2:02
my father, Frank Polary. A couple other people
2:04
who have helped a lot, that's Dave Nichols
2:06
and Judy Knop. You'll hear from them a
2:09
little bit later. And two great voice actors,
2:11
Sarah Shekels and G. Larry Butler, help lend
2:13
their voices to this episode. So I'm really
2:15
excited to share this. I hope everyone really
2:17
enjoys it. And before we get to that,
2:19
Tim, maybe we should talk about our subscription
2:22
service real quick. Well if you'd like an
2:24
ad-free version of Missing, you can get it
2:26
on Apple Podcasts for just $2.99 a month.
2:29
Or you can go to Missing.SupportingCast.fm and we
2:32
bundled Missing with Crawl Space so you
2:34
can get the ad-free version. But you
2:36
can also get our weekly bonus show
2:39
over there. And our weekly bonus
2:41
show is a show where we typically get together
2:43
with our partner, Jennifer Armel, and we talk about
2:45
the cases that we've covered. And
2:47
we get a little bit more animated and a little bit
2:49
more detailed with our theories. And Tim,
2:51
if someone wanted to follow us on social
2:53
media, where would one go? They can do
2:55
that at MissingCSM. Thanks a lot for listening
2:57
everybody, we really appreciate it. We're going to
2:59
break quick for commercial here and we'll be right back
3:02
with the episode. Before
3:08
we begin today's episode, you're about
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hours wherever you get your
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podcasts. This.
4:18
Story is unlike most there we cover
4:20
on this show. A
4:22
mess because this one is about
4:24
my great Uncle Thomas Stephen. Polarity.
4:27
A man I never met. But.
4:29
Still feel connected to at times. Our.
4:32
Names are only separated by one letter.
4:35
He's Tom and I'm Tim and we both
4:37
share the same last name. There
4:39
are many Blair is out there. There are some
4:41
Tom Player is in the Boston area why I'm
4:43
also related to and they were named after the
4:46
original Tom Blair. The you're about to Hear About.
4:49
This. Is a true story about
4:51
a mostly unknown American hero in
4:53
my family. And.
4:55
I'd like to try and help change the unknown
4:57
part. Time. Was
5:00
born on April fifteenth, nineteen twenty
5:02
two in Cambridge, Massachusetts use the
5:04
fourth of seven kids that Angelina
5:06
and James Blair. He had. Both.
5:09
Of Tom's parents were born in Naples,
5:11
Italy before the turn of the century
5:13
their marriage and already had two children
5:15
before leaving Italy for America on the
5:17
Ss. can pick really just days after
5:20
the official end of World War One.
5:23
I wondered if their decision to leave
5:25
Italy was because of the war and
5:27
political unrest. To. Keep their family
5:29
safe, But. I
5:31
suppose if that's true, It would
5:33
be darkly ironic. They.
5:36
Were working class. Family like so
5:38
many other big immigrant families living
5:40
in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the their
5:42
his mom, Angelina, dad, James, older
5:44
brother Pasquale went by Pat, Josephine,
5:46
Rose Thomas for than line. Then
5:49
came my grandfather Francis Rudolf. Next
5:51
was Mary that Elvira who went
5:53
by Honey. We'll be hearing a
5:55
letter from Honey later. Growing.
5:59
Up Thomas and. One three sport
6:01
athlete, fast as lightning, he excelled
6:03
at baseball, football, and basketball. And
6:06
after high school time in his older brother Pasquale
6:08
were working in a candy store to help support
6:10
the family. Tom. Was nineteen
6:13
years old when suddenly his life and
6:15
the lives of millions of Americans chains
6:17
and one fateful day. On
6:19
December seventh, nineteen, forty one Japanese fighter
6:22
jets surprise Us forces at Pearl Harbor
6:24
Naval Base in Hawaii. They bombed the
6:26
base and killed over twenty four hundred
6:29
American service members and sixty eight civilians.
6:31
The. United States had officially been pulled into
6:34
World War Two, where up until this
6:36
point, we'd resisted. No,
6:38
I don't know this to be true, but I
6:40
think that nineteen year old Tommy was so pissed
6:42
off about the Attack on Pearl Harbor that he
6:45
enlisted in the Marines that same month. Because just
6:47
thirty one days later, on January Eighth, nineteen Forty
6:49
two, he was already reporting for duty. It
6:53
was a scary time for young kids like
6:55
Tom. Went from doing homework and playing basketball
6:57
in high school to firing guns and running
6:59
for their lives on battlefields across the globe.
7:02
Tom family didn't want him to go.
7:05
My grandfather, Frank Larry was just sixteen
7:07
years old when his big brother deployed.
7:09
I can hardly imagine how emotional nectar
7:11
by scene was. The family new Tom
7:13
was being sent to war and that
7:15
there was a chance they never see
7:17
him again. I
7:19
picture my sixteen year old grandfather giving
7:22
his older brother a bear hug. Sister.
7:26
Honey mentions their family goodbye in the
7:28
Nineteen Seventy Nine letter to the Us.
7:30
government. I
7:34
last saw my brother January
7:36
Six, Nineteen, Forty two. Within.
7:39
A few days on January Twenty says.
7:43
I would have been twelve years old. He.
7:45
Promised me he'd be back for
7:47
my birthday. He
7:50
couldn't make it. I
7:53
remember calling him and crying at the
7:55
window. He blew
7:57
kisses to me and mom and waste
7:59
here. I'll see
8:01
you soon. We.
8:03
Didn't. Plan.
8:05
He couldn't help. It
8:09
is thirty seven years now and I
8:11
still remember. Tom. Was
8:13
first sent a basic training camp Le
8:15
Jeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina and I
8:17
learned from my new friend Judy. Tell
8:19
you about her later that Tom took
8:21
a train across the country to San
8:23
Diego, California and he eventually left on
8:26
a transport ship. There was a converted
8:28
ocean liner nicknamed the Wacky Mack. The
8:30
left from San Francisco and went out
8:32
right under the Golden Gate Bridge. I
8:35
wondered where Tom was when he turned
8:37
twenty on April Fifteenth. Nineteen Forty two.
8:41
Judy. Told me that he likely celebrate
8:43
his twentieth birthday in New Zealand or Australia
8:45
before actually going to battle. Why?
8:48
Just I'll be at a good time. If.
8:50
When I turn twenty was any indication of what
8:52
Tom was like when he turned twenty. While.
8:54
It would have been a good party. Tom.
8:57
Was sent to the Solomon Islands. The
8:59
Solomon Islands are these small isles off
9:01
the coast of Papa, New Guinea, and
9:03
Australia. It looks positively beautiful in a
9:05
limited photos I've seen on the internet,
9:07
but I've never been. A
9:09
back when Tom was there. Nineteen Forty two. It.
9:12
Looked a lot different. Sounded
9:14
a lot different. When.
9:17
I think it the Solomon Islands. Today I think
9:19
it sounds windy with a side of mosquito buzz.
9:22
But. As a podcast or I'm always thinking about
9:24
audio quality. Back in nineteen
9:26
forty two when Tom was there. There.
9:29
Is also gun fire. Bombs.
9:32
And. Screams. Guadalcanal.
9:35
Island is where Tom ended up. and
9:37
today and twenty twenty two, you can
9:40
purchase guadalcanal.com for sixty five hundred dollars.
9:43
It seems like the islands official site if it as one
9:45
at all. if you're big
9:47
history or world war two buff you
9:49
may have heard of the battle of
9:51
guadalcanal it was featured in the james
9:53
jones book and terrence malick film the
9:55
thin red line and more recently in
9:57
the tv series the pacific produced by
9:59
stevens Spielberg and Tom Hanks. It
10:02
was apparently one of the turning points in the
10:05
war and the US had all of their military
10:07
branches on the island during this bloody battle that
10:09
went from August of 1942 to
10:11
February of 1943. Now
10:15
I've learned a lot about the Battle of Guadalcanal
10:17
since starting this deep dive into Tom. And
10:20
I understand the main objective of this tug
10:22
of war over this island was
10:24
an airstrip later named Henderson
10:27
Field and it
10:29
became an important launching point for the Allies during
10:31
their time in the South Pacific. And
10:33
while doing research about Guadalcanal at
10:35
that time, I found this incredible
10:37
video on YouTube. It's called
10:40
USS Wasp CV-7 Burning in Sinking
10:42
Very Rare Footage 1942. This
10:45
aircraft carrier was sunk by
10:47
three Japanese torpedoes on September
10:49
15th 1942 just
10:52
off the coast of Guadalcanal. I
10:54
have to wonder if Tom saw it. I
10:58
mean someone filmed it sinking. There were
11:00
probably hundreds of soldiers watching it sink.
11:02
A bunch more jumping off the carrier,
11:04
maybe swimming to the beach. I
11:07
can't imagine what watching that aircraft carrier
11:09
sink did to the hope of the
11:11
service members on that island. And
11:14
then it occurred to me, could I be
11:16
watching the same thing today on YouTube from
11:18
the comfort of my home office that Tom
11:20
saw from that island in 1942? And
11:23
then I realized, no, I
11:27
know you didn't see this. Because
11:30
a couple of nights earlier on
11:32
September 13th 1942, Tom and
11:35
his battalion, the 3rd battalion 1st Marines
11:37
Division was guarding a thruway called the
11:39
Overland Trail. Down the trail
11:41
led to their entire headquarters and Henderson
11:43
Field, which was the airstrip mentioned earlier
11:46
that was so important during the war. Tom
11:48
and five others volunteered to protect
11:51
this trail overnight. Lieutenant
11:53
Joseph Terzi, Private 1st Class Polary,
11:55
Mixter, Lawrence, Jabbo, and McDermott were
11:57
the six men who set up
11:59
a listening to protect the trail
12:01
that night armed with Thompson submachine guns.
12:04
And they must have been pretty quiet. They seemed
12:06
to be expecting to see the Japanese. Major
12:09
E.G. Mizuno's Kuma Battalion was already a
12:11
day late when they arrived that night.
12:14
And this is the description that Private
12:16
First Class Leo McDermott gave in Jason
12:18
Abadie's book, Battle at the Overland Trail.
12:21
Six of us ran into a company of
12:23
Japs. Polari, Mixer,
12:28
Lawrence, Jabo, Joe
12:32
Terzi, and I see... Heard
12:35
them coming and shot hell out of some of them. They
12:38
tossed about 20 or 30 grenades at
12:41
us and we withdrew to the Ilu
12:43
River. We
12:45
stayed in the river under an
12:47
overhanging bank while the Japs beat
12:49
along both banks, shooting and screaming.
12:53
We stayed in the river about three hours.
12:56
Damn near froze to death. Then
12:59
we climbed off the bank and stayed
13:02
there till dawn. That night
13:04
was the worst I've ever spent. It's
13:07
only a miracle I'm here writing
13:09
this today. Mixer
13:12
and Jabo came back about four
13:14
days later. Lawrence
13:16
had made it back to our lines
13:18
the night the firefight started. The
13:21
lieutenant and I came back the morning after.
13:25
Polari didn't
13:27
come back at all. We're
13:30
leaving Tom on this island. He
13:33
died there that night. We
13:36
didn't find out till four days later.
13:40
Tom was a good friend and
13:44
a swag guy. You
14:00
will find some more information about that night.
14:06
You'll also find that Private First
14:08
Class Thomas S. Polare was posthumously
14:10
awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous
14:13
gallantry and intrepidity in action in
14:15
connection with operations against the enemy
14:17
at Guadalcanal on the 13th and
14:19
14th of September 1942. Private
14:22
First Class Polare was manning a
14:24
machine gun for the all-volunteer Forward
14:27
Element listening post when a Japanese
14:29
battalion initiated a full-scale assault to
14:31
overrun the Marine control of Henderson
14:33
Field. In the ensuing heavy firefight,
14:36
Private First Class Polare heroically remained
14:38
at his station to cover the
14:40
ordered withdrawal to the unit perimeter.
14:43
Due to the lethal fire he provided
14:45
against the enveloping enemy, the other members
14:47
of the post were able to withdraw.
14:50
The Japanese surge was checked and the
14:52
defensive positions were altered to maximum readiness.
14:55
Private First Class Polare's actions ultimately cost
14:57
him his life, but helped save the
14:59
lives of other members of his unit
15:01
and also helped the 11th Marines to
15:03
repulse the Japanese attack. By
15:05
his initiative, courageous actions, and
15:08
complete dedication to duty, Private First
15:10
Class Polare reflected great credit upon
15:12
himself and upheld the highest traditions
15:14
of the Marine Corps and the
15:16
United States Naval Service. Naturally,
15:20
my family was devastated when they learned of
15:22
Tom's death, and there was an infinite
15:24
sadness that took over the family. I
15:26
can't begin to understand what that must have felt like,
15:29
but I try. I actually try every day while
15:31
covering missing persons on one of my podcasts
15:33
called Missing. This one time,
15:35
not even that long ago, after we stopped recording
15:38
with a mom of a missing young woman, we
15:40
thanked her, she thanked us, and turned
15:42
off her Zoom, or at least she thought she did.
15:45
What my friend and co-host Lance Reensterner and
15:47
I saw was a woman who had kept
15:49
it all in for an hour, just to
15:51
speak to us about her missing child. We
15:54
now saw visual evidence of how hard that
15:56
was for her to do, but
15:58
she delayed that pain pushed it
16:00
down for an hour because it could
16:02
possibly help find her kid. When
16:05
she realized she was still on the zoom, she quickly
16:07
and instinctively shut it off, almost like she was embarrassed
16:09
to show us that hurt. But not
16:11
after letting out what I can only describe as a
16:14
groan, a sound of deep pain.
16:16
We've spoken to a lot of family and friends
16:18
of missing people over the years, and a loss
16:21
like that leaves a hole in their lives that
16:23
can't be filled. Angelina and James
16:25
got divorced, which was kind of rare
16:27
for that time. James died a few
16:29
years before my father was born, so he never
16:31
met his grandfather from Italy. But he
16:33
had this to say. My siblings
16:35
and I weren't overly close with our
16:38
grandmother Angelina. The only thing we
16:40
really knew was she was a
16:42
good cook and she was divorced.
16:45
And she had a bunch of kids. Other
16:47
than that, we didn't know that much
16:50
about her. What did you
16:52
hear about her divorce to James?
16:54
James was, I guess he had
16:56
a drinking problem. That's really the
16:58
only thing that I
17:00
know. Do you know, was he an
17:03
alcoholic or a big drinker before
17:06
Tom went missing? You
17:08
know, that's a great question. I
17:12
know less about him than
17:14
I do my grandmother Angelina.
17:17
So I'm not sure. I
17:20
mean, there were a couple rumors,
17:23
but don't have
17:25
a lot of info about James
17:28
or Angelina. I know
17:30
Tom's mom Angelina missed him dearly. She
17:32
dictated a paragraph to Honey in their
17:34
1979 letter to the US government. I
17:37
want my son Tommy to come home. I
17:40
cannot rest till we have him here. I
17:44
dream of Tommy all the time. He
17:47
don't want to be where he is. He
17:50
want to come home. We
17:53
must find a way to bring him home now. He
17:56
has my boy. Tell them I
17:59
wanted my boy. when they told me
18:01
I could send him, then I get another
18:03
letter. They tell me
18:05
the Japanese are bombed where the graves
18:08
were, and they said it
18:10
would be hard to find him. I
18:13
want to my boy, and I
18:15
must find him. I cannot rest
18:17
till we bring him home." My
18:21
grandfather didn't talk about his brother much. I
18:24
was lucky enough to have my grandfather in my life for
18:26
twenty-four years, and I never heard him talk about Tom. He
18:29
was great to me, my sister, parents,
18:31
cousins. We never witnessed that kind
18:34
of sadness in him. Was
18:36
it there? Did
18:38
time help heal that hole that Tom left in
18:40
him? Maybe
18:43
having kids and grandkids did. I
18:47
wondered. I needed to know from
18:49
my dad if his father ever talked about Tom.
18:52
Did he ever break down in front of his family?
18:55
I asked him. My father was
18:57
very tight-lipped about anything that happened
19:00
in the war. I
19:02
can probably name four
19:05
or five different things that he
19:07
mentioned about that particular time
19:10
or his brother Tom. It
19:13
was pretty much never spoken. Your
19:16
father basically never mentioned his missing
19:18
brother Tom to you or your
19:20
siblings? Not really. Other
19:22
than at the dedication for Thomas
19:25
Polerri Square in Cambridge,
19:28
he mentioned that that was his
19:31
older brother and he passed. Other
19:35
than that, he never
19:37
really mentioned him. Were you
19:39
at the dedication for the square? I
19:42
was, yeah. Thomas Polerri Square exists right
19:44
near where the family was raised at
19:46
the corner of 2nd Street and Cambridge
19:48
Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. If you're familiar
19:50
with Boston or Cambridge, this is very
19:52
close to the Leechmere train station, but
19:54
you could easily miss this sign if
19:56
you weren't looking for it. It
19:58
stands about 10 feet high. The sign
20:01
is black with a gold star on
20:03
it. It reads Thomas S. Polary Square
20:05
private United States Marine Corps World War
20:07
II Born April 15th 1922
20:11
killed in action September 7th Guadalcanal
20:16
Solomon Islands. It was a pretty proud
20:18
moment. It was it was very very
20:20
nice. It was a short ceremony I
20:22
think the mayor I
20:25
forget Maybe Senator Kennedy
20:27
might have been there or some politicians
20:29
were definitely there, but I don't remember
20:32
which ones did Papa
20:34
get emotional either that time or at
20:36
the dedication in the early
20:39
2000s he got emotional at Both
20:42
at least somewhat and you know he was you
20:44
know your grandfather was a pretty stoic guy
20:47
He didn't show all
20:49
that much emotion, especially if it was
20:53
Careful emotion, but I do think
20:55
that he learned some things at
20:58
the dedication I Don't
21:01
know that he knew the full scope of
21:03
what of what you know Tom
21:05
Tom had done to protect the
21:08
rest of His
21:10
platoon you mentioned Papa's
21:12
sisters Did they ever talk
21:14
about Tommy or did you ever see the
21:16
impact of his loss on them? Not
21:19
so much I do know that you
21:22
know they still carried that
21:24
loss Up
21:27
until you know I was I was an adult
21:29
started my own family and all especially
21:32
the youngest Sister
21:34
you know we called a honey and her name was
21:37
actually Elvira and they and
21:39
they called a honey She was
21:41
extremely emotional about everything She was
21:43
that type of person and and
21:45
every time she talked of her
21:47
brothers She always mentioned
21:50
Tom and a tear would
21:52
come to her eye So I got
21:54
more information out of my aunt than my dad
21:57
You know ever and I'd always heard this rumor
21:59
that my grandfather lied about his
22:01
age to enlist in the service, to
22:03
sort of avenge his brother Tom's death.
22:06
Although I can't find documented proof, there
22:09
are some hints on ancestry.com, and I
22:11
asked my dad. And
22:13
my father was so distraught
22:17
and ticked off, he went down
22:19
and joined the Marines. But
22:22
the problem was, he wasn't of legal
22:25
age to join the Marines or
22:27
join any branch
22:29
of service. So he
22:31
forged his paperwork in
22:34
order to go and enlist
22:36
in the Marines, which is the
22:39
same branch that Tom was part of.
22:42
And the story that I heard was, my
22:45
father was so angry
22:47
at the enemy that he wanted to
22:49
go and avenge his death. It
22:51
was almost like a Marvel, DC
22:54
comic movie motivation. But
22:56
he forged the paperwork to
22:58
make him that minimum age,
23:01
so that they wouldn't even question it, and
23:04
they would accept him. And we'll be
23:06
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Happy holidays. Happy holidays
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indeed It's
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2011 and the Arab Spring
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is raging a lesbian
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activist in Syria starts a blog
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She names it gay girl
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as her profile grows so does
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the danger the object of the
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org Thanks to our sponsors and
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now we're back to the program So
25:45
that brings us to October 3rd 2017
25:48
when I received a Facebook message from a
25:50
familiar name Not a
25:52
familiar person but a name that was familiar
25:54
because I grew up right across the street
25:57
from not one But two men named this
25:59
exact same thing And at this
26:01
point in my life, I had been working
26:03
on the disappearance of Mora Mari Case and
26:05
docu-series from Oxygen Network. In fact,
26:07
it had just aired the second of its six parts
26:10
a few days earlier. So I opened this message and
26:12
it wasn't from one of my old neighbors. It was
26:14
a different guy who went by the same name. And
26:17
his message was curious. He introduced himself and
26:19
basically just asked me to confirm that I
26:21
was who he thought I was. Because
26:24
of the docu-series, we had been experiencing more
26:26
emails and theories than ever before about the
26:28
Mora Mari disappearance case. The online trolls in
26:31
that case are notorious and in my head
26:33
I remember not replying to him for weeks.
26:35
But in reality, I wrote him back in
26:37
two minutes. Which is a sign
26:40
of the times I guess, to me at least, because
26:42
I'm never on Facebook messenger anymore. So
26:44
we agreed to have a phone conversation and we
26:46
spoke the next evening. He told me all about
26:48
the Honor Flight Network and he said that he
26:50
wanted to fly a flag over the Capitol building
26:52
in honor of my great uncle Tom. I
26:54
recently spoke with Dave Nichols for this podcast and
26:57
I asked him about it. I had a flag
26:59
flown and I sent him the information about Thomas.
27:03
And actually my mother had gotten so
27:06
deeply involved in this story. That's
27:08
how I kind of found out about it. Thomas
27:11
is her adoptive veteran and
27:14
kind of a guardian angel in a way. I
27:16
had a phone to send to her so it
27:19
came folded in a
27:22
triangle as it does. And with a
27:24
certificate saying this flag was flown over the U.S.
27:26
Capitol on such and such a date in
27:29
honor of Thomas Pilari, it's kind of a
27:31
neat thing to do to honor
27:34
someone. Now before we recorded, I
27:36
thought that what Dave had done for Tom
27:38
about the flag getting flown over the Capitol
27:40
was actually a part of his work at
27:42
Honor Flight. But I was wrong.
27:44
So Honor Flight, we're a national nonprofit. Our
27:47
mission is to bring World
27:49
War II, Korean, and
27:51
Vietnam veterans from all over
27:53
the country at no cost to
27:55
the veteran to D.C. to be honored at
27:58
their memorials. Our two co-founders, had
28:00
the realization that a lot of
28:02
these veterans, even back then, can't
28:05
travel or didn't have the means to travel
28:07
and would never get to see their
28:09
memorial. So we started out taking
28:11
World War II veterans. The first flight
28:15
was six Cessnas
28:18
with two veterans on each, and they came
28:20
from Ohio. And since then,
28:22
we've had pups in
28:24
different parts of the country who have chartered a 747 and filmed it.
28:28
So it's gotten very big,
28:31
but, so that's our mission,
28:33
to get as many, and
28:35
many to see their memorials that they dedicated
28:38
their lives and made such
28:40
a high sacrifice for. So
28:43
at the end of it, all he really wanted from
28:45
me was a photograph of Thomas Polari for his mom.
28:48
And guess what? I didn't have one. So
28:50
determined to find a photo of Tom,
28:52
Dave wisely relied on his contacts. He
28:54
put me in contact with a Katie
28:56
from History Flight, not to be confused
28:58
with Honor Flight. Dave and Katie met
29:00
during the funeral service for a Tuskegee
29:03
Airman who was lost during World War
29:05
II, then found and identified. And
29:07
they were apparently talking about Tom Polari, which
29:09
led him to put me in contact with
29:12
Katie. Katie then put me
29:14
in touch with US Marine Corps
29:16
Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, specifically
29:18
the Prisoner of War Missing
29:20
in Action Office. I
29:23
was also put in touch with someone from the
29:25
DNA Family Outreach Program. And for the first time,
29:27
I wondered, hey, what are the
29:29
chances Tom could actually
29:31
be recovered? They asked for
29:33
my DNA, and I told them, of course, I'll send it
29:35
in. What if? How
29:37
wild would that be? But unfortunately, as
29:39
I know all too well being in
29:42
the true crime space, sometimes DNA results
29:44
take forever. Things are getting better, though.
29:46
Just check out dnasolves.com for evidence of
29:48
that. So after I sent my DNA
29:50
to the government to hopefully try and
29:52
make a match, the government
29:54
actually sent me Tom's entire military records,
29:57
which includes that letter from honey and my great-grandmother, as well
29:59
as one. very faint photocopy of a photograph
30:01
of Tom and you can barely make him
30:03
out. But if this photocopy exists then there's
30:06
got to be a real copy somewhere right?
30:08
I think this is probably a good time
30:10
to play the entire letter from my great
30:12
aunt honey and my great grandmother Angelina. To
30:14
call the moment I read
30:16
this letter emotional is
30:18
probably an understatement. It
30:21
was surreal reading the words
30:23
from my great aunt and
30:26
great grandmother. They were desperate
30:28
to try to locate Tom to
30:30
bring him back to Cambridge Mass. And
30:33
this letter from honey and Angelina is
30:35
actually the epilogue in
30:37
a book called Leaving Mac
30:39
Behind the Lost Marines of
30:41
Guadalcanal by Jeffrey Rocker. July
30:44
17th 1979 Dear General sir I am writing
30:46
this letter to you today in the
30:55
hopes you may be able to help us. First
30:59
of all I am writing for myself. My
31:02
feelings are very deep and
31:04
very concerning. I
31:07
am worried about my mom. Her
31:09
health is declining. She
31:11
is or rather will be 83 years old August 6th 79.
31:18
She is a gold star mother and was
31:20
dependent on my brother Tommy as
31:22
there were still four of us whom he
31:25
supported plus mom made five. I
31:28
last saw my brother January 6th 1942.
31:33
Within a few days on January
31:36
25th I would have been 12
31:38
years old. He
31:40
promised me he'd be back for my birthday. He
31:45
couldn't make it. I
31:47
remember calling him and crying at the window. He
31:50
blew kisses to me and mom and waved.
31:53
He yelled back I'll
31:55
see you soon. We
31:58
didn't. but he couldn't help
32:00
it. It
32:03
is 37 years now, and
32:06
I still remember. Oh,
32:09
yes, he did
32:11
come back once and was called back and
32:13
his leave was cancelled. He
32:16
left us again, but this time he never
32:19
came back. I
32:22
have had many birthdays since, but always
32:24
I remember Tommy and my prayers. If
32:27
only he could come home, I would
32:30
feel very happy knowing he is where he
32:32
belongs. I have
32:34
to think that way, otherwise I could become
32:36
very sick. Here I
32:38
am trying to nurse Mom, who cries
32:40
constantly for Tommy. As
32:43
I said, Mom will be 83 years old. Now
32:48
I am writing for her.
32:52
I want my son Tommy to come home.
32:55
I cannot rest till we have him here.
32:58
I dream of Tommy all the time. He
33:02
don't want to be where he is. He
33:05
want to come home. We
33:07
must find a way to bring him home now. Yes,
33:11
my boy. Tell them I wanted
33:14
my boy when they told me I could
33:16
send him. Then I get another letter.
33:19
They tell me the Japanese are formed
33:21
where the graves were and they
33:24
said it would be hard to find him.
33:27
I want my boy and I must
33:30
find him. I cannot
33:32
rest till we bring him home. My
33:35
sisters, four and brothers, three, those of us,
33:38
the total seven plus me and Tommy was
33:40
eight. We lost
33:42
a sister, so now there are
33:44
six of us left. Oldest being
33:46
in order, Patsy, Josie, Rosie, Frankie,
33:49
Mary and me, Elvira.
33:54
We all agree to be able to give Mom peace
33:56
of mind to do what we can to bring Tommy
33:58
home. More than
34:00
a month now we wrote to Ted Kennedy and asked
34:02
him to please help us. I
34:05
sent him copies of all the papers we have,
34:08
all that I could find pertaining to
34:10
our loss. Time
34:12
is very important. Every
34:14
day is a bonus as far as Mom is concerned.
34:18
Could you please advise us on how to get
34:20
a quick reply? We
34:23
realize that we are not the only ones
34:25
needing help, but someone, somewhere,
34:28
should be able to tell us something. If
34:32
you need any more information, please let
34:34
us know. We
34:37
had another family meeting the day before yesterday.
34:40
We all agreed as to what to expect. We
34:43
know after 37 years, I
34:47
don't want to go into that. But
34:50
if it will put my Mom at ease, we must
34:52
hide our thoughts and our feelings for her sake. We
34:56
must believe as she believes. It
34:59
is important now. You
35:02
see, sir, I
35:04
don't think any of us was really convinced
35:07
Tommy was really dead. God
35:09
help us. God help him. Please
35:13
help us. Tell
35:16
me what to do next. Only
35:18
please make us hear from you soon. We
35:22
plan to have a very quick, very quaint family
35:24
thing in the servicemen section of Cambridge
35:26
Cemetery. My Mom wants
35:28
us to get her a place as close to where Tommy
35:30
will be. It
35:32
is sad. My
35:35
Mom lives with my husband and me. She
35:37
cannot do for herself. She needs care. We
35:40
have done it this last eight years and she is not
35:42
better. She is
35:44
worse and every day counts. She
35:48
cries in the night. So
35:50
we have to do this. If
35:52
you could call her and tell her you were doing
35:54
what she can, it would
35:56
help. Mrs.
36:01
George Paula from Mom, Mrs.
36:04
Angelina Polari. I
36:12
was shocked to read that they still weren't
36:14
sure if Tom was alive or not. I
36:17
think deep down they probably knew he wasn't, but
36:19
they were still holding out hope. To
36:22
hear how badly they wanted him to
36:24
be buried in Cambridge is simply remarkable
36:26
to me. I mean that letter was
36:29
sent 37 years after Tommy's disappearance.
36:32
Angelina was getting old and she passed away a
36:34
few years later. She never saw
36:36
Tom again after he left in 1942. It's
36:40
clear that the family never found closure. The
36:43
government sent recovery missions in 1947 and 1949 to try and find
36:45
Tom, as well as other missing
36:49
soldiers and Marines. To my
36:51
knowledge they weren't successful in locating him,
36:53
and I'm reading from his official file
36:55
now. This one is dated May 23, 1947. Private
37:00
First Class Thomas Stephen Polari
37:02
354727 was officially reported killed
37:04
in action on the 17th
37:06
of September 1942 at Guadalcanal,
37:09
British Solomon Islands. Entry
37:12
and service record book shows buried in the
37:14
field on the 17th of September
37:16
1942. And
37:18
then in the letter dated April 26, 1949, it goes on
37:20
to say that exact details are not given
37:26
and no further information is available. And
37:29
in the file it has coordinates. The
37:31
island was searched from map coordinates 159 degrees, 55 minutes
37:33
east and 9 degrees, 25
37:39
minutes south to 160 degrees, 20 minutes east and 9
37:41
degrees, 35 minutes south. It
37:46
goes on, after careful consideration
37:48
of all the facts involved,
37:50
the board unanimously resolved that
37:53
the subject, decedent, be declared
37:55
non-recoverable. And then there's another
37:57
letter I have from the 19th of September, 1946.
38:00
that again says the remains of
38:02
the subject have been declared non-recoverable
38:04
by special boards convened in the
38:06
field and in the office of
38:08
the quartermaster general. So
38:10
it seems like the government tried to locate
38:12
Tom, but weren't able to. And
38:15
I wasn't even able to locate a photograph of
38:17
Tom. And we'll be right
38:19
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drive safely. Event ends 1-2-24. My
39:24
dad Tom is one of the most charming men
39:26
you'll ever meet. The love of
39:29
my mom's life. But for
39:31
52 years, he was also something else.
39:34
A wanted fugitive. From
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39:41
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to our sponsors and now we're back to the program.
39:57
But then about two years later, Pretty
39:59
much. Out of the Pacific Blue. Dave.
40:02
Email me a photo of tall. And
40:05
what a sight! To be honest to
40:07
me, he kind of look like me
40:09
at that age. And Dave finally had
40:11
a photograph of Thomas Pillory to show
40:13
his mom. I ask Dave what
40:15
it meant to him on and it was like
40:17
any other time To put a name to the
40:20
face does mean a lot because. You're
40:22
no longer have a statistics it
40:24
it becomes more person you know.
40:26
even the Vietnam war you can
40:28
see the names on their net
40:30
brings it to another level. that's
40:32
the only memorial it has to
40:34
name's I'm often asked to we're
40:36
we're tumors memorial it where the
40:38
names are but there are no
40:40
names or gold stars as a
40:42
gold star war and each gold
40:45
star on that wall represents a
40:47
hundred people have died during the
40:49
war. But. It's
40:51
not personal because you don't know
40:53
the names. are
40:55
not listed out and more with
40:58
to get his face just to
41:00
see the person's eyes eating kind
41:02
of empathize a move that with
41:04
the family because nightmare you know
41:06
with their used to saying. To.
41:09
No longer see again so it's for
41:11
is free for a deep, very personable
41:13
and this is right about the time
41:15
that I started wondering why and how
41:17
Dave and his mom became interested in
41:20
Thomas player. Dave said Thomas kind of
41:22
a guardian angel to his mom. And
41:24
it was clear from our prior phone call, the Daves
41:26
mom had a connection with Tom. Dave. Introduced
41:28
me to his mother, Judy not. Items
41:31
from a military family. I
41:33
grew up and went to say school.
41:35
Always had. This. Interest in
41:37
World War Two history may
41:39
suit. Interested It started. With
41:42
Earn William Boxes article.
41:45
In the September Nineteen Ninety Seven.
41:48
Crucial. Battle, it's ignored. It
41:50
really was a crystal battle
41:52
because our without of what
41:54
those folks did especially your
41:56
great uncle especially are great
41:58
uncle. People. just did
42:00
not realize his
42:02
impact on keeping Henderson Field in
42:05
American hands. And this is not
42:07
to shortchange anything that the Raiders
42:09
did on Edmond Field. But
42:12
there was an open flank, with an
42:14
open flank on that right-hand side. And
42:17
if the Japanese had realized that we
42:19
might have lost, and said we probably
42:21
would have lost Guadalcanal and Australia, huge.
42:25
Wow. So yeah, that one battle
42:27
and what Tom did seem
42:29
to have sort of alerted
42:31
his entire battalion to the Japanese. Is that
42:33
how you understand it? Yes. On
42:36
the 12th of September 1942, Hao
42:38
Buu-chi attacked and read it to
42:40
news that they were going to come back. And
42:42
so they were getting ready up on top of
42:44
the ridge. But K-31,
42:47
which was where I...
42:51
Lots in my head I call him Buddy. Well if
42:53
I call him Buddy, that's just because I'm used to
42:55
that. Buddy was over there and
42:57
he was with a weapons platoon. Joe
43:00
Terzi was in charge of that. Terzi went
43:02
and he said, I think we
43:04
should have a lifting coast. There had been another one
43:06
up the day before. The orders
43:08
that were given by Joe Terzi,
43:11
Lieutenant Terzi, scattered. And they were in
43:13
sick jungles. Tom could have scattered.
43:15
He did not. He stood
43:17
at his ground with a submachine gun and
43:19
he blasted them to pieces and losing his
43:21
life. Tom stood at his ground.
43:23
He stood at his ground. He could have scattered. And
43:25
what he did was he tied up those... The
43:28
members of the Kuma Battalion because they
43:30
were so mad because they thought they
43:32
had run in to the main line
43:34
of the Marines. They didn't realize it
43:36
was a lifting coast because of the fight
43:39
they put up. What they did for quite some
43:41
time was go up and down the Teneru River.
43:43
Now of course Tom by that time had lost
43:45
his life. But the other ones had gotten
43:48
into the Teneru River and there
43:51
were banyan trees with huge giant
43:53
trunks. And the Japanese were going
43:55
up and down both sides of
43:57
the river yelling and screaming and
43:59
firing. The water. And
44:01
sewage, How the month. That. Game the
44:03
rest of the three platoon, it was
44:06
strung out there. From an iron bottom
44:08
sounds to the three hundred and fifty.
44:10
Yards. Of nothingness. Single.
44:13
File that gave them have a chance
44:15
to put up. Machine gun
44:17
emplacements on either side of the overlay and
44:19
trail. You He felt so connected to
44:21
Tom the she wanted to help memorialize him
44:23
further. My son he slew of
44:26
American flag over the capital and
44:28
on it honor of times and
44:30
gave me. Or the flag in
44:32
in the case. For. My birthday
44:34
and then for Christmas one year
44:36
he gave me all time record.
44:40
Everything and I had the picture of
44:42
him from when he first signed up
44:44
in January of Nineteen Forty Two, so
44:46
I knew. Wow. So
44:48
how do you feel so connected to and. That's
44:51
what I'll tell you and not on the pad. Yes,
44:54
That. Is the story they have? Yes, I'll
44:56
tell. You if summer Yes you
44:58
usually prepared food be repaired next
45:01
my husband and prepared I think
45:03
I am. You have bomb this
45:05
type of connection with other on
45:08
veterans who know. And how he's
45:10
he's one of a time. I'll tell you
45:12
you can find that out. one. Judean Day!
45:14
Want to come up to Boston to see Bleary
45:16
Square and meet with us? I can't wait! When
45:19
I got all the letters. That. You're
45:21
great Grandmother had written and the
45:24
heartache and I think he really
45:26
died of a broken heart and
45:28
he just wouldn't accept that he
45:30
was gone because she had nobody.
45:33
And I wondered if Judy thought there was any
45:35
chance to located Tom after all these years. The
45:37
city's unrecoverable, but you know what
45:40
I said and said angelina. I'm
45:42
going to give it a shot if I can find go
45:44
with the. Maybe I can
45:46
find where is it? and I think I
45:49
know. I looked at all the report and
45:51
forty six than forty nine where they went
45:53
over there and a lot of the A
45:55
D jungle has been cut down. It's fine
45:57
now. Tom. woods pounds
50:00
Jabo Mixter, Tom and me. We
50:02
did not stay inside the wire, we set
50:04
up about 100 yards outside the wire. Sometime
50:07
during the night we heard a clanking noise. Then
50:09
we could see the Japanese all lined against
50:12
the sky. They were between us
50:14
and our lines. Our listening post
50:16
became an ambush post as we opened
50:18
fire on the Japanese. All
50:21
hell broke loose and our listening post
50:23
became every man for himself. We
50:25
had ambushed a Japanese battalion getting ready to
50:27
assault our line. Lieutenant Terzi and I wound
50:30
up in a creek behind us and spent
50:32
all night in water up to our necks.
50:34
We managed to make it back to our line the next
50:36
morning. One man made it back
50:38
that night. Lawrence.
50:41
Mixter didn't return for four days. Jabo was
50:43
picked up by Eye Company and made it
50:45
to Walk Point. Tom was the only
50:47
one who didn't make it. This all happened
50:49
on the night of September 13th. Lieutenant
50:52
Terzi and I were sent to a field hospital with
50:54
our wounds. And when I came back to the company
50:56
they told me that Tom had been found on the
50:58
17th of September. I believe I'm the
51:00
sole survivor of that lookout post. Terzi
51:02
was KIA'd on Cape Closter. Again,
51:04
I was by his side. Mixter
51:07
was killed in action on Guam. Tom
51:09
died a hero, Francis, because
51:12
the firefight alerted K company to
51:14
a sure victory for the Japanese
51:16
against Henderson Field. Sincerely,
51:18
Leo McDermott, December 5th. And
51:22
this next letter was written to
51:24
my great-grandmother Angelina. And was
51:26
written by Lieutenant Joe Terzi, who was also
51:28
with Tom the night he died. Meaningless
51:47
sounds, incapable of expressing our
51:49
true feelings. Such
51:51
is the case now. I'm not writing
51:53
this, not for myself, but for all
51:55
of Tom's buddies and officers. All who
51:57
knew him. Had nothing but admiration
51:59
for his fearlessness and for those qualities
52:01
which made him a man in the
52:03
fullest sense of the word. I
52:06
could go on and on in enumerating his
52:08
splendid attributes, but I know that you, his
52:10
mother, need not be told what
52:12
a good boy he was. We
52:14
his comrades and arms can do little
52:16
more than offer our most heartfelt condolences.
52:19
I personally feel satisfied that Tom is in
52:21
a better place than this world of turmoil
52:23
and strife. Tom
52:26
often confided in me, and his
52:28
prime consideration was for you, his
52:31
mother. He would be unhappy
52:33
if he knew you were mourning, so please
52:35
remember that, and bear your sorrow with courage
52:37
and pride for so gallant a sun, and
52:39
some day in the hereafter you will be
52:42
united in the blissful realms of heaven. Tom
52:45
though he went quickly and didn't suffer,
52:47
died, and buried a hero in the
52:49
eyes of his commanding officer and fellow
52:51
marines. His memory will live
52:54
with us forever, and we shall never forget
52:56
him in our prayers. Again
52:59
let me offer our sincere condolences.
53:02
May God bless you both. Keep
53:04
your faith forever, yours in sympathy,
53:06
Joseph A. Terzi. P.S.
53:08
if the occasion should present itself, you can rest assured
53:10
that I will pay you a visit at your home.
53:13
Tom was one of my best men, and you
53:15
may well feel proud of his heroic death. Regrettably,
53:19
Lt. Terzi was killed in action
53:21
at Cape Gloucester shortly after writing
53:23
this. I
53:29
just want to say I love that
53:31
Judy and Dave feel this connection with
53:34
Tom Pelerie. I just love it. It
53:36
warms my heart. He was a
53:38
hero. Here we are now in
53:40
the holiday season, and I can't help thinking
53:42
about Tom, family ghosts,
53:45
Angelina, and Honey. My
53:48
grandfather, Frank Pelerie. I
53:50
don't exactly know what Judy's connection is
53:52
with Tom and my family, but I
53:56
can wait in finding out. I know that. And
53:58
I just love that they brought me and my family
54:00
closer to Tom and all their hard work
54:03
has led me to put this episode out
54:05
and to try and share Tom's story as
54:07
far as I possibly can. So thank
54:10
you Judy and thank you Dave and
54:12
thank you to Frank Pilari, my father
54:15
and my grandfather and step-grandmother Sandy Pilari.
54:17
Thanks to Sarah Scheckles who lent her
54:19
a fabulous voice and my
54:21
friend G. Larry Butler for lending his voice
54:24
for Leo McDermott. Larry's a veteran himself. And
54:26
before we go I just want to share
54:29
one last story that Dave told me about
54:31
his work with veterans. I'll give you a
54:33
quick marine story. Maybe it'll put you in
54:35
the mind of maybe how
54:38
Thomas would be known. We had
54:40
a few World War II Marines on one
54:43
of the buses with us on a particular trip. They
54:45
were Iwo Jima veterans. This veteran
54:48
was with his guardian and he
54:50
was in a wheelchair. He couldn't
54:52
walk very well. He couldn't stand up very
54:54
well. He was in his 90s. You can
54:57
either take these steps up to it or
54:59
there's a ramp that kind of goes around
55:01
to wheel a wheelchair up to it. So
55:03
he got the veteran in the wheelchair and started heading
55:05
up and the veteran told him
55:07
to stop.
55:10
He wanted to get out and walk up
55:12
to the memorial but he
55:15
really couldn't. He said I landed on
55:17
this beach. I'm
55:20
not gonna get wheeled up to this memorial. Two
55:24
guardians got him by the arms and
55:26
they slowly walked him up to that memorial.
55:29
And to see that it's just amazing.
55:31
He didn't want to be an old
55:34
man being at that memorial.
55:38
So he didn't want to go in the wheelchair and
55:40
he had other guys on his mind too I'm sure.
55:45
So that's just how some of the Marines are. This
55:49
episode was written and produced by me Tim Pelerie.
55:51
It's a story many years in the
55:53
making and it's not over yet. Please
55:56
follow us on social media and if you'd
55:58
like to contact me directly you can
56:01
email Tim at crawlspacepodcast.com.
56:04
Thanks a lot for listening. Hey
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