(upbeat music) 2 00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:06.913 line:15% Nicolas Manzo. 3 00:00:08.670 --> 00:00:09.623 line:15% Morning sir. 4 00:00:11.340 --> 00:00:13.340 line:15% Mr. Manzo. Yep. 5 00:00:13.340 --> 00:00:16.190 line:15% You have a red-light violation 6 00:00:16.190 --> 00:00:18.010 line:15% on Pleasant Valley Parkway. 7 00:00:18.010 --> 00:00:19.193 line:15% Do you remember this? 8 00:00:21.010 --> 00:00:22.400 line:15% Well, in fact, 9 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:24.830 line:15% I went and investigated it four or five times. 10 00:00:24.830 --> 00:00:26.330 line:15% I was wrong, no question about it. 11 00:00:26.330 --> 00:00:28.070 line:15% I made a right-hand turn, 12 00:00:28.070 --> 00:00:31.650 line:15% and that's the first violation I've got 13 00:00:31.650 --> 00:00:33.683 line:15% in 72 years of driving. 14 00:00:34.674 --> 00:00:37.260 line:15% (chuckles) really? 15 00:00:37.260 --> 00:00:39.530 line:15% Yep, look up my record. 16 00:00:39.530 --> 00:00:40.823 line:15% I'm gonna look it up. 17 00:00:42.460 --> 00:00:45.820 line:15% Now, Mr. Manzo, ask you a question. 18 00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:49.250 line:15% Martha here indicates that you are 93 years old. 19 00:00:49.250 --> 00:00:50.083 line:15% Right. 20 00:00:51.213 --> 00:00:52.413 line:15% World War II veteran. 21 00:00:53.430 --> 00:00:56.490 line:15% Spent 29 months in the Pacific. 22 00:00:56.490 --> 00:00:57.340 line:15% Okay? 23 00:00:57.340 --> 00:00:58.470 line:15% Without coming back. 24 00:00:58.470 --> 00:01:00.280 line:15% And came back alive. 25 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:02.144 line:15% Where were you in the Pacific? 26 00:01:02.144 --> 00:01:03.610 line:15% I was in the Navy. 27 00:01:03.610 --> 00:01:04.443 line:15% You were in the Navy? 28 00:01:04.443 --> 00:01:05.950 line:15% Yep. 29 00:01:05.950 --> 00:01:07.080 line:15% How long did you serve? 30 00:01:07.080 --> 00:01:08.180 line:15% I served three years. 31 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:12.110 line:15% 1943, February, on my 17th birthday, 32 00:01:12.110 --> 00:01:16.553 line:15% I joined the Navy, and I didn't come back for three years. 33 00:01:17.430 --> 00:01:20.260 line:15% The truth of the story is, 34 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:22.900 line:15% I could tell you a little story if you got a few minutes. 35 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:23.733 line:15% Go ahead, I wanna hear it. 36 00:01:23.733 --> 00:01:25.570 line:15% I joined the Navy when I was 16 years old. 37 00:01:25.570 --> 00:01:28.300 line:15% I went up to Federal Hill, Holy Ghost Church, 38 00:01:28.300 --> 00:01:31.213 line:15% I got my birth certificate, I forged it. 39 00:01:32.047 --> 00:01:34.770 line:15% I made myself 17 years old, 40 00:01:34.770 --> 00:01:36.660 line:15% and I went down to the recruiting station, 41 00:01:36.660 --> 00:01:37.750 line:15% and I joined the Navy. 42 00:01:37.750 --> 00:01:39.540 line:15% Everything went fine. 43 00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:42.720 line:15% Until two weeks later, the policeman and the Navy 44 00:01:42.720 --> 00:01:43.663 line:15% come up and they wanted to arrest me 45 00:01:43.663 --> 00:01:46.473 line:15% because I forged my birth certificate. 46 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:48.780 line:15% But I waited another year, 47 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:50.260 line:15% and I left Mt. Pleasant High School, 48 00:01:50.260 --> 00:01:52.530 line:15% and I went in the Navy, 49 00:01:52.530 --> 00:01:55.283 line:15% and I spent three years, 29 months, in the Pacific. 50 00:01:57.310 --> 00:02:00.460 line:15% Every battle that was in the Pacific, I was there. 51 00:02:00.460 --> 00:02:02.070 line:15% I was in it. 52 00:02:02.070 --> 00:02:05.980 line:15% I receive letters from people every day, 53 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:10.480 line:15% and I received a number of letters from veterans 54 00:02:10.480 --> 00:02:13.380 line:15% who actually send me checks, 55 00:02:13.380 --> 00:02:16.780 line:15% and the purpose for them sending me checks 56 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:19.360 line:15% is to help other veterans. 57 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:24.360 line:15% Now I would really dismiss your case outright anyway. 58 00:02:26.410 --> 00:02:28.458 line:15% You know, I would dismiss it. 59 00:02:28.458 --> 00:02:29.300 line:15% And it's not gonna go on your record, 60 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:32.760 line:15% but I'm not gonna have you pay anything of this. 61 00:02:32.760 --> 00:02:37.060 line:15% But I have a gentleman who sent me a check for $50, 62 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:38.343 line:15% and he wants me to, 63 00:02:42.091 --> 00:02:45.850 line:15% he said his father was a World War II Navy veteran, 64 00:02:45.850 --> 00:02:50.850 line:15% and please use this honor him and his service as a veteran, 65 00:02:51.470 --> 00:02:54.510 line:15% and you were World War II Navy veteran as well, 66 00:02:54.510 --> 00:02:57.930 line:15% so I'm going to use this check, 67 00:02:57.930 --> 00:03:00.103 line:15% this is from Anthony Christiansen, 68 00:03:01.230 --> 00:03:06.230 line:15% and Mr. Christiansen is from, looks like Panhandle, Texas. 69 00:03:06.720 --> 00:03:09.630 line:15% Tell me about your experiences during the war. 70 00:03:09.630 --> 00:03:12.193 line:15% Well, I was on-board ship, 71 00:03:13.410 --> 00:03:15.400 line:15% a big ship, 72 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:17.290 line:15% a battleship, 73 00:03:17.290 --> 00:03:22.290 line:15% and we were in many many battles, many of 'em. 74 00:03:23.290 --> 00:03:25.893 line:15% The worst one I seen was Iwo Jima. 75 00:03:27.308 --> 00:03:30.860 line:15% That was a, that was terrible. 76 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:34.367 line:15% We lost more Marines in that invasion 77 00:03:34.367 --> 00:03:37.040 line:15% than I think any other war 78 00:03:37.040 --> 00:03:39.500 line:15% outside of the Battle of the Bulge. 79 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:41.050 line:15% That was the worse that's ever, 80 00:03:42.292 --> 00:03:43.730 line:15% you couldn't believe how bad that was. 81 00:03:43.730 --> 00:03:44.680 line:15% You were there? 82 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:45.513 line:15% I was there. 83 00:03:45.513 --> 00:03:47.090 line:15% Yes I was. 84 00:03:47.090 --> 00:03:49.473 line:15% I was on every battle in the Pacific. 85 00:03:50.330 --> 00:03:54.520 line:15% From 1943 to 1945. 86 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:55.653 line:15% We didn't miss one. 87 00:03:56.920 --> 00:03:57.753 line:15% Not one. 88 00:03:58.750 --> 00:03:59.760 line:15% And they were brutal. 89 00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:04.663 line:15% Well you have been known as the greatest generation, 90 00:04:05.610 --> 00:04:07.310 line:15% and you were the greatest generation, 91 00:04:07.310 --> 00:04:08.923 line:15% and you said something earlier, 92 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.830 line:15% second World War brought about a sense of patriotism 93 00:04:13.830 --> 00:04:16.910 line:15% in this country that we have not seen since. 94 00:04:16.910 --> 00:04:17.743 line:15% Right. 95 00:04:17.743 --> 00:04:19.280 line:15% But there was such strong patriotism 96 00:04:19.280 --> 00:04:22.540 line:15% that here you are a 16 year old boy, 97 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:25.490 line:15% and you wanted to go and fight for your country. 98 00:04:25.490 --> 00:04:28.850 line:15% So much so that you even forged a document 99 00:04:28.850 --> 00:04:30.540 line:15% to try to get into the service 100 00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:31.930 line:15% to go and protect the country. 101 00:04:31.930 --> 00:04:33.578 line:15% And I got caught. 102 00:04:33.578 --> 00:04:34.411 line:15% (laughs) 103 00:04:34.411 --> 00:04:35.244 line:15% But you went back. 104 00:04:35.244 --> 00:04:37.050 line:15% I went back a year later, 105 00:04:37.050 --> 00:04:40.600 line:15% right on my birthday, I joined the Navy. 106 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:45.600 line:15% And within three or four months, I was out in the Pacific. 107 00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:50.990 line:15% My father was an immigrant. 108 00:04:51.170 --> 00:04:54.600 line:15% Came into this here country at 18 years old, 109 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:57.300 line:15% and couldn't get a job, and things were tough, 110 00:04:57.300 --> 00:05:00.220 line:15% so he joined the Army, and he went into World War I, 111 00:05:01.570 --> 00:05:03.080 line:15% and he was there for 18 months, 112 00:05:03.080 --> 00:05:05.300 line:15% and he survived, he came home. 113 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:08.720 line:15% And how that's he became a citizen. 114 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:11.010 line:15% They should build a monument to your family. 115 00:05:11.010 --> 00:05:12.857 line:15% Between your father in World War I, 116 00:05:12.857 --> 00:05:15.020 line:15% and you, and all your cousins. 117 00:05:15.020 --> 00:05:15.853 line:15% My uncles. 118 00:05:15.853 --> 00:05:18.220 line:15% And your uncles in World War II. 119 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:20.030 line:15% Unbelievable, and they all came back. 120 00:05:20.030 --> 00:05:21.770 line:15% We all came back, yep, every one of us. 121 00:05:21.770 --> 00:05:23.660 line:15% I can't thank you enough for your service. 122 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:25.109 line:15% Thank you, thank you. 123 00:05:25.109 --> 00:05:26.959 line:15% You're welcome. Good luck to you. 124 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.239 line:15% And at 93, Judge, he's got a wonderful head of hair too. 125 00:05:29.239 --> 00:05:30.104 line:15% (laughs) 126 00:05:30.104 --> 00:05:31.410 line:15% I gotta commend him for that. 127 00:05:31.410 --> 00:05:33.895 line:15% Well I remember when the judge had a nice head of hair. 128 00:05:33.895 --> 00:05:34.728 line:15% (laughs) 129 00:05:34.728 --> 00:05:35.561 line:15% Oh, he still does. 130 00:05:36.430 --> 00:05:37.393 line:15% He still does. 131 00:05:39.201 --> 00:05:42.110 line:15% Boy, if we could bring back them old days, huh? 132 00:05:42.110 --> 00:05:43.080 line:15% They were wonderful days. 133 00:05:43.080 --> 00:05:44.710 line:15% These are wonderful days too, 134 00:05:44.710 --> 00:05:48.270 line:15% except that we don't have the sense of family, community 135 00:05:48.270 --> 00:05:49.720 line:15% that we had back then. 136 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:50.553 line:15% You're right. 137 00:05:50.553 --> 00:05:51.590 line:15% Thank you for your service. 138 00:05:51.590 --> 00:05:54.190 line:15% We owe you a great debt of gratitude. 139 00:05:54.190 --> 00:05:55.460 line:15% Thank you, you're welcome. 140 00:05:55.460 --> 00:05:57.948 line:15% My pleasure just to be in your company. 141 00:05:57.948 --> 00:06:00.948 line:15% (audience applauds) 142