Recently stationed in Spain after a three-year Navy re-enlistment, Petty Officer Third Class Anthony Falcone shared his thoughts about Memorial Day and his commitment to serving the United States.
Courtesy photo
Anthony Falcone in Rota, Spain for a port-of-call while stationed in 2017 on the USS Bataan (LHD 5).
“After graduating from Templeton High School in 2012 with my best friends Max and Alani, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy,” said Falcone. “That was the best decision I have ever made – five long years chock full of new friendships, world travel, and important life lessons,” said the son of Martha Bordonaro and husband SLO County Assessor Tom Bordonaro.
Falcone’s interest in all things Navy were enhanced by the film, “Master and Commander,” plus “great achievements of the Navy; Captain John Paul Jones’s revolutionary taking of the HMS Serapis, the supremacy of American aircraft carriers during WWII, and dominance of Naval Aviators during Operation Desert Storm. Wooden frigates and steel battleships that litter ocean floors are a stone-cold testament to the cost of victory accepted by daring commanders and iron-willed captains.
“There is a line in the Sailor’s Creed that states, ‘I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy, and those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world.’ I stand on the shoulders of giants, men and women who signed on the dotted line to serve a greater purpose.
“This Memorial Day, children in school will be given the day off. I hope they understand what their day off is for – that while they are home, there were those before them that left home to do battle and never came back. It is also my hope that when the time comes for me to retire, that at least one of them comes to relieve my watch. HOOYAH NAVY!”
