01/02/2023
Sensei Jerry Vessichio
Jerry Vessichio 97-year-old, World War II Purple Heart recipient veteran and a live long Martial Artist. Jerry is said to be the oldest Judo Competitor in the USA.
December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Jerry was 16 years old and in 1942 he enlisted into the US Marines with his mother’s consent. He attended Basic training in Parris Island, South Carolina, where he was introduced to hand-to-hand combat (AKA Jujutsu), by Col. Evan Carlson and Maj. Don Drager. After his basic training, Jerry was then assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Los Angeles area where he completed his training before being shipped to Hawaii. While he was in California, he was first introduced to Sport Judo, which later became his passion.
In 1944 Jerry was assigned to the U.S. 4th Marine Division and was deployed to his first combat duty in the Marshall Islands which was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, In the campaigns of 1943 and the first half of 1944, the Allies had captured the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea.
Jerry fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands in 1944 as part of Operation Forager. It has been referred to as the "Pacific D-Day". In the Battle of Saipan is where Jerry was wounded by a mortar shell. A mortar shell landed a few yards from him, and a piece of shrapnel pierced his helmet hitting Jerry in the forehead and knocked him semi-unconscious. All he could remember was falling to his face and waking up in a stretcher.
Jerry also witnessed his first sergeant get his lower leg ripped to pieces by a mortar shell. The sergeant bled out because the medics were unable to reach him, due to heavy mortar fire. And his sergeant like so many soldiers refused a tourniquet to stop the bleeding for fear of gangrene.
Jerry was awarded a Purple Heart, for his injury and along with a Unit Presidential Citation, or the Pacific campaign. But Jerry like so many of our heroes was not officially recognized for saving the lives of several of his fellow Marines.
While under fire, and not being a marksman was able to take out an enemy machine gun bunker. There is no record of his bravery, mainly because his OIC (and only witness) was killed while transporting other wounded Marines to medical care and was never able to file his report of the incident.
Seeing so much carnage, Jerry quickly realized that war is hell, one man killing another for political or economic or cultural reasons solves nothing. War is inhumane, and barbaric. He will never support a war for any reason. That is why he feels Judo is the only civilized form of combat.
After his honorable discharge from the US Marines, he went back home to New York, and obtain a B.S. of Physical Education, while continuing to study judo, jujutsu, and boxing.
