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WWII veteran honored by Fallbrook community

Fallbrook honored one of its last remaining heroes from the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II during a drive by birthday parade Thursday, July 16.

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Carl Romano, who turned 95 years old July 16, sat out front of Silvergate Retirement Residence to watch as the North County Fire department led the parade, followed by members of the community and the local sheriff's substation to pay their respects.

Hank Donigan, a good friend of Romano and a retired marine as well, organized the parade.

"We have a church on Camp Pendleton that he attends every Sunday like we do and sometimes I drive him out," Donigan said. "That's how I've gotten to know him.

"For 95 he's pretty spry, very accomplished, a longtime resident of Fallbrook," Donigan said.

Donigan added that Romano used to be an avocado rancher in Fallbrook, and that he's also hiked the distance of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Romano was thanked by many who had come out to wish him a happy birthday, several asking how old he was turning.

"I'm not 95, I'm 75!" He said, smiling.

"I feel like a teenager again, I feel real good," Romano said. He served for 30 years, and retired in Fallbrook in 1978.

"I was just one of them," Romano said about serving. "So did millions of others."

He joined the Marines Corps out of high school and has fond memories.

"The friendship, the people I served with, my buddies, my close friends," Romano said. "My foxhole friends. They've all pretty much retired themselves.

"Not much to my life, you know? I've had a good life, always taken care of my health," he said, adding that he had been a "patriotic kid."

"Carl was an 18-year-old private during the battle, witnessed the flag raising on Mount Suribachi, and was wounded on the seventh day of battle," Donigan had written on his Facebook post inside a community group, when he had asked the community to come out to join the birthday parade.

"He's a pretty humble guy."

Lexington Howe can be reached by email at [email protected].

 

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