At 91 years old, Alex Vacello still remembers the movies he went to see one night while serving in the Korean War.
“From here to eternity.”
He also remembers the circumstances that got him there in the first place.
“You had to line up before you could go on guard duty,” Vacello says. “A sergeant would come and inspect your uniform, your gun, everything. And if you were the best in the group, you didn’t have to go on guard duty. I’d been dreaming about it for a year, and finally I was selected. Finally! We went to the movies that night.”
But the story didn’t end well.
“We were about halfway through when the lights came on and the military police chief came in. He said, ‘Is Sergeant Vasselot here?’ I said, ‘Yes I am.’ He then said, ‘One of the guys in your tent has committed suicide.’ He pointed the gun at me and I had to go back to guard the tent.”
Vacello grew up in McKees Rocks, the youngest of 15 children and the youngest surviving child, and is also the grandfather of former Pittsburgh Penguins and Upper St. Clair native Ryan Malone.
A staff sergeant with the 2nd Infantry Regiment, Vacello served in uniform for 20 months, stationed at the 38th Parallel in Korea from 1953-54. Earlier this month, he dropped the opening puck in a charity hockey game hosted by his Son’s Foundation at the RMU Island Sports Center.
This is the second annual Black & Gold Breaking the Mold Heroes & Celebrities Hockey Game. The event is hosted by the Malone Family Foundation and its purpose is to raise funds and awareness about the need to promote mental health and wellness for everyone, especially military veterans and first responders.
The game was well attended by former Penguins players, local athletes, hockey celebrities and skaters from the local veterans and first responders hockey clubs.
“We’re showing how the game of hockey can have healing powers through the camaraderie and sense of responsibility that develops in the locker room,” Malone said. “Our number one mission is to take care of first responders and veterans. Our families know hockey, so we’re providing a platform to empower and inspire them.”
For Vasselot’s tent mates in Korea, the mental toll of military combat overseas was too much to bear, and for many who have returned home, the hardships are still just as severe.
The Department of Veterans Affairs released a report in 2012 estimating that in the 2010 calendar year, 22 veterans committed suicide per day.
Since then, the number has been adopted in various ways by many in the veterans care community as a symbol of the need for better medical care and psychological protection for those who have served in the military and emergency medical service communities, which is why every player who played in Malone’s hockey games had the number 22 on the shoulder of their uniform.
“My grandfather always taught us that our freedom isn’t free. Without our veterans, we wouldn’t have this great country,” Malone said.
More than a decade later, the data on veteran suicide rates is still alarming. A 2021 Brown University study concluded that suicides among active duty and veterans in the wars since 9/11 have been four times higher than the number of military deaths during war operations during that same period. That’s a staggering statistic when we think back to those who died in the line of duty this Memorial Day weekend.
Listening to Vasselo’s story, it’s no wonder why.
“It was Christmas Eve, I was on guard duty, and it was -25 degrees Celsius. It was brutal. There were snipers shooting at us, even on Christmas Eve,” Vasselot said. “Then it was summer, and the humidity was high. A typhoon came and blew our tents away. We were lying there looking at the sky. Our tents blew away. We were six of us in one tent.”
It’s not just combat that leaves scars: separation from loved ones and abandonment can also leave scars.
“Whenever I had the chance, I went to play baseball in Korea, on a small team,” Vasselot recalled. “I remember being called out of a game by a Red Cross official who told me my brother had died at home. They said, ‘We’re sorry, but we can’t let you go because you’re not an heir.’ They said, ‘You have lots of relatives in the country.’ I was devastated. I just couldn’t go.”
Despite the hardships of his 20 months in Korea, Vasselot doesn’t plan to have only negative memories of his time in the military.
“I got to see Marilyn Monroe up there,” Vacello said, beaming. “Oh, what a beautiful woman. There were 20,000 people in the field and she was on stage. When she first came on stage, she had her hoodie on because it was so cold. We all had hoodies on. She starts giving her little speech and she says, ‘Guys, I don’t think you came all the way out here to see me in a hoodie.’ She whipped her hoodie off. Oh my God. We were going crazy. It was crazy. I had a front row seat.”
For Malone, seeing his grandfather arrive to a standing ovation from the fans was the perfect way to kick off his foundation’s game, especially since his brother, Mark (a former Wheeling Nailer), was with him for the face-off, and Malone’s father, Greg (a former Penguins player and scout), was there as an honorary coach.
“This is really our family,” Malone said in an interview during the game, “and we’re grateful to have the opportunity to help our veterans and our first responders, but we know this also applies to anybody who’s suffering from anything.”
When Ryan and Mark were young, their father Vacello spent a lot of time watching Pittsburgh sports and taking his grandsons to games, his father said. A huge Steelers fan, Vacello was most interested in meeting former defensive lineman Brett Keisel, who was Ryan’s linemate at hockey games.
“Al wanted to talk to (Kiser) about all the sports from the ’70s and ’80s,” Gregg said.
About 10 years after returning from South Korea, Vasello had the chance to see “From Here to Eternity” when it was re-released at a local cinema.
“I decided I was going to go see this idiot,” Vacello said, “and see how it ends.”
Vacello wanted to see it through, despite the painful memories that came with it.
Now, a foundation set up by his grandson helps veterans do the same.
LISTEN: Tim Benz interviews Ryan Malone about his foundation, “Black and Gold Breaking the Mold Heroes” and “Celebrity Hockey Game.”
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or XAll Tweets may be reposted. All Emails may be publicly posted unless otherwise specified.
