🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: Honoring Sergeant Lena Mae Riggi Basilone of the US Marine Corps:

 ðŸ‡ºðŸ‡² WWII uncovered: Honoring Sergeant Lena Mae Riggi Basilone of the US Marine Corps:


On this day we honor WWII veteran and US Marine Corps Sergeant Lena Mae Riggi Basilone, wife of World War II hero John Basilone.

During World War II Lena was serving as a field cook in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve - stationed at Camp Pendleton where she met her future husband John. 

A true love story from the beginning the couple married just weeks after their initial meeting.

After a short romance John was ordered to go back to the Pacific. Lena and John were married on July 10, 1944 at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church in Oceanside, California. 

A month after their wedding, in the same setting where they first met, the couple said their goodbyes in a Camp Pendleton chow hall. Basilone returned to the Pacific. 

Lena would become a widow on February 19, 1945.  Lena would not be notified of John's passing until her 32nd birthday on March 7. 

After the war Lena settled in Lakewood California where she lived until her passing on June 11, 1999 at the age of 86 years old.

 She was an avid volunteer - working with the Women's Marine Association, the American Veteran's Auxiliary and the Long Beach Veteran's Hospital. Lena never remarried.

Sergeant Lena Mae Riggi Basilone lies in rest at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside California. Rest in peace Lena your sacrifice is not forgotten.

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