~ Malden Musings ~ Chris Moro Remembers Veterans Day

By Peter Levine

“Veteran’s Day is upon us. As of this date in 2025 there are only .05% of World War 2 veterans alive today. As each day passes …soon there will be no WW2 veterans left just as the WW1 veterans eventually left us. So, if you come across a senior who looks like they could have been around that time period, please stop and say hello…and thank them for their service to our country. The greatest generation of men and women who helped rescue the world. Signed, the proud son of a veteran, Chris Moro.”

Thank you, Chris, well said.

Which reminds me of the… In the “they don’t write songs like they used to” department, I present to you John Prine’s “Hello In There” from his 1971 debut with these brilliantly heartfelt lyrics, “So if you’re walkin’ down the street sometime, And spot some hollow, ancient eyes, Please don’t just pass ’em by and stare, As if you didn’t care. Say, ‘Hello in there, hello.’”

Prine also wrote another classic about a vet returning home from Vietnam with PTSD and a drug addiction, “Sam Stone.” Brilliant singer/songwriter, brilliant song.

This week’s article continues with another classic Malden Musings deep dive into that history-making, earth-shaking, pants-dropping, heart-stopping year of 1963 (apologies, Bruce — couldn’t resist). Malden 1963 was a universe apart from Malden 2025; a vastly different creature in so many ways, yet, as you’ll soon find out, hauntingly familiar in others. Time changes places, but echoes of the past have a way of lingering. Come along if you care, come along if you dare (gold star if you know where that was lifted from). Malden 1963 through the eyes of the Malden Evening News and MHS’s Blue & Gold…

• Oct. 3: “Inside Information…” Interest grows about naming the new MDC pool in Malden in memory of PTL Eddie Callahan, who died September 16 in the A&P hold up attempt on Pleasant Street.
• Aug. 9: The Malden Redevelopment Authority is in a “tug of war” with the New Malden Advisory Council and a Ward 7 industry and business owners’ group over cleared land in the Suffolk Square/Faulkner project area. Proposals for the development of the area are to be submitted by Aug.15 for businesses and factories being displaced in the area to take advantage of the priority given to them since last year in obtaining a new site. My Note: Not much remains of the old Suffolk Square area. Suffolk Square was a Jewish enclave with kosher delis, shuls and their own theatre (Capital?). Most of the Jewish kids from SS went to Lincoln Jr. High, making them a powerhouse in sports, especially football. Look for my 1925 LJH Football Team salute in a couple of weeks (you thought the ’87 MHS football team was good?).
• Aug. ’63: E.E. Burns & Son Funeral Home at 204 Main St. and 572 Pleasant St. are “air-conditioned.” My note: E.E. Burns at the Main Street location recently closed up shop and will become what every Maldonian dreams of at night, a big brand-new apartment building (I say facetiously, of course). Before they tore down the Main Street building, the Malden Fire Dept. trained some of their best and brightest with some hands-on firefighting techniques on the structure.
• Aug. 9: “Shakeup Due to Snap Red Sox Slump” — Manager Johnny Pesky planned to change the Sox lineup tonight against the Twins in Minnesota in a desperate attempt to break a slump that has dropped the team into the second division. My note: It would take Pesky (who was a good man, btw) and the Sox brass more than shaking up the lineup in order to elevate them out of cellar dweller status where they landed year after year during the Yawkey Era. The Sox shamefully being the very last MLB team to integrate in 1959! They would make a run in 1967, 1975, 1978, 1986 and with1988’s Morgan Magic but not truly join the ranks of other successful and enlightened organizations until John Henry and the New England Sports Ventures group took control in 2002.
• Oct. 3: The Strand on Pleasant Street (approximately located where Malden Center Fine Wines is today) is showing “Toys in the Attic” with Dean Martin (a bomb) and “The Four Days of Naples” (an underground classic type of film).
• The Aug. 9 MEN headline screamed “World Saddened by Baby’s Death; President (Kennedy) Breaks News to Wife” – “Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, infant son of President and Mrs. Kennedy, died today 39 hours after his birth, his heart exhausted in the struggle with a respiratory ailment.”
• Aug. ’63: Who remembers Brandano’s Café at 381 Pearl St. (opposite Converse Rubber) where they serve “your favorite beverages.” My note: I may have had my favorite beverage there on an occasion or two all the while enjoying (the late) Richie Cremone’s famous steak tips and roasted potatoes. I miss Richie, but I miss his roasted potatoes and chicken soup even more. I kid, of course.
• Aug. ’63: Who remembers Max’s Restaurant at 184 Salem St. (former home to Emonee Tofu now home to Kimchip?)? In 1963 it was billed as “The Friendly Meeting Place.” By 1983 when I frequented the joint, it wasn’t exactly what you would call a “friendly meeting place.” LOL.
• Aug. ’63: Who remembers McCormack Flowers at 1219 Fellsway? My note: Growing up I walked by McCormack’s one billion times dribbling a basketball on my way to Devir Park! I believe this florist shop was owned by relatives of the late, great Bill McCormack (who are also related to that fabulous Gilligan clan)!
• Speaking of the Gilligan clan, have you seen (comedian) Paulie G. perform recently? I admittedly don’t see him as much as I would like these days, but he is still gut busting funny — getting better with age.
• Malden celebrities of note graduating in ’63… Joe Teta was another in a long line of Edgeworth luminaries that left an indelible mark on life. Joseph Walter Teta of 260 Pearl St. was a hockey, baseball, football and basketball star with his bio calling him “valuable.” He worked (of course) at Converse Rubber on Pearl and belonged to (of course) Holy Name of Saint Peter’s Church. His bio also states “with his patience and perseverance Joe will be an excellent teacher.” Not sure if Joe ever “taught” during his life, but he did have an outstanding career as a highly respected/dedicated court officer at the Woburn Superior Court. I also know for a fact that Joe was a stand-up guy whom I had the honor of calling friend!
• Ralph Kenty of 42 Concord St. was hockey co-captain and an “indispensable” guard and tackle on the football team. Next time you are at the corner of Fellsmere Road and Savin Street check out the memorial in honor of Ralph — WIA in 1967 in Nam.
• Timothy Francis Falzone of 43 Echo St. works at First National, is an “ardent” watcher of “Sea Hunt,” is a fan of Ray Charles (my note: so weren’t many of his classmates) and hopes to attend the School of IBM Machines and become a computer operator.
• Karen Marie Bergeron of 123 Webster St. has a large record collection, and her fave is (Revere’s most famous son) Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon.
• Gary Bruce Behens of 43 Glenwood St. spends his time at the Oak Grove Stables (Malden had stables in 1963??) and watching his favorite TV show, “Mr. Ed.” My note: Growing up, I loved Mr. Ed also!
• Francis Borelli of 15 Warren Ave. is a “zealous rock and roller” and enjoys listening to Ricky Nelson records in his spare time.
• Susan Anne Adams of 68 Elwell St. works at Nelson’s Bakery and likes “twisting to Ray Charles records.”
• Aug. 9: The annual San Rock Festa starts on Pearl Street at 5 on Saturday, August 10, and ends Monday, August 11, at Devir Park. On Saturday Boston’s famous Roma Band, under the direction of Guy Giarraffa, will lead the parade and will give a concert at Devir Park on Pearl Street during the evening. That is correct, Pearl Street Park was called Devir Park in 1963 (or “Little Devir,” as some remember); I will do some additional research on this. Stay tuned.
• Aug. 9: On Monday evening at 8 p.m. a “concert” will take place on Bruce Field at Devir Park followed by a fireworks display set for 10 p.m.
• Aug. 9: Joe Denoi DeNovellis is president of the San Rock Society, Donato DiScipio general chairman, John DiGiantommaso vice chairman, Joe Amicone secretary, and Gaetano Umile serves as treasurer.
• Meanwhile at Malden High School… The 1963 Maldonian was dedicated to the late, great Arthur Boyle: teacher, coach, class master, husband to Peg and father to Arthur Jr., Michael, David and Kathleen. Dedication to AB: “You are not only a teacher, counselor, and coach, but also a friend to all who know you. Your understanding attitude, your hardworking ways, and your conscientious manner make you dear to all of us at M.H.S.”
• And speaking of the times they are a changin’… On a less earth shattering but nonetheless still significant 1963 moment, the Levines — straight outta Carney Court in Charlestown — shook things up in Edgeworth when they planted roots on Charles Street! Think “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” but different. Insert smiley face.

As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing, sir” — I ain’t no historian (I just play one in The Malden Advocate), but I’m gonna give this a shot anyhow… 1963 was a year that shaped us in ways we may not have fully understood at the time. It was a year of reckoning, of change — of history unfolding before our eyes. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, his voice ringing with the hope of a nation in his “I Have a Dream” speech. The tragic assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Medgar Evers sent shockwaves through the country, altering the course of our collective future. It was, without question, one of the most defining years of the modern Civil Rights Movement and society at large.

Even in Malden, far from the epicenters of these seismic events, we felt the ripples. Young men from Linden all the way over to Edgeworth were sent off to distant conflicts (thank you, John Waden, Paul Trainor, Tom Moore, Sam Rumson, amongst many other Maldonians) while many of us found ourselves swept into the struggle for civil rights, standing for the belief that “freedom and equality were not privileges, but promises.” Meanwhile, the America we had known — the familiar rhythms of the past — rapidly began to give way. As Bob Dylan so hauntingly prophesied, “the old road” was vanishing, and whether we were ready or not, the times were indeed changing.

Postscript: In Memory of Leo Francis Moro (1920–1992). This column is dedicated to the memory of Leo Francis Moro — a proud member of the Greatest Generation and a true American hero. Like his father Charles before him, Leo answered the call to serve his country in the United States Navy during World War II. Service clearly ran in the Moro bloodline: Charles had worn Navy blue in both World Wars and was awarded the Navy Cross for valor in World War I. That’s family tradition!

Leo carried on that legacy across four war theaters — European, African, Middle Eastern and Asiatic — aboard two mighty attack transporters, the USS Harry Lee and the USS Thomas Jefferson. Between them, those ships racked up an amazing 17 battle stars, and Leo was right there in the thick of it.

Then there was the night of July 11, 1943, off the coast of Scoglitti, Sicily. A German Messerschmitt swooped in low, engines screaming toward the USS Harry Lee. But Gun Captain Leo Moro, BMI Class, and his crew didn’t flinch. With nerves of steel and hands steady as anchors, they opened fire — and sent that enemy plane into the drink before it could unleash its deadly cargo.

That act of courage earned Leo and his fellow gunners a citation and a recommendation for the Legion of Merit. But truth be told, medals or no medals, their bravery spoke for itself. So today (every day actually in my book) we salute Leo Moro and his brothers and sisters of the Greatest Generation. They faced that wicked storm so the rest of us could live in the calm seas that we all enjoy today.

“Fair winds and following seas,” Leo.

—Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to The Malden Advocate and can be reached at Pe*****@*ol.com for comments, compliments or criticisms.