CANFIELD — Chester Kaschak, 82, served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the 1960s, where he developed a sense of service and a passion to keep on serving. Today he is involved in numerous veterans organizations and still gives of himself to serve his country and his fellow veterans.

Kaschak is a 1960 Cardinal Mooney graduate. During his youth he delivered The Vindicator newspaper. After graduation, he went on to study industrial management at Youngstown State University. At age 21, he decided to drop out of school and try making money.

“I was discriminated against because I was of draft age so no one wanted to hire me,” Kaschak said.

In 1963, he got engaged to his later-to-be wife, JoAnn, and decided to join the Marines, a move not popular with his father, Michael Kaschak.

“My dad was in the Navy as a coxswain on an LST (landing ship, tank),” Kaschak said. “He never talked about it, but he did witness the attack on Okinawa and saw the Marines mowed down. He would tell me to never join the Marines, so I did.”

In 1963, he enlisted and was sent to Parris Island, South Carolina, for basic training. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the Marine Corps.

“I remember standing at attention after my medical exam and the DI (drill instructor) told me I was nothing but a hood from Youngstown, but wait till I am done with you,” Kaschak said. “That DI was Staff Sgt. Davis who was a recruiter on duty in Youngstown when a local gangster’s car was blown up. So he remembered Youngstown for its gangsters.”

He said in boot camp, he was physically broken down, then built back up to become a real Marine. After boot camp, he was sent to Camp Geiger at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

From Camp Geiger, Kaschak was assigned to radio communications and intelligence at Fort Meade, Maryland, for a short time. He was then sent back to Camp Lejeune and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines HNS Company as a message center man with a top secret crypto clearance to decode messages

“We referred to the force at Camp Lejeune as the ‘Ready Force’,”Kaschak said. “We were ready to go anywhere in the world.”

In October through November of 1964, that is exactly what Kaschak did. He was assigned to the USS LaSalle helicopter carrier and LST. That was one of 84 Navy ships involved in Steel Pike, the largest amphibious landing exercise in history at that time. The exercise took place on the coast of Spain.

“Being in communications I could see all the ships involved in the exercise,” Kaschak said. “All I could see was ships everywhere. I was glad to be an American.”

He said the Marines involved in the exercise landed on every island in the Mediterranean Sea. He said liberty was spent in France, Italy and Spain.

While serving in the operation, there was terrorist action reported in Lebanon that saw Kaschak’s unit placed on standby.

In April of 1965, helicopters picked up Kaschak’s unit and transferred it to the USS Okinawa, a helicopter carrier. The ship then headed to the Dominican Republic after then-President Lyndon Johnson called for troops to assist the island in a civil war.

“We never went in, but we were in the combat zone,” Kaschak said.

In August of 1965, Kaschak got a leave and married JoAnn. He returned to service in the Caribbean and with three months left to serve, Kaschak was offered second lieutenant with a choice of duty stations.

“I decided I did my three years, and it was time to settle down,” he said. “In December 1966, I was honorably discharged.”

Kaschak returned to civilian life and ended up at Youngstown Sheet & Tube. He started as a clerk and quickly got into supervision as a labor foreman. He rose through the ranks to general foreman. After 11.5 years (in 1977), he got word the plant was shutting down.

He went to Republic Steel for three years until it shut down, ending up at LTV Steel in Warren. He retired from LTV in 2001 after 35 years in the steel business.

Like most Marines, Kaschak could not sit on a front porch, but he had to keep busy. He started driving a school bus for Western Reserve and Canfield schools. In his spare time, Kaschak continued his service to others by joining the Marine Corps Detachment League 494 and the American Legion Post 737 (Lake Milton).

He got involved with Wreaths for Veterans, placing flags on veterans’ graves, visiting Hospice to help other veterans and serving on color guards and honor guards for parades and services. He also got involved with the Mahoning Veterans Museum at the Canfield Fairgrounds, where he serves as a trustee today. He also became a Master Gardener with the local OSU Extension Office. He is an avid gardener, and today he works in raised garden beds.

“All this keeps me busy,” Kaschak said. “I see many retire and do nothing. They are no longer with us.”

He recommends service and believes all young people need to experience it.

“I recommend every young person should spend time in the military,” he said, “Maybe then they will have more respect for our flag and what it stands for.”

Have an interesting story? Email J.T. Whitehouse at jtwhitehouse@vindy.com.