John Brochetti came back from his service in the 1940s to help establish Cosgrove Post 523 in Rural Valley, Pa.
John – or “Spy,” as most know him – worked in the mines, yet always found time for the post. He started the baseball program and received all the equipment on credit – unheard of at the time. Each year, Spy would lead the Memorial Day parade from the Legion post to St. Mary’s Cemetery, where he helped the local schoolchildren put flags on all the veterans’ graves. Last September, he and his wife, Liz, helped dedicate the Shannock Valley War Memorial. Listed on the memorial is their son, Frank, who was killed in Vietnam on April 8, 1972. I served with him. Even that tragedy could not keep Spy and Liz from doing work at, and for, the post. Spy and Liz have another son and three beautiful daughters, who all help out at the post. They have three grandsons in the service – one in the Marine Corps and two in the Air Force. Their granddaughter’s husband is also a Marine. Talk to anyone in Rural Valley, and they will tell you that the post should be renamed Brochetti Post 523.
– Jim Haire, Louisville, Ky.