Bobby Castillo, WWII veteran, longtime member of memorial honor detail, dies

Bobby Castillo, WWII veteran, longtime member of memorial honor detail, dies

By JOE VARGO, The Press-Enterprise

Bobby Castillo’s life revolved around service to his fellow veterans. As a young man, Mr. Castillo served in the Navy, took part in the epic D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, and, days later, suffered serious wounds when his landing c raft was hit by German fire.

He returned to his native Riverside, became active in the American Legion and spent years volunteering on a memorial honor detail, paying final respects to more than 1,500 World War II comrades and servicemen and women from subsequent wars.
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Mr. Castillo died Sunday after a brief illness at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Riverside. He was 87.  "He was an ordinary American who served his country in war and, when he returned, served his community and country for the rest of his life," said Rees Lloyd, a friend of Mr. Castillo’s and a member of the same memorial honor detail. "I know of no one who did so much, so often and so well."

Lloyd said that Mr. Castillo helped form Memorial Honor Detail Team 12, one of the longest-serving volunteer units at the 30-year-old national cemetery. Until two weeks ago, he led the team as it performed rifle salutes, folded the flag and played taps at veterans’ funerals.

Last year, when the Department of Veterans Affairs banned the flag-folding ceremony, Mr. Castillo took a leading role in protesting the decision, which later was reversed.

Mr. Castillo served the 130,000-member American Legion at the local, county and state levels, bringing four state conventions to Riverside County. Fellow Legionnaires knew him simply as "Uncle Bobby." Mr. Castillo, a Cahuilla-Luiseño Indian, was a fixture at Post 79 in Riverside, where he held every elective and appointed office.

He was modest about his own service during World War II, which included serving as a mechanic for landing crafts that dropped off American shock troops on the beaches of North Africa, Italy and Sicily. He landed troops at Utah Beach on D-Day in France in 1944 before he was cut down by a piece of shrapnel that ripped through his lung and chest.

"I’m proud as punch I was able to do my part," Mr. Castillo said in a 2007 interview. "I’m not a hero. The heroes are the guys buried beneath the crosses in France and elsewhere."

His work put in him touch with heroes. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, a Medal of Honor recipient from Vietnam, said he was impressed with Mr. Castillo’s commitment to veterans. Brady met Mr. Castillo during an American Legion convention last year.
"He was part of the Greatest Generation," Brady said by telephone from his home near Tacoma, Wash. "Not only did they save the country, but after the war, they came back and built the country."

Services for Mr. Castillo are scheduled tentatively for Aug. 29 at Riverside Nationa l Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Rosemary; two stepdaughters; four nephews; and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews.

ORIGINAL STORY: http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_castilloobit19.4836e9f.html