At 97, Marine Corps vet still shoots for the moon

[rpannier]

She is feisty, yet gracious. She is happy to have lived 97 years, but is not content. She wants more.

"The moon is there to shoot for,'' said Marine Corps veteran Mary Cardinalli, who will lead the Pledge of Allegiance Thursday at the big Honor Flight fundraiser at East Moline's Park Vista Retirement Community.

"If I had one thing to say to young people it would be to keep your thoughts in mind and always aim high. Say, I wouldn't mind being the first woman on the moon.''

Cardinalli is not your run-of-the mill 97-year-old. A woman, born into an era where females scrapped to earn equal footing with men, she was brazen enough in 1943 to join the United States Marines and serve her country for three years, earning the rank of Staff Sergeant. She, with her husband, Vincent, operated a commercial fishing company in San Francisco, Calif., owned a hotel in Merced, Calif., and traveled the country when breaks allowed. She can catch, fillet and can a salmon with the best.


link:
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=499023

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