John Crisafulli
“I hope you’re calling the right person,” said John Crisafulli when asked to be the subject this Local Hero column. Crisafulli, who received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for service in the Korean War, worked for 35 years as a teacher and principal in Natick schools.
He was born in Natick at a house just two streets away from his present home. After graduating from the former Natick High School, he joined the Marine Corps. “I wasn’t ready for college,” Crisafulli said. By joining, he followed football friends and a World War II veteran neighbor into the Marine Corps, and an older brother into the Navy— without having to serve on a ship.
“It just happened that shortly after I joined the Korean War broke out,” Crisafulli said. Sworn in August of 1950, “the end of December I was on my way to Korea.” He volunteered for Special Forces, 1st Marine Division, and got in. The group of 22 harassed the enemy with killing raids, working in groups of eight or nine, and also acted as the point group during big attacks. Shot in the right hip on June 1, 1951, Crisafulli voluntarily returned to combat in July with the bullet still in him.
“You ever heard the expression ‘War is hell’? It really is. Because usually in war you’re taking life,” he said. “It’s not a pleasant thing… to do. And you hope you don’t get killed yourself.”
“The greatest resource we have in this world is the human being. Who knows, when a person is killed, what potential that person may have to solve some of the problems we’re having,” Crisafulli said. “So every time a life is taken without that person having the chance or the ability to live to their potential I think we all suffer. We all lose by that. That’s my regret of— of any war.”
“I had a difficult time after coming home,” Crisafulli said. “I did do some drinking,” he said, “but Father Foley at St. Patrick’s Parish” – while Crisafulli worked for a year – “was helping me and talked me into taking the college boards to Boston College.” He attended on the GI Bill and graduated in 1958 with a degree in education. “I was fortunate and got a job at the Natick school department,” Crisafulli said. He taught sixth grade for 15 years, fifth grade for five, and was a principle for 15 years. “The greatest joy is when you can see students realize that they’re learning,” he said.
“My experience in Korea helped me make up my mind that I wanted to do something that would help people. So I chose education,” Crisafulli said. “It’s helping people grow to their potential versus taking life.”
“It would be a better world,” he said, “if each person tried to help those around them be all they can be.”
He retired in 1992. He makes Nantucket baskets as a hobby. “And I volunteer in the town; I belong to most of the veterans’ organizations,” he said. “I help the library.”
Asked what he is most proud of, John Crisafulli, with all his many options, didn’t hesitate: “Being a father,” he said. “Being a dad to five young people and six grandchildren.”