Motts Tonelli passed away on January 11. It was an event that, while sad for his friends and family, did not attract much attention outside Chicago. That is sad, because his passing should have been followed by a national moment of silence. Few men have ever suffered more in the service of their country.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of, by any definition, one of World War II's most horrific tragedies and the incredible story of one football player's extraordinary will to survive.
Motts Tonelli, 86, was a survivor long before the millennial trend of reality television popularized the term. The yellowed newspaper clippings in the laminated scrapbooks spread across the kitchen table in his suburban Chicago home are proof....
Nearly 700 Americans and 10,000 Filipinos died on the Bataan Death March, but for those who survived, the nightmare was only beginning. Tonelli absorbed numerous beatings in three squalid prison camps — O'Donnell, Cabanatuan, Davao — over the next 2½ years, but each night he would reach for the silver soap dish where he concealed his Irish ring. Each glimpse of the ring reminded him of better days and provided hope for the future.
Tonelli somehow survived the hellish torture that was the Bataan Death March, as well as the torture that passed for life in a Japanese POW camp. Upon his return home, it would have been understandable if Tonelli had lived the rest of his life tortured by the memories of what he saw and what he had endured. Instead, he decided to give back what he could. In 1946, he became the youngest elected Cook County commissioner in history. He retired from public service in 1988.
"Well, that's the end of the story," Tonelli says to the visitor sitting in his kitchen. "Any other questions?"
"The ring. Do you still have it?" asks the visitor.
"You want to see it? C'mon."
He places a small, golden object in the visitor's left hand. Although worn by the effects of time, both the university seal and the inscription on the inner band remain legible.
"It's kind of worn down, isn't it?"
Tonelli flashes his trademark smile.
"It's over 60 years old," he explains. "Imagine what it's been through, where it's been. The history it's seen. It's been through a hell of a lot, kid, but it's still here."
Just like its owner.
Indeed. When I hear people talking about "heroism", I think of people like Motts Tonelli, and I wonder: what would I have done if I had been faced with those circumstances? Would I have conducted myself with the same courage, bravery, and equanimity that Tonelli did? Had I survived, would I have been able to lead my life with the absence of bitterness and anger that Tonelli did? Would ANY of us have been able to do it?
When you begin to think about heroes, men like Motts Tonelli should be at the top of your list. We should all say a silent prayer of thanks for the sacrifices made by Tonelli and the other American soldiers in the Phillippines. Without their example, we would be a much different nation.
