Marine Who Guarded FDR on ‘Day of Infamy’ Dies

Orsini enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1940 and was assigned to the White House security detail guarding FDR. He was among the Marines in the House of Representatives on Dec. 8, 1941, when the president delivered his speech before a joint session of Congress a day after the Japanese attack on Hawaii.

Orsini told a veterans’ organization two years ago that after enduring grueling boot-camp training, the officer in charge called him into his office in 1939 and informed him that his superior typing skills were needed in Washington.

“I just could not believe this,” Orsini recalled. “I wanted to go to Europe — not be a typist.”

But he went anyway.

“Soon I received another call to report to my command officer, and that is when he dropped a bombshell,” he said. “I found myself assigned to the White House guard staff.”

Only 19 years old, Orsini had become a member of an elite squad that would be guarding the president. In 1941, he was only a few feet away when Roosevelt was sworn in for his historic third term. Orsini attended numerous high-profile events and formed a real relationship with Roosevelt.

“My best experience came when I was on a train guarding the president and we went to Warm Springs, Georgia, for his vacation,” he recalled. “He was the most relaxed on that trip; Roosevelt enjoyed life tremendously.”

The lives of Roosevelt, Orsini, and everyone in America changed early on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Soon Orsini was standing off to the side of the president as he delivered his “Day of Infamy” speech to the world.

“I can tell you this,” Orsini said. “I was never so moved with emotion in my entire life. Here was the president telling the world that the United States and its allies were going to take care of those … who dragged us into the war. The best part of it all was that we did. Roosevelt kept his promise to the world.”

Orsini later served in the Pacific in Guam, Okinawa and China. Following the war, he became an executive at Scott Paper Company.

His funeral and burial are Monday in South Glens Falls.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the November 25th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.