A Marine with a softer side

I hated making the phone call, but the pressure was on. Too many

people had tipped me off, and I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I knew

it would make him mad, but it’s all part of the job.

I remembered the warnings:

“He doesn’t want the papers involved,” a source of mine said. “In

fact, he told me not to tell you, but I am doing it anyhow.”

I dialed the number and waited for that familiar New Jersey

accent.

“This is Dan. How can I help you?” he said.

“Hi, it’s Lolita at the Pilot,” I said. “I heard you’ve been doing

a lot of really nice things for some wonderful people.”

“You know I don’t like this,” said Dan Marcheano, owner of the

Arches restaurant in Newport Beach.

Word on the street has it Marcheano has been tirelessly donating

packages, money -- any resources at his disposal -- to help military

personnel serving in the Middle East and their local families.

“He has people over here cleaning my house from top to bottom,”

said Carrie Spence, the wife of Marine Staff Sgt. Cass Spence, who

has been profiled by the Daily Pilot.

I had confronted Marcheano about his soft side while walking with

him at the Newport Beach Relay for Life. He played it down, said it

was no big deal.

But it is a big deal to the Spences and to retired Marine and

friend George Tepich, who had blown Marcheano’s cover.

“Dan Marcheano ... has done a wonderful job in sending boxes after

boxes to our Marines. I stopped counting after 25,” Tepich wrote in

an e-mail. “There is no stopping this patriot.”

Not only had Marcheano arranged for packages to be sent and houses

to be cleaned, he also raised money to have Carrie’s faulty water

heater repaired and broken stove replaced.

“I am just ecstatic,” Carrie Spence said.

She added that she was sprucing up the house in preparation for

Cass’ return. She doesn’t know if he will be home in a couple of days

or weeks, but it will be soon.

“All this wonderful stuff he has done for me and for Cass, all the

packages he has sent to Cass and stuff,” she said. “I just can’t

thank him enough.”

I had all the evidence I needed, and Marcheano fessed up.

“OK, so what do you need to know?” the retired Marine asked.

Why, I asked.

“Why?” Marcheano asked incredulously. “I’ll tell you why. Because

I’m too old to go over there and do it myself. Because I enjoy my

freedom and I do enjoy the strong possibility that I will have it for

a long time to come, and it is because of the people who are over

there right now doing that job that we should all appreciate.”

OK. Dumb question.

“I also heard you are planning a big homecoming bash for the

troops,” I said.

“You’ve got very big ears, young lady,” Marcheano said. “I don’t

remember you having such big ears.”

Marcheano said he wants to do whatever he can to make their time

back at home the most enjoyable.

From what he understands, some might only be home for a week or

two, and in that case, they may want to just kick their feet up. It’s

their choice, he said.

“You tell me what you want, we’ll do it,” he said. “Want to spend

time with your family? OK. Want to come down to the restaurant? Done.

Want me to come and do a big barbecue? I got it covered for up to 150

people.”

Marcheano had told me before that he is not good at cooking for

two.

“Two hundred people, yeah, now that gets me going,” he said.

I thanked Marcheano for talking to me and begged him not to be mad

at Tepich or Carrie for tipping me off.

“You know me,” he said. “Do with this what you want. To be blunt

about it, I feel that I am fortunate enough to have the financial

where with all to be able to do it and I do appreciate my ability to

have that kind of freedom, and that all of my friends and families

have that freedom. And for that, you have to give back.”

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and

covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or

by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.