Marines honor the man behind the bottles

Lolita Harper

It stood framed and proudly displayed Sunday in the backyard of

patriot and retired Marine Dan Marcheano: his coveted Iraqi flag.

Costa Mesa Marine Staff Sgt. Cass Spence and members of his

battalion presented the tough-talking, New Jersey-born restaurant

owner with a little souvenir from the war. A show of gratitude for

the dozens of care packages Marcheano sent to troops overseas.

“As we were storming Baghdad, we grabbed a little memento,” Spence

said, as he presented Marcheano with the flag. “Thank you for sending

us a bit of heaven.”

The flag was signed by members of Golf Company and presented at

the 21st anniversary party of the Arches, Marcheano’s popular Coast

Highway restaurant. Never settling for second best -- whether it be

at the restaurant or in life -- the 63-year-old sent supplies

designed to make sandstorms, sleepless nights and reconstituted meals

a little more palatable. Rules and restrictions imposed by military

officials meant nothing to the veteran. Marcheano knew what those men

wanted to open.

“Right here,” Spence said, pointing to Marcheano. “This is the

man. “There was nothing better than getting a package from Dan. We

didn’t get mail until the very end, but man, when we did, we had some

quality cigars and quality whiskey.”

“That’s my brother,” sister Colette Spence said.

The audience, which included Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg,

Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau, Asst. City Manager Sharon

Wood, Fire Chief Tim Riley, the Spence family and dozens more,

dragged itself away from the plentiful spread of gourmet eats and

gathered around the pool for the official presentation.

People oooh-ed and aaah-ed when the flag was unveiled and nodded

in agreement with the acknowledgment.

“Speech, speech,” the crowd shouted.

Marcheano took the microphone and thanked the Marines for their

service and their gift.

“Well, we did something, we stood up,” Marcheano said. “We

couldn’t do as much as these guys here, but we sure as hell tried to

put a smile on their faces.”

“Dan for governor,” dad Chuck Spence hollered, the audience

following in laughter.

* 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 [email protected].