Vietnam Vet, "Rose Garden" Marine Sgt. Taliano laid to rest

Ex-Marine, S.C. resident on famous poster dies
By PATRICK DONOHUE - The Beaufort Gazette
BEAUFORT —

Sgt. Chuck Taliano was awaiting an honorable discharge at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in 1968 when a reservist writing a book about boot camp snapped a picture of him giving a recruit an “attitude readjustment.”


That cemented Taliano’s place in Corps legend.



Chuck Taliano, the mean-mugged drill instructor pictured on the Marine Corps’ ‘Rose Garden’ recruitment poster, died June 4.



The photo captured his snarling mug inches from a fresh-faced recruit with the caption, “We don’t promise you a rose garden.” It was on thousands of Marine Corps recruiting posters printed during the 1970s and 1980s.


The poster made Taliano a celebrity among Marines, said Stephen Wise, curator of the Parris Island Museum, where Taliano worked as manager of the gift shop.


“Everyone from generals to former privates would stop by to see him,” Wise said. “Everyone knew Chuck.”


Taliano, 65, died in his Beaufort home Friday after a long battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. A memorial service was held Wednesday for Taliano at the depot’s Recruit Chapel, and he will be buried today at Beaufort National Cemetery.



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