The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
WW II veteran seeks donations to frame painting
NEW HAVEN >> The tap came on Ralph Milione’s shoulder just as he prepared for war.
It came during one of the final American campaigns in World War II, in Borneo, in the waning days of the conflict’s Pacific Theater. Milione was in Company D, with the 6th Marine Division. Chaos erupted all around him as he stepped off a landing ship and onto a beach.
Then, the tap came. It was a 19-year-old kid; Milione was 18. He wanted Milione — a New Haven native and former altar boy in St. Michael’s Church — to teach him the Lord’s Prayer.
“I got four hand grenades on me,” Milione said. “I have a gas mask. I got a full helmet, full pack. A rifle. I’m going to teach you? How can I teach you?”
Milion, 91, has a memory as clear as morning dew. He remembers the date (July 1, 1945) when he joined his fellow countryman in Borneo in an amphibious assault against the Empire of
Japan. A month later, the war would be over after the dropping of two atomic bombs in Japan.
“Everybody went crazy,” Millione said. “Ah, we’re going to go home! We did not go home...I had to go full 8 more months in China.”
These days, Milion has traded the edge of the world for the edge of New Haven, living near the East Haven town line. When he’s not sharing war stories, he keeps pretty busy. He’s a published author (Living Well Beyond 100) that contains simple advice on how to keep oneself healthy and is pushing to develop a foundation to raise money to assist senior living.
His other latest project has been years in the making. Like the tap on the shoulder all those years ago, it’s rooted in faith.
Around 2004, Milion painted his own, technicolor version of Michelangelo’s Pieta, a sculpture by the famed Renaissance artist depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus. It’s an image and moment that’s been replicated and interpreted by innumerable artists through the ages.
Milion wants his 5-feetby-6-feet canvas to be inexpensively framed for now and ultimately place it in a gold frame for about $400. He’s currently looking for donations to help frame the painting.
“I sat down maybe six hours one day, the next day, maybe eight hours,” Milione said about his painting. His ambidexterity meant he could spend hours painting, switching hands once one started aching. The painting took about four months to complete.
Milione would like to have his work exhibited at churches in Greater New Haven. He would like to have the painting displayed to help raise donations for the church and to raise money for the gold frame.
“They would have two cups up front,” Milione said. “One for the painting to frame, one for the church.”
Milione started painting in 1985. He started with small paintings, replicating Van Gogh, Monet paintings and one other French artist who he couldn’t quite recall (“He painted his wife,” Milione said). He even painted a reworked Mona Lisa, but as a redhead with braids to mirror his wife, Marie, “an Irish girl from New York,” who had auburn hair. She passed away last year, shortly after their 60th wedding anniversary.
Milione’s vision is fading. He’s blind in one eye, but he can still make out movement with his other eye. Details can be tricky. But his vision for his paintings are clear. He’s also hoping that his painting can raise money to help establish his foundation.
When he dies, Milione said he would like his work donated, possibly to a local museum or church.
“My son will donate it,” Milione said. “Or he can sell it on Craigslist.”