Margo Cianchetta will run the Marine Corps Marathon in Alexandria, Virginia on Sunday with an angel on her shoulder – her beloved uncle, Anthony “Tony” Medoro.
Medoro, a Marine Corps veteran, passed away from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, on Nov. 10, 2023.
“He not only fought glioblastoma, but he was only 58,” said Cianchetta. “It was such a tragedy for our family.”
The fact that Medoro died on Nov. 10, the Marine Corps birthday, is not lost on his niece.
“It was very fitting because he wanted to be a Marine,” she said, adding that her uncle also had a sense of humor.
“He has a USMC tattoo on his arm,” she said. “When we were younger we would say `Uncle Tony, what does tattoo mean?’ He would laugh and say it stands for United States Mickey Mouse Club.”
Medoro followed in his brother’s footsteps and joined the Marine Corps after graduating high school.
“My Uncle Tony is the youngest of eight kids,” Cianchetta said. “There’s about a 10-year gap in age between them. My father joined in 1975 and my uncle joined in 1985, following in his older brother’s footsteps.”