BUTLER TWP — While speaking to members of the public Monday night at the VFW Post 249 hall in Butler, retired U.S. Marine Major General Peter Talleri confessed his feelings about being named the 2022 Butler Football Hometown Hero.

“My feet haven’t touched the floor since I received that phone call,” he said Monday night.

He explained why he felt that way while addressing a throng of fellow veterans, friends and family members in the high school cafeteria prior to Butler’s 35-28 win over Shaler Friday night.

“This is all about friendships, relationships, reconnecting with people,” Talleri said. “This brings me back to Butler football. I remember how I got started here.

“I was a quarterback at a high school in New Jersey my freshman year. I thought I was pretty good. My family relocated to Butler, I go on the practice field flinging the football around, 10, maybe 20 yards. Then a kid named Rick Galante shows up and throws the ball 72 yards.

“I knew something was about to change in my life,” he added.

Actually, a lot of things changed for him as the years went by.

A 1975 Butler graduate, Talleri did not start at Butler until his senior year, when he played defensive end. He went on to Clarion University, attended Officer Training School and entered the U.S. Marine Corps, becoming an officer and eventually a Major General. He served in the Marines for 34 years.

“To be an officer, you have to want to lead,” Talleri said. “I was proud to lead. Marines are phenomenal, tough-nosed people. Only one percent of our nation serves in the military. We all raised our hands. We want to do this.

“Our military really are special people.”

Two of Talleri’s closest friends — three-time Super Bowl champion and former Pittsburgh Steeler John Banaszak and the late Art Bernardi — developed a tight bond with him as fellow Marines.

Bernardi was Talleri’s head coach at Butler.

“I didn’t know he was an ex-Marine when he was coaching me,” Talleri said. “We became close friends afterward through that common bond. When he turned 90, I gave him a Marine Corps blanket with his name on it. I heard he used that often and I feel so good about that.

“John Banaszak was a corporal in the Marines. When Pinky (former Butler assistant coach Jim Kamerer) couldn’t make it to present me tonight (due to illness), I asked John if he would do so. He didn’t hesitate. That means the world to me.”

Talleri pointed out that while the military member sacrifices, the family does the same.

“When I retired, happy because I did what I wanted to do, I also realized how much I was away,” he said. “I left my wife, Debbie, alone for years to raise our kids. She knows that. Our kids know that.

“All three of our kids went to college. They totaled 15 years of college between them and I visited them in college a total of six times.”

After having veterans in attendance stand and be recognized, Talleri had his friends from Butler and Clarion do the same.

“The people you grow up with shape the kind of person you become,” he said. “I’m grateful to all of them.”

The Butler ROTC presented Talleri with an award before his speech. Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy proclaimed Friday to be Pete Talleri Day.

Talleri couldn’t resist having fun with that proclamation.

“I came to the City Building and it was very moving that they would do this,” he said. “This is my day ... and I don’t know what to do with my day.

“I decided that at the Italian Festival, I would be king,” Talleri mused. “I get everything I want free at the Brickhouse. And I get a ‘get out of jail free’ card. I won’t need it, but I know a couple of friends who might.”

One of Talleri’s cousins is the late Doug Buffone, who played left linebacker for the Chicago Bears for 13 years.

“Football is part of my DNA,” Talleri said. “I always felt I could go on the field and hit people. I had that mini-Buffone in me.

“We’re all able to connect with each other. That’s what this night is all about.”

Talleri became the 62nd individual to be honored by the Butler Football Hometown Heroes since the organization’s inception in 2004. Hometown Hero committee member Ralph McElhaney, one of those previously honored, served as master of ceremonies Friday.

McElhaney summed up the goal of the organization.

“When you become part of the Butler football family like this, you’re a member for life,” he said.