Help! The Year 3 Teens Rescued the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol

Carmen Conti

Lou Castaldi

Officer Joe Pittaluga circa 1962

The Sea Isle City Beach Patrol was founded in 1919 with the sole mission of protecting bathers as they enjoyed the summer pleasures of the sea, sand, and surf. As a popular vacation destination, the city fathers were committed to providing their guests with the safest possible experience. During the summer of 1945, this commitment to excellence was stretched to its limits.

Since its inception, the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol had seen steady growth every year. In 1919, only one beach was protected. By the 1945 season, the beach patrol was responsible for five beach areas. The patrol had grown from two paid guards to a dozen or so. All of the patrol members were full-time employees. Along the way, the mission of the patrol also changed in the mid-1920s. Under the watchful eye of Captain Antonio “Jumbo” Cannavo, the patrol transformed from a group that would simply respond to bathers in distress to a patrol that would actively work to prevent any water emergencies. By 1945, the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol had evolved into “Water Watchers,” much like we have today.

Mayor William Haffert

In December 1941, the United States was drawn into World War II. As the war dragged on, more and more eligible males either volunteered or were conscripted into military service. Unfortunately, two SICBP members, Jerry Reinberg and Jack McGettigan, would be killed during the conflict. Additionally, Sea Isle City native Chel Lamanna, the brother of guards Vince and Peter Lamanna, would also be a war causality. All able-bodied males ages 18 to 38 were required to serve. As the young men marched off to war, a labor shortage was being created on the home front.

By the beginning of the summer of 1945, the labor shortage was being keenly felt by the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol. Other factors were also at work to create what could potentially be extremely distressing summer season. One was a major hurricane that had hit Sea Isle City in September 1944. Large sections of the beach were washed away, and many homes and businesses were destroyed. The entire boardwalk was demolished by the storm, as were the beach patrol tent and much of the city’s rescue equipment. To add to the city’s problems, just before the season’s start, John Oakes left his position as the beach patrol captain to take other employment. Mayor William Haffert was in a very difficult situation.

For the 1945 summer season, Walter Holmes was appointed captain of the beach patrol. No stranger to the Sea Isle City beaches, Holmes had commanded the Townsends Inlet Coast Guard base for 15 years before his retirement in 1934 due to poor health. Now at 64, his heath had not improved.

Due to the war-created manpower shortage, the biggest problem confronting Holmes was how to staff the city’s beaches. With almost the entire patrol ages 17 or younger, there were very few people in that age range familiar with the ocean. In short, there were not enough lifeguards to man the stands. It was at this time that the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol was rescued by what would seem a very obvious solution to the manpower shortage.

Throughout the first three-quarters of the 20th century, Sea Isle City was home to a vibrant commercial fishing fleet. Most of these fishermen were immigrants from Italy, with their labor being supplied by their young first-generation Italian-American sons, nephews, and acquaintances. Although they were young, they were wise beyond their years in the ways of the ocean, and they constituted a knowledgeable and untapped resource.

In 1945, the predominant style of commercial fishing in Sea Isle City was working a fish pound. Using this method, the fish were basically directed through a series of nets into a “pocket” from which they could not escape. The entire pocket was then hauled into an open boat by hand, and the fish were loaded into the boat to be brought to the docks. In addition to the seamanship that was required to bring the boat out and then back through the inlet loaded with fish, brute strength was required to bring the pocket, at times teeming with fish into the boat. It was these first-generation Italian-American laborers who rescued the beach patrol.

Their life was not glamorous. They were up long before dawn every day and in the ocean at their fish pound by sunrise. After bringing their catch into the boat and repairing all of the damaged nets, they returned to their fish house to pack their catch. Using white cedar wooden boxes, the fish need to be packed away and covered with ice for sale. After the catch was packed, it was carted to trucks to be sold only hours later as fresh fish in Philadelphia and New York. The boat then needed to be cleaned and fueled. For most of the fishermen, this was a full day’s work. It was after this full day of work that these young lifeguards hit the beach.

Captain Walter Holmes and the 1945 Sea Isle City Beach Patrol.

Working this second full-time job was the daily routine for three of the guards. Lou Castaldi worked for the Philip Pratico fishing business, as did Joe Pittaluga. Carmen Conti worked for the Libro fishing business. Like all of the other guards, they had to pass a test to get on the patrol. The 5-foot-4 Conti, in addition to a long swim, was required to complete a mock rescue, carrying another guard “who was at least 6-3, 6-4” on to the beach before practicing artificial respiration. Due to their commitment at the fish houses, the three were allowed to come to the beach late, after all of the fish were packed. Instead of attending roll call, the guards went directly to their beaches, usually no later than by 11am. Pittaluga worked the 45th Street beach, Castaldi 39th Street, and Conti 43rd Street. These three represented about 25% of the entire patrol in 1945. Their pay was $12 per week.

Conti enjoyed rowing, and along with a partner spent many hours off 43rd Street on boat layout. The boat seemed to weigh “1,000 pounds,” he says, but was enjoyable to ride, especially when bringing a boat in bow first through the surf.

Conti also relates that Holmes was respected by the men, but didn’t get on the beach too much. He was always dressed in “long white pants, a white shirt, and white shoes.” With the boardwalk being washed out, getting to the stands proved very difficult for him. One day, while in a pavilion above the washed-out beach at 43rd Street, Holmes attempted to whistle to bathers near the pier on 42nd Street during a hard northeastly wind. Blowing his whistle as hard as he could, his false teeth came out and tumbled to the beach below. Conti humorously recalls catching his dentures and then badgering the captain for favors for the return of his teeth.

By the 1946 summer season, many of the veterans were returning home, and a sense of normalcy had returned to the community. Holmes had successfully brought the patrol through the labor crisis and left the beach. He would die three years later.

Lou Castaldi returned to the beach in 1946, but Carmen Conti and Joe Pittaluga did not. All three stayed in Sea Isle City. Castaldi continued as a commercial fisherman. Pittaluga became a patrolman on the Sea Isle City Police Department. Beloved by the community, he was a victim of an early death in the early 1970s.

Carmen Conti continued as a commercial fisherman, and eventually opened Carmen’s Seafood Restaurant on 43rd Place. Carmen’s Seafood is open for business, so during your visit to the restaurant, ask to speak to him. He will be happy to tell you about how back in 1945, he helped to rescue the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol.