Ronald D. Castille

Ronald D. Castille (born March 16, 1944) is the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. He was the District Attorney of the City of Philadelphia from 1986 until 1991 and is a member of the Republican Party. He is also an amputee (requiring the use of crutches), having lost his right leg to enemy gunfire while serving as a Marine platoon commander during the Vietnam War.

Marine Corps service

Castille received a B.S. in Economics from Auburn University in 1966. Following graduation was commissioned an officer in the United States Marine Corps in Vietnam where he served as a platoon commander in 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. On March 16, 1967, Castille was conducting a Search and destroy mission with his company in Duc Pho, Quang Ngai Province when they came under attack from a Viet Cong battalion. During the fighting Castille was seriously wounded and fell, unable to move. One of his Marines, Angel Mendez shielded him and then carried him to friendly lines, which were more than seventy-five meters away. During this action Mendez was hit in the shoulder and two of his comrades rushed to help him with Castille but Mendez refused to let go of Castille and chose to act as rear man. Mendez continued to shield his Lieutenant with his own body until he was mortally wounded. For his actions Mendez was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and promoted to Sergeant.^[3]

Career

Following his medical retirement from the Marine Corps in 1968 Castille received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. In 1986 he was elected District Attorney of Philadelphia and served until 1991 when he unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for mayor. Prior to his election to the Supreme Court, he was in private practice as a civil litigator for Reed Smith Shaw & McClay in Philadelphia. He was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1993.^[4]

On January 14, 2008, Castille was sworn in as Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.^[5]

Awards and decorations

Among Ron Castille's awards and decorations are the following:

•   Bronze Star (with Combat Valor Device)
•   Purple Heart
•   Navy Presidential Unit Citation
•   Navy Unit Commendation
•   Combat Action Ribbon
•   National Defense Service Medal
•   Vietnam Service Medal
•   Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross
•   Vietnam Campaign Medal

See also

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal

• Angel Mendez

Notes

References

v t e Current statewide political officials of Pennsylvania U.S. Senators Bob Casey, Jr. Pat Toomey State government Tom Corbett, Governor Jim Cawley, Lieutenant Governor Linda Kelly, Attorney General Robert McCord, Treasurer Jack Wagner, Auditor General Senate Joe Scarnati, President pro tempore Dominic Pileggi, Majority Leader Jay Costa, Minority Leader House Sam Smith, Speaker Mike Turzai, Majority Leader Frank Dermody, Minority Leader Supreme Court (elected) Ronald Castille Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor J. Michael Eakin Max Baer Debra Todd Seamus McCaffery Joan Orie Melvin AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY