- Ronald D. Castille
Infobox Judge
name = Ronald D. Castille
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office = Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
termstart = January 14, 2008
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predecessor =Ralph J. Cappy
successor = Incumbent
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birthdate = birth date and age|1944|03|16
birthplace =Miami ,Florida
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alma_mater =Auburn University University of Virginia School of Law
religion =Ronald D. Castille (born March 16, 1944) is the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania . He was theDistrict Attorney of the City of Philadelphia from 1986 until 1991 and is a member of the Republican Party. He is also anamputee (requiring the use of crutches), having lost his leg to enemy gunfire while serving as a Marine platoon commander during theVietnam 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 inVietnam where he served as a platoon commander in 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. On March 16, 1967, Castille was conducting aSearch and destroy mission with his company inDuc Pho ,Quang Ngai Province when they came under attack from aViet 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 theNavy Cross and promoted to Sergeant.cite web|accessdate=2007-12-20
url=http://www.virtualwall.org/dm/MendezAx01a.htm
title=Angel Mendez
publisher=VirtualWall.org]Career
Following his medical retirement from the Marine Corps in 1968 Castille received his J.D. from
University of Virginia School of Law . In 1986 he was elected District Attorney of Philadelphia and served until 1991 when he unsuccessfully ran for mayor. Prior to his election to the Supreme Court, he was in private practice as a civil litigator for Reed Smith Shaw & McClay inPhiladelphia . He was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1993. [ [http://pview.findlaw.com/view/2077343_1 Hon. Ronald D. Castille - a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA) Lawyer ] ]On January 14, 2008, the Honorable Ronald D. Castille was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. [ [http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:7MnF Z6ZsbQJ:www.courts.state.pa.us/index/AskedAnswered/CastilleSwearingInSpeech.pdf+Angel+Mendez+Marine&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us&ie=UTF-8 Castille's Swearing in speech] ]
Awards and decorations
Among Ron Castille's awards and decorations are the following:
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* Navy Presidential Unit Citation
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Angel Mendez Notes
References
;Web
* [http://www.courts.state.pa.us/Index/Supreme/Castille.asp Official State of Pennsylvania Supreme Court profile]
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