Hawthorne Caballero's
Hawthorne Post No. 199 American Legion
Hawthorne, NJ
Click Below to see a Video of The Hawthorne Caballeros Alumni Corps field practice in April 2005!
It brings back memories of our own practices at Olney High! (Gave me chills and goosebumps)
American Legion Senior National Champions
1951, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1974, 1975
1946
On March 20th, 1946, the Caballeros were officially organized by a small group of recent veterans, former members of the St. George Cadets, including Jim Costello, his brother Bob, John McAuliffe (later to become Jim Costello's brother-in-law), Joe Scarber, and George Hayek. A few short weeks later, the corps made its first appearance.
A primary goal of the newly formed corps was to be different from all the others. The concept of Latin, or Spanish style uniform was agreed upon and the corps appeared for the first time in the now familiar Caballero uniform competing in their first field competition in Trenton, New Jersey on July 20th, 1947.
Another trademark is the short, but dramatic introduction and finale that have been played in one form or another for nearly thirty years. Espania Cani, played in its entirety beginning in 1957 and as an off-the-line introduction for many years thereafter, was originally arranged by Al Mura.
In August 1947, the Caballeros attended their first National American Legion Championship contest at Randall's Island Stadium in New York City, and placed eighth. In 1948, the corps attended the Nationals in Miami, finishing fifth; but a year later, they were disqualified because they had not finished in the top ten at the 1949 Nationals in Philadelphia. A month later, however, after regrouping and putting in some extra practice sessions, the Caballeros won their first Legion State Championship at Wildwood, New Jersey over the Jersey Joes of Riverside, the 1948 National Champions.
In 1950, the Legion Championship was in Los Angeles and the Caballeros were unable to attend. The 1949 and 1950 championships were won by the Garbarina Post corps, which in 1956 became the Skyliners. By the following year, however, the Caballeros had developed into a first rate contender, and 1951 proved to be a pivotal year. Not only did they win their first Legion National Championship, but while in Miami, were offered a trip to Havana by the State Department. Unfortunately, because of prior commitment, that invitation had to be declined. After that first win in 1951, the corps went on to capture the championship again in '53 and '54; and then amazingly from 1958 through 1964 - seven years in a row! By the time the American Legion Championship was discontinued in 1980, the Caballero's color guard proudly carried fifteen orange flags. Incidentally, after the 1958 Nationals, the corps was again invited to tour Havana, and this time they accepted. The final American Legion Championship was held in Boston in 1980, and quite appropriately, was won by the Caballeros.
Willingly taking up the challenge to prove themselves the consummate champions that they are, the Caballeros were accepted into this new venue, and today in the mid-nineties, the DCA record book is largely dominated by Caballero statistics; some of which are as follows:
most championships (8)
most runner-up placements (10)
most consecutive runner-up placements (4)
most championship scores of 90 or above (17)
most consecutive championship scores of 90 or
above (12 in the last 12 years)
most high captions (26, plus two ties)
longest consecutive streak of top three positions
in finals (11 years: 1970-1980)
longest consecutive championship wins (1972, '73, '74)
highest score in a championship (97.7 in 1995)
A member of DCA since 1966, the Caballeros have fielded a finalist corps every year since. Of the thirty-six corps that have competed for the DCA Championship, however, only one other corps, the New York Skyliners who appeared in the first contest in '65 can make that claim. Of the thirty years that the Caballeros have competed for the DCA Championship, they have placed in the top three, an astounding twenty-four times - probably the single most impressive testimonial to their incredible consistency. In 1961 the Caballeros became the first senior corps to complete a season undefeated.That monumental feat was repeated in 1973; and in 1984 and '85 the corps amazingly played two solid seasons without a loss! They played their fifth undefeated season in 1995.
Return to Our Friends, The Senior Corps