Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/456364
A Life of Service Leon Panetta Chronicles his Extraordinar y Washington Career B Y M I C H A E L C H AT F I E L D • P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y K E L L I U L D A L L C armel has been home to several award-winning ac- tors and actresses; many more visit. But perhaps more unusual is the fact that it's also home to a man who's been por- trayed by an acclaimed thespian: former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was depicted by James Gandolfini in "Zero Dark Thirty," the 2012 movie chronicling the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Sure: that's an honor, but it does- n't begin to scratch the surface of the man. From humble beginnings as the son of immigrant Italian parents, Secretary Panetta rose to the rarified heights of United States governmental power. He has no doubts about who planted the seeds of his ambition: "I asked my father once why he had chosen to come to America," Secretary Panetta says. "He told me that he and my mother believed they could give their children a better life in this country." Panetta's parents, Carmelo and Carmelina, worked day and night at Carmelo's Café, the restaurant they owned on Monterey's Lower Alvarado Street. "They worked hard. I learned the values of hard work at a young age," Panetta says. "As a result, my brother (Joseph) and I were the first in my family to go to college and then to law school." His accomplishments are well known: from Capitol Hill to the White House to CIA Headquar- ters to the Pentagon, Panetta has proven himself in positions of ever-increasing complexity and global responsibility. And he also made time to found the Panetta Institute for Public Policy with his wife Sylvia. Not bad for a kid from "Spaghetti Hill." Through those years, as he was rubbing shoulders with the most powerful people on the planet, Secretary Panetta never lost sight of what was most important to him: his family, his hometown and serving his fellow citizens. Despite the fact that his job was located nearly 2,500 miles from his Carmel Valley walnut ranch, he still made it home nearly every weekend. "My dad would leave either Sunday night or Monday morning and come back Thursday night or Friday morning," recalls the Panetta's youngest son Jimmy. "He didn't live in D.C. He lived here." Indeed, to this day he wears a watch given to him by his wife Sylvia C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 137