Colonel Truman Cappella, Colonial Marine Corps was one of the heroes of Operation Shattered Crab. A hard ass well known and well-respected Marine, he was one of the last to die in the war. He left behind a wife and infant son. Appolonius Truman Cappella was born just before the end of the war, he grew up on Leonis with a mother who loved him, but spent much time working to make ends meet. Anastasia Cappella worked herself to the bone to provide her son with everything she could. “True” as his nickname quickly became, worked just as hard to make his mother proud. He got into University on a Pyramid scholarship, majoring in Theoretical Physics. The whole world was open to him, till his mom grew sick in his junior year. True’s priorities might have been in question, but his love for his mother never was. He let everything else slide to spend time with her in the last few months, praying to the gods to make her better. She died of Pancreatic cancer 3 months later. Unfortunately during those three months, True missed several key university games, and defaulted on his scholarship. With his mom gone, and his chances at finishing he degree vanished he had only one place left to turn, The Colonial Military. %
Crewman Cappella showed a talent for cooking, when you live alone with a mom who always works you learn to set the table early on. He was sent through culinary school and took to the fine art of chow making like a duck to water. His first tour was a 3 year one in the kitchen of the Battle Star Athena, the same ship his father once served on. He followed that up with 2 years at Fort Dictys, and followed by two on the Destroyer Grenadier Bay. At this point, having reached the rank of Chief Petty Officer Cappella moved from the galley to the quartermasters department. Spending the next 3 years on the Aegean, he distinguished himself enough to be considered for Officer Candidates School. At the age of 31, after 10 years in the service, Appolonius Truman Cappella went back to school, and was commissioned as an Ensign in the Colonial Navy. His previous physics background and his time in the quartermaster’s corps qualified him for Engineering training with a Maintenance Material Management position. He spent three years serving in the Engineering department on the Victory, followed by four years assigned to Leonis Space dock, before being transferred to the crew building the newly commissioned Battle Star Cerebus. Over those 10 years he worked his way up the rank of El-Tee, and head official 3M officer on the ship.
True has always had a passion for working out, even after his loss of his scholarship he kept his hand in the game of pyramid. He has a passion for keeping his body in shape, and sometimes will spend off duty ship’s night hours running laps through the corridors when he can’t sleep. His time in the kitchens of the Colonial fleet have taught him a lot about the differences between real food and ship’s food, especially when it comes to the finer wines and alcohol, he doesn’t drink often, but when he does he can’t stand the cheap stuff. He keeps a few choice bottles in a trunk in his quarters for special occasions. Lately, after 20 years in the service, he is finding himself slowing down compared to other officers around him, most of them decades younger. He is especially worried that his hearing is starting to go, he barely made the last physical, and since then he has noticed that his previous sixth sense about when engines were going to go wrong is starting to fail him. He knows the next physical he most likely will not make and it terrifies him on what he is going to do, if he can’t be in the Navy anymore. In some ways the war that just broke out is a blessing in disguise for him.