Poulin, Lawrence, PO3

November 12, 2003

Vet: 'No one gives a damn' about us

Rico's honors those who won freedom

By MARLA MCMACKIN
Record-Eagle staff writer

GRAWN - Most Americans don't care much about war veterans, Larry Poulin says.
The man awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star can count on one hand how many times he's been thanked for risking his life in World War II.
"No one gives a damn," Poulin, 82, said.
But Rick and Lori Dubro care, and that's why they offered a free meal on Veterans Day at Rico's Cafe and Pizzeria in Grawn.
"If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be free," Rick Dubro said. "And owning a restaurant gave me the opportunity to say thank you."
Wayne Mentier, 79, William Nemec, 77, Richard Rizzio, 78, and Anthony Stefan, 78, gathered at a table Tuesday in the crowded restaurant.
The four are World War II veterans who like to talk about their common experiences.
"Being in the war brought us together and we're trying to recreate that," Stefan said. "We're family."
All four fought at the Battle of the Bulge. Nemec and Mentier also spent time together in Stalag 4B, a German POW camp.
"We went too fast, too far," Nemec said. "We were surrounded by tanks and it was surrender or be killed."
Poulin knows all about the horrors of a POW camp. He spent over three years in one in Tokyo after Japanese forces sank his ship.
But Poulin's military history began in 1939 when a Depression Era economy left him with few employment options and he joined the U.S. Navy.
By 1941 he was fighting Japanese forces intent on invading the Philippines, which eventually earned him a Bronze Star.
"We held out five months," Poulin said. "We allowed the government to get together after Pearl Harbor and we delayed the Japanese timetable."
Later that year, Poulin was taken prisoner, a nightmarish time that led to him earning the Purple Heart.
"It was very bad," he said. "There was beating, starvation and working 10 to 18 hour days on the railroad yards if B-29s were not bombing."
Poulin was released in August 1945 after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated by atomic bombs. He was aboard the USS Missouri on Sept. 2 to witness the official Japanese surrender to General Douglas MacArthur.
Poulin recalled the moment and raised a triumphant fist in the air.
He thinks every man and woman involved should be honored for their efforts to win the war.
"People like you would not be born or would be speaking Japanese if it weren't for us," Poulin said.
His friend, Jack Allard, who served in Korea with the U.S. Air Force, agreed.
"I can't see any tanks in the street and you can thank guys like us for that," he added.


PHOTO: Record-Eagle/Meegan M. Reid
Larry Poulin, 82, talks about his experiences in World War II while having lunch with his friend Jack Allard at Rico's Cafe & Pizzeria in Grawn.