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Veterans Day
Back to combat zone, but in peace
A World War II veteran returned to France to receive that country's highest honor.
By BETH N. GRAY
Published November 11, 2004
SPRING HILL - When Gerald Papin landed in France 60 years ago as a U.S. Army private, the freedom of Europe's conquered nations demanded heroism from Papin and his fellow GIs.
When he touched down in France this summer, a mustered-out buck sergeant wearing a jacket and tie, it was all pomp for the World War II veteran.
Papin, now 82, was one of 10 Americans to be honored in August with France's Legion of Honor medal, the country's highest honor.
Accompanied by Del, his wife of 62 years, Papin embarked on a two-week tour of recognition and recollection, including the medal presentation by President Jacques Chirac.
The couple married in February 1942. And Del has maintained a meticulous journal of his war travels and travails.
Papin, an artilleryman with the 3rd Infantry Division, 39th Field Artillery, landed in France in August 1944, more than two years after he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
He also fought with his division in Tunisia and Morocco in North Africa, in Sicily and northward through Italy, in Palermo and Salerno, to the heights of Monte Cassino, where trucks pushed two feet of mud in front of their tires, and another 136 days on the Anzio beachhead near Rome, he recalls.
After the invasion of Italy, Papin's division moved into France, where Gen. Dwight Eisenhower established a second offensive in 1944, Papin recalled.
Papin's war exploits are dutifully chronicled in his wife's journal.
"From the landing Aug. 15, 1944, until May 7, 1945, the 3rd Infantry Division fought for 30 days all the way up to the terrible battles of the Vosges Mtns., spending one of the worst winters recorded in the area...," she wrote.
Papin, whose ancestors are French and whose grandfather emigrated to America, almost didn't get to join the Army. He was a 20-year-old newlywed of 10 months when he was drafted. That was after he had tried to enlist three or four times in his native Royal Oaks, Mich., but each time had been rejected for a suspected heart murmur.
Finally, he was summoned for his draft board physical. When he was told to rest, he fell asleep. When he awoke, he was told he was cleared to serve his country.
Papin ultimately managed a 105mm howitzer halftrack that came under regular attack from German aircraft.
"Every time a plane came over I dived under the howitzer where I (eventually realized) shells could explode," he said. "And finally, I didn't dive under it anymore."
Those combat memories returned to life as Papin met other veterans and French citizens this summer. Papin said that wherever he and his wife went, Frenchmen were very thankful.
"They provided lunch and dinners. We were there two weeks and we only bought one lunch. In the small villages, they'd have tables set up with small cakes and bread and wine. We got watches, medals from colonels, generals and admirals, medallions from village officials," he said. "We could hardly get it home, it weighed so much."
During the medal presentation ceremony at Draguignan, a cemetery where more than 800 American soldiers are buried, Papin was recognized in a way that would make any enlisted man proud.
"I got saluted by an admiral," he said proudly. "I tell you, I couldn't hardly ... I start talking about it and I get tears in my eyes."
[Last modified November 11, 2004, 06:47:58]
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