SHIRLEY — American Legion Post #18 awarded “year pins” to 19 veterans in a recent ceremony at the War Memorial Building.
To re-purpose a phrase, they are all veteran veterans, with at least 30 years of Legion membership to their credit.
One of the honorees, Athance “Joe” Landry, has been a legion member for 78 years.
An Army WWII veteran who fought in the “Battle of the Bulge,” Landry has retained close ties with a Belgian couple whose town had been occupied by the Nazis and was liberated by American soldiers during that period.
After the war, the couple created a museum on their property to say “thank you.” They also host visiting veterans in their home. Landry has visited several times over the years.
Chatting with a reporter before the pins were presented, Landry said he plans to go again this year.
“I’m going to France in June, if health permits,” he said.
Joe Landry turned 98 in October and has lived in Shirley all his life. Joining the legion was a given for him, literally. “My dad signed me up while I was still in the service,” he said. “I’ve known every (legion) commander we’ve ever had.”
The room was full of familiar faces, well-known town names. Retired Shirley Fire Chief Alphee Levesque, one of the honorees, came with his son, retired Fire Chief Dennis Levesque. They brought along a tiny guest, just three months old and comfortably set up in a baby carrier on the table. The elder Levesque said this was his great-grandchild. “The 10th,” he said.
The legionnaires’ receiving year pins have service records that include several U.S. Military branches – Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines – and cover war-eras and periods of conflict ranging from WWII to Vietnam.
One of the pins was presented posthumously to Edmond Landry, an Air Force veteran who was a legion member for 53 years and was a past post commander..
Post Commander Ed Warrick and Post Adjutant Diane Fox conducted the ceremony. Fox said she has served in her current role for 18 years and was in the service for 35 years before she retired.
Her service record caps with an achievement worth noting. “I was the first woman in the 10th Special Forces,” from 1974-76, she said.
Warrick, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, said Fox had signed on as adjutant, stepped down awhile, then returned, tallying up an 18 year total in that role after leaving the service. “She had a long and distinguished career,” he said.
When he joined the legion 21 years ago, membership stood at 240. There are 110 members now.
Fox went one better. When she joined, there were 241 members on the legion roster, she said.
Pins were awarded in three categories marking years of membership: 30 years, 40 years, 50+ years
The honorees were: Michael J. King, Army, 30 years; Richard Jellyman, Army, 32 years; Joseph Stanislaw, Army, 33 years; Paul A. Wilson, Army, 35 years; John C. Guthrie, Army, 40 years; Theresa Pedranti, Army, 40 years; David Esielionis, Army, 41 years; Aron E. Griffin, Marine Corps., 43 years; Gerald E. Wheeler, Army, 44 years; David B. Jenness, Army, 46 years; John Gordan, Army, 49 years; Ronald Minezzi, Army, 49 years; Robert E. McNabb, Coast Guard, 52 years; Gary J. Ziegler, Army, 54 years; Alphee Levesque, Army, 67 years; Athance (Joe) Landry, Army, 78 years.
Posthumously awarded: Edmond Landry, Air Force, 53 years.
