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99-YEAR-OLD VET STILL MARCHES IN VETERANS DAY

PARADE -- "I want you folks to remember this,

I am very proud to be an American."

 

 

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Story here... http://www.billingsgazette.
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tate/20-tester_z.txt

Story below:

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99-year-old veteran intensely patriotic

By SUSAN OLP
Of The Gazette Staff

 

RED LODGE -- Some habits a soldier carries with him all his life.

On Saturday morning, at the Regis Caf?in Red Lodge, 99-year-old Joe Papez stood up straight and saluted the American flag as he recited the Pledge of Allegiance. And after Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., presented him with more honors to add to his collection, Papez was quick to share those honors with his fallen comrades.

"I accept them in memory of all my Army buddies," Papez said, tears in his eyes.

He walks slowly these days, a combination of age and macular degeneration that has robbed him of most of his sight. But his patriotism remains intact.

"I want you folks to remember this," Papez told the crowded caf? "I am very proud to be an American."

And if he could, Papez said, he would gladly serve as a soldier again.

"I would do the same thing over again - and better," he said, to loud applause.

Tester came to Red Lodge to recognize Papez, thought to be the country's oldest living Purple Heart recipient. Tester is a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

During an informal ceremony, Tester presented Papez with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in Papez's honor. Tester also gave him framed copies of a Congressional tribute to Papez spoken by Tester on the Senate floor and a letter from Acting VA Secretary Gordon Mansfield.

Papez was given three Purple Hearts for injuries he received as an infantryman during World War II. He also earned the Bronze Star and Silver Star.

Drafted in 1940 at the age of 33, he was a rifleman in the Third Infantry Division of the 15th Infantry "Can Do" Regiment. Papez, a technical sergeant, was wounded in North Africa, again in Sicily and a final time, in Italy.

By the time Papez sustained his third injury, in March 1944, he was the only survivor of the original company he was part of that trained at Fort Lewis. Over the years he has struggled with the aftermath of the war injuries he received, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

But that hasn't stopped Papez from walking in every Memorial Day parade in Red Lodge since 1946. Even this year, his wife, Dorreen, said, he managed to walk two blocks.

Jerry LaFountain of Billings, a combat-wounded veteran of the Vietnam War, met Papez in 1995 and worked on his friend's behalf to help him receive full disability payments, which he finally did in 2000.

LaFountain, who is state commander of the Montana Order of the Purple Heart, took part in Saturday's event and told Papez how proud he and others are to know Papez.

"You're a hero and an inspiration to all of us," LaFountain said. Papez, in turn, called LaFountain his best friend.

One of the past honors given Papez was when the Billings chapter of the Montana Order of the Purple Heart voted to name its chapter after Papez. Three members of that chapter traveled to Red Lodge for Saturday's ceremony.

Tester, standing next to Papez, read out loud the tribute he spoke on the Senate floor. Papez, he said, "is one of the brave men who answered the call of their country and who helped the 'Greatest Generation' earn that title."

"Residents of Red Lodge know well that he is a fixture in the town's Memorial Day parade," Tester said. "He is a regular in the Fourth of July parade. Even at his age, he marches in these parades to remember the brothers-in-arms with whom he served."

After the ceremony, Tester and Papez, along with the others, sat and ate cake in Papez's honor.

Martha Young, a friend of Joe and Dorreen Papas and owner of the Regis Caf? said Saturday that Joe Papez is an integral part of the Red Lodge community.

"He is very well-known and he's extremely well-liked," she said.

She said holding Saturday's ceremony at her restaurant was a no-brainer.

"We wanted it to be here at a community caf?because Joe's such a community person," she said.

Contact Susan Olp at solp@billingsgazette.com  or 657-1281.

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Larry Scott  --