Photo by Christine Hochkeppel Senior Vice State Commander Stephen Stewart (center) and his wife, Gloria, salute the flag during the 60th anniversary dinner at Barrington Senior Center Thursday, May 1.

BARRINGTON — Warren Lemoi placed his hands on his kitchen counter and stared into an old photograph taken when he was 18 years old, a U.S. Marine somewhere in the South Pacific. "I was just a baby," he said.

The 83-year-old Barrington man put a few other black and white photographs from World War II on the counter in front of him.

"They help me remember some of the guys I was with 64 years ago," he said.

Mr. Lemoi is a member of the Thomas H. Mellow, Jr. Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 9742. Recently, he joined about 25 other veterans from in and around Barrington for dinner at the Barrington Senior Center on County Road, to celebrate the post's 60th anniversary.

"I saw a few old friends," he said. "About 10 guys said they were going to show up, but they didn't show up. We're not young anymore. It's tough for us to get around."

His story

Mr. Lemoi joined the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 17 years old.

Warren Lemoi was in combat for 32 months during World War II.

"At 18, I was leading a squadron of 23 men in combat on the islands," he said. "We did a lot of walking through the jungle. Sometimes we were out two or three weeks."

Mr. Lemoi said he was in combat for 32 months.

"When we were in the jungle, we lived off the jungle," he said. "We could only carry so much, so we ate snake meat. If you wanted something to drink, you had to find a ripe coconut. You had to drink the green coconut milk so you wouldn't get diarrhea."

In order to get a cup of water, he said he would blow through bamboo shoots and collect water that way, and he ate a lot of bananas.

When Mr. Lemoi was relieved of his duties overseas, he said he was depressed.

"I was in the jungle for so long, I should have been jumping for joy," he said. "Instead, I felt sad. I was rock happy. I conditioned to living like that. That was all I knew."

When Mr. Lemoi returned to the United States, he said he felt anxious.

"A lot of my hearing was gone. I was nervous. If somebody bumped into me, I was ready to kill him," he said.

He said he was advised to see a psychiatrist. At first, he didn't want to go, but he soon realized he had to help himself. It took Mr. Lemoi 60 years to cope with his anxiety and stress. Now he meets with soldiers who fought in Iraq, at local hospitals.

Barrington resident Warren Lemoi shown in his dress uniform. Mr. Lemoi is a member of the local VFW post.

"A lot of these guys are going through the same thing I went through," he said. "I tell them, 'No, you're not crazy,' and I encourage them to go talk to somebody. A psychiatrist isn't going to cure you, but he'll teach you how to cope. It took me 60 years to learn how to cope. Now that I'm calm enough, I can talk to the kids coming back."

Who they are and what they do

Bob Smith is a member of VFW Post 9742 and Vietnam War veteran.

He said the VFW is more than a place for "old vets" to get together and swap war stories. It's a place to gather, to better the community.

"We are a bunch of vets who discuss vets problems, try to give back to the community and make sure vets rights are taken care of," Mr. Smith said.

Sometimes, a group of men from the VFW will visit another veteran at a hospital, or the men at the veterans' home in Bristol.

"It's a community effort. We make sure widows of vets are comfortable. We give them rides if they need them. Somebody's always around," he said. "It's vets taking care of vets."

The post also sponsors fund-raisers, student scholarships and blood drives.

"We're proud of our scholars," he said.

The challenges they face

Mr. Smith said one of the biggest challenges for the VFW is to recruit new members to the organization.

He said the population of World War II veterans is shrinking every day.

"We just lost another one in Warren, a World War II guy. They're disappearing," he said. "It's tough, but we just have to deal with it."

In an effort to recruit veterans, Mr. Smith carries with him a small stack of registration cards in his jacket pocket. Sometimes he passes them out to old friends he runs into in town. Other times, he will try and recruit new members in a coffee shop or the grocery store.

According to the Veterans of Foreign Wars web site, if you have received a campaign medal for oversea service, have served 30 consecutive days in Korea, or have ever received hostile fire or imminent danger pay, then you are eligible.

New blood

Mr. Smith said his post has one veteran who fought in Iraq. He said he knows of another Barrington resident who fought in Iraq, but the young man does not want to join the VFW.

"Most young vets want to get their life settled. They want to distance themselves from all that," he said. "It was the same scenario in Vietnam."

Barrington resident Bart Stanzione said he felt the same way when he returned to the United States after he served in Vietnam.

When Mr. Stanzione returned to the United States, he said some people looked at him differently.

"The attitude of the country changed," he said. "It wasn't like World War II. When those soldiers came home, they were heroes, and rightfully so. Vietnam was an unpopular war. We were unpopular soldiers."

Mr. Stanzione said he did not want to associate himself with the war, initially. He just wanted to get on with his life.

"I was home 30 years before I joined the VFW," he said.

Mr. Smith said he waited about 14 years before he joined the VFW, after his tour in Vietnam.

"I had a good friend push me to join," he said. "After a while, it grows on you."

The VFW offers veterans of foreign wars a place to come together, to share stories, voice their concerns, and better the community, Mr. Smith said.

"I wasn't there alone," Mr. Lemoi said. "We were all there, we all went through it."

"Every guy has a story up their sleeves," Mr. Smith said. "Everybody's got a story."

By Kim Centazzo

kcentazzo@eastbaynewspapers.com