LEWISTON — Many veterans never receive hard-earned medals in recognition of their military service, but the family of a Lewiston veteran of a National Guard call-up for the “Berlin Crisis” of 1960-62 has taken steps to correct an important omission.
Normand R. Marquis, who died this past Easter in Colorado, is coming home Tuesday morning when his cremated remains will be interred at St. Peter’s Cemetery in a family ceremony. With him will be commemorative medals struck through the efforts of his widow, Patricia, and sons so that he and other veterans can receive an appropriate and well-deserved award.
When Marquis died, his family could not locate the “State of Maine National Emergency Service Medal” for which his military separation documents indicated he was entitled. At the time of the call-up, SP4 E4 Normand R. Marquis was a member of 2nd Medium Tank Battalion 20th Armor.
The Lewiston veteran’s son, Daniel Marquis, a resident of Virginia and a retired major of the U.S. Marine Corps, took on the task of researching that specific military decoration.
“Unable to find the medal anywhere, I made inquiries at the (Maine) Adjutant General’s Office and received a reply indicating that while such a medal was authorized, as best as they could determine, no medal had been procured by the state of Maine for presentation,” Marquis’ son said.
“They sent me a copy of the adjutant general’s order, which fully describes the medal that was intended to be procured,” he said. “Dad’s death on Easter this year advanced my plans for the procurement of this medal.”
He worked with a design company to produce commemorative medals for his father and the other veterans who never received them.
The family established an Internet “GoFundMe” site to solicit some support for the effort. “We have raised $400 toward an estimated $2,000 for this project,” Marquis said.
A first order of 150 medals was financed by the GoFundMe funds and the Lewiston veteran’s estate.
The new medals have a minor “Maine-specific variation that I couldn’t resist personalizing on this medal for our Maine National Guardsmen,” Marquis said.
As the 400 National Guardsmen from Maine with “Berlin Crisis” service are identified and located, they will be able to obtain the medals for a cost of about $10. Norm Berube of Lewiston has volunteered to assist in locating other veterans qualified to receive the medals. He can be contacted at 207-212-8467. Berube, a former sergeant first class, is a former member of the 2nd Battalion.
The Berlin Crisis occurred during the “Cold War” between the United States and Russia over several matters, including the construction of the Berlin Wall, a stand-off between U.S. and Soviet tanks, territorial issues in Cuba and the subsequent Bay of Pigs invasion by U.S. forces. It was America’s largest military mobilization as President John F. Kennedy’s actions countered Russia’s challenges and averted war.
The Maine National Guard members’ federal service was principally at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Details of the Maine National Guard in that mobilization period came from a history written by Lt. Leroy L. Stilphen Jr., an officer of Marquis’ battalion.
The Marquis family intends to pursue official endorsement of the medals through Maine Gov. Paul R. LePage’s office.
This kind of concern for veterans runs deep in the Marquis family. Patricia Marquis, the former Patricia Gobeil of Auburn, is the daughter of Marie-Ange Gobeil, who is noted for her effort during World War II of collecting and preserving in scrapbooks the hundreds of newspaper accounts of local servicemen who were killed, wounded or missing in action.
Although Marie-Ange Gobeil did not speak English, she clipped about 1,300 items from the Lewiston Daily Sun and Lewiston Evening Journal, as well as the local French-language newspaper Le Messager.
Gobeil lived to the age of 100, and in her later years her several daughters in the Twin Cities photocopied and published the clippings in a large-format 230-page volume. The documents are available for important genealogical research.
[Source:- Lewiston Sun Journal]
