RUMFORD – When Carmelo “Joe” Puiia hears people call his generation the greatest, he’s not so sure.

It’s the parents of the World War II generation who are the greatest, he suggests.

“The ones that should be commended are our parents. They brought us up with a work ethic, religious backgrounds and a sense of duty,” he said.

Still, he’s proud to be a part of what many have termed “the good war.” He, along with dozens of others who served during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam are boarding a bus for Washington at 5 a.m. Friday. They’ll witness the dedication of the National World War II Memorial.

“I’m proud of the people I served with. I want to see some that I haven’t seen in 60 years,” he said.

Puiia was in the U.S. Army 407th anti-aircraft artillery gun battalion. As far as he knows, there’s never been a reunion of the battalion. He, along with thousands of others, landed on Utah Beach in Normandy, France. He saw combat in England, France, Belgium, Holland, the Rhineland.

“We debarked from an amphibious boat and went across Utah Beach. We fought all the way,” he said.

He doesn’t want to talk about what he saw.

“You don’t know why you weren’t wounded, why the Almighty favored one over another,” he said.

Several people from the Rumford area fought on the same beach where he was.

Puiia’s father fought in World War I with the Italian army. Puiia joined the U.S. Army on Jan. 10, 1943, and was discharged in January 1946.

Two weeks after Puiia was discharged, the Rumford native set up a barbershop in Dixfield. For the past 33 years he has owned and operated a barber shop on Congress Street in Rumford.

Now at age 81, he’s looking forward to this Washington trip. So are many of his customers.

“We’re really excited. At least one person a day comes in from Bethel, Andover, Rumford, Mexico and they’re talking about it,” he said.

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