By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer
Bertrand Dutil, 74, gets his Korean War medals at last

LEWISTON – More than 50 years after he served in Korea – as a rifleman and later as an interpreter for the United Nations – Bertrand Dutil finally received his medals.

The 74-year-old Lewiston man stood proudly Thursday as Rep. Michael Michaud, Maine’s Second District congressman, pinned the Army Commendation Medal to his chest. He then handed Dutil a frame carrying five more medals, all earned half a century ago.

They included a Combat Infantry Badge, the Korean Service Medal with Bronze Star attachment and the United Nations Service Medal.

It was a good haul for a guy who didn’t much care until recently.

“I knew I was supposed to get them,” Dutil said. He figured the Army forgot and that was OK. Then, he began hearing about other men getting their overdue medals.

“I wanted to be able to show them to my family,” Dutil said Thursday. He also wanted to show his friends that they, too, could get their owed medals.

Dutil’s service was extraordinary.

He was a 21-year-old shoe worker when the Army sent him to Korea. He was a rifleman in the infantry when the Army noticed that he could speak, read and write French.

“To me, it wasn’t a big deal,” Dutil said. “That’s about all my family knew.”

But to the Army, which was working through the United Nations to end the war, it was a treasured skill. He was assigned to work with the French delegation.

When the generals met at Panmunjom in July of 1953 to sign the armistice, the young man from Lewiston was with them.

Now retired, Dutil said he is proud of his service. He has led several veterans groups, working to erect monuments downtown and bring a veterans clinic to Lewiston.

As Michaud pinned the medal, Dutil beamed. He wore his Veterans of Foreign Wars cap and a tie resembling the U.S. flag.

More than 100 people including veterans and family members applauded.

“(Veterans) put their lives on the line,” Michaud said when it was over. “I’m here to show my gratitude.”

Meanwhile, another veteran of Korea worked to the medals he earned but never received.

Maurice Fournier of Auburn, a buddy of Dutil’s, met with Michaud before the ceremony, passing a copy of his discharge papers to the Congressman’s staff.

Fournier had been in the hills outside Panmunjom when the armistice was signed.

“I used to call it The God-forsaken land.'” said Fournier. “I was there the same time as Bert.”

He hopes the Army will catch up with him as it did his friend.

“They were glad to ship us home,” he said. “But I never got medals. I went there. I earned them.”

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