PARIS – Lewis Bressette, a Maine Veterans Home resident, was chosen Veteran of the Month of September at the home.

Bressette is a veteran of two service branches and two conflicts. Enlisting in the Army on Jan. 6, 1949, he was sent to Munich, Germany, to became part of the occupying forces. At the end of World War II, Germany was placed under the control of the United States, United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union.

Putting his trucking experience to work, Bressette drove for the medics, oversaw five warehouses and participated in the humanitarian runs made into Berlin. Access to West Berlin, located in the Soviet sector, was blocked by the Soviets during 1948-49, causing food and supply shortages.

Bressette recalls Soviet troops firing into the loads on the back of the trucks. A ricocheting bullet killed the driver of the truck just ahead of him. He said, “World War II wasn’t really over” and the Cold War was beginning. He also stood Honor Guard several times before his discharge on Oct. 17, 1952.

Bressette enlisted again on Feb. 25, 1953, this time in the Marine Corps. He was shipped to Seoul, South Korea, where he became a platoon leader and saw combat. He has little to say about that time except that “nobody cared.” Bressette was discharged on May, 9, 1953, with the rank of PFC.

Returning to Oxford, he married and raised a daughter. He spent the next 20-plus years working in a mill in Mechanic Falls and driving a tractor-trailer during layoffs. Hunting and fishing were favorite hobbies. Bressette had been a Maine guide prior to the military.

Bressette received the Army of Occupation Medal for Germany and the National Defense Medal for Korea.