LEWISTON – At 5 feet, 6 inches tall, stout and soft-spoken, Don Goulet could pass for a mild-mannered businessman. Perhaps a parish priest.

Never a war hero with a pair of Purple Hearts. Certainly not a retired FBI agent who shadowed Mafia guys and once toted an M-16 rifle during an undercover operation to bust an international smuggling ring.

Now he’s a writer with a 190-page book detailing said exploits.

“People have been impressed with my experiences,” Goulet, 60, said. “I guess I did have a lot of experiences.”

Goulet was born and raised in Lewiston, the middle son of a poor French Catholic family. As a boy, he was awestruck by the friendly, burly Irish cop who patrolled his Lincoln Street neighborhood.

“I knew even as a little kid that he was there to help people,” he said.

Law enforcement, Goulet decided, would be a good career.

But the Marines called first.

In 1966, at age 19, Goulet enlisted and was sent to Vietnam. A fire team leader, he routinely led assaults on enemy forces. And he just as routinely found himself in the middle of vicious firefights, struggling to save the lives of those around him.

It’s part of what prompted him to write and self-publish his nonfiction book, “Chesuncook,” this summer.

“It taught me the meaning of life and how short life can be, and it taught me to forge ahead and enjoy life as much as you can while you’re living,” he said.

During his year in Vietnam, Goulet was injured three times, twice seriously. He received two Purple Hearts, the National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal with one star.

Married and the father of three small children, Goulet dreamed of becoming a police officer. But he was two inches too short to meet local requirements.

He began working for the Customs Service instead.

Over the next several years, Goulet manned customs stations in Maine and Montreal. It was good work, he said, satisfying. But in 1980 he became peripherally involved in a customs investigation, piquing his interest in more adventurous forms of law enforcement. Unfortunately, Customs had no openings for new special agents.

However, the FBI did.

And they wanted him.

Soon, the low-key, self-effacing man was dealing with corruption, drug traffickers and Mafia guys. In Indiana, he investigated a dirty cop and spent 15 months chasing down a DEA fugitive. In New York City, he shadowed a hit man, investigated the Hells Angels and did surveillance on businesses tied to the mob. They were long assignments, dangerous, but Goulet was doing what he loved: protecting people.

Then, in 1991, he took an FBI position in Bangor. It was closer to his native Lewiston, closer to family, a break from the intensity of mob hits and drugs.

“I thought it was going to be sort of a retirement assignment,” he said.

Just five months later, Goulet got the case that would be the highlight of his career. An out-of-state American Indian tribe was smuggling tobacco into Canada from the United States, pocketing the profit they gained by selling the tobacco sans heavy Canadian taxes.

The tribe had tried to bribe then-Passamaquoddy tribe police chief Fred Moore into participating. Moore called the local district attorney’s office. A day later, Goulet got involved.

Although Moore had trouble finding people to trust in those days, he didn’t hesitate to believe in Goulet.

“I admired his commitment to the truth, to justice,” Moore said. “I trust him. I trusted him right from the beginning.”

The two men would spend the next several months working together, with Goulet serving as Moore’s contact and support as Moore slipped undercover. Goulet would also spend a few days pretending, telling the smugglers he was John Ames, an old friend of Moore’s and the provider of the smuggling boat. To play the part, he would carry an assault rifle.

“They bought it hook, line and sinker,” Goulet said.

Nine people were ultimately convicted in the United States and sentenced to between eight and 28 months each, according to Goulet.

Home again

But Goulet’s life hasn’t been all gallantry and intrigue. In 1998, he was committed to a Boston psychiatric unit with severe delusions and hallucinations. He had post-traumatic stress disorder aggravated by stress, insomnia and alcohol.

Therapy and short-term medication helped.

Goulet retired from the FBI in 2002 and moved back to Lewiston soon after. He doesn’t miss the job.

“Through the FBI I was able to fulfill my career dreams, but there comes a time in law enforcement when it’s time to walk away. And it was time to walk away, particularly with what happened to me psychologically,” he said.

Goulet now works for Catholic Charities Maine, helping recovering drug and alcohol addicts, and for John F. Murphy Homes, helping disabled men.

Goulet decided in a few years ago to write his book “Chesuncook,” named in part for Chesuncook Lake, where he and his family had been scheduled to vacation until the smuggling assignment came up. He self-published the book, ordering 70 copies for friends and family and to sell on his own. Another 500 copies have sold online through Authorhouse.com and Amazon.com. The book will also be available at Waldenbooks in Auburn.

A deeply religious man, Goulet wrote the book, he said, to both tell his story and share the faith that comforted him even through the roughest times.

“I sort of had an inner voice inside me that kept saying ‘You should write. Write of the glory of God in particular,'” he said.

The book proved to be cathartic. And although he has more stories to tell – many of which were still classified when he wrote “Chesuncook” – he has no plans for a second book.

One was enough to make him realize something important about his life.

“Looking back, I think it’s something I would do again,” he said. “Same way, same fashion.”