Two notable veterans to honor
O ne of the powers granted to our government in the Constitution is to "provide for the common defense." Since 1787 Congress and the president have used citizen soldiers to defend our country's interests during peace and war. Local veterans Jim Policandriotes and Paul Kaupas are two such examples.
Policandriotes was born in 1930. The bill was $13 at the old St. Joseph's Hospital in Joliet. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1951 and served in North Africa as a truck mechanic in the searing desert heat. Once the temperature reached 147 degrees, he remembered.
"We all worked in the open desert with nothing but tents to take shelter in at night," he said.
This same area was where Gen. George S. Patton and his soldiers drove out the German army just a few years earlier.
After discharge, Policandriotes returned to Joliet and worked for Merle Jones as a truck mechanic until 1961 when he started his own repair shop. Presently Polley's Garage is located in Rockdale, and with the help of his family, he continues to operate his truck repair and towing business.
In the twilight of his life, Policandriotes said, "I am glad that I went into the Air Force. I grew up and had a lot of good experiences."
Kaupas was raised in Chicago and joined the Marines in 1967, serving 13 months in Vietnam in the Combined Action Platoon.
CAP Marines were taught the local language and customs of the South Vietnamese and were assigned to live in remote villages to protect the villagers and prevent the infiltration of the Viet Cong. He left Vietnam with a Purple Heart, Silver Star and many other decorations. His final year was spent training new Marines in jungle warfare in the difficult terrain of Panama.
Kaupas joined the Will County Sheriff's Department in 1975 and served in all divisions of the department. In 1985, Sheriff John Shelley asked Kaupas to help to create a Special Weapons and Tactics Team. Kaupas went on to graduate from Governors State University and became sheriff. Kaupas and his wife travel every year on Nov. 10 to meet with his fellow ex-Marines and their wives to celebrate the birth of the Marine Corps.
We commemorate Veterans Day to remember that we are a land of the free because of the brave.
E-mail Pete DeLaney of Crest Hill at delaneyprd@sbcglobal.net. His column will be on hiatus while he runs for a Democratic nomination for the Will County Board.
