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A village of veterans

Ocala Star-Banner - 4/4/2021

Apr. 3—FORT McCOY — At 99, Clinton Burns still mows the yard.

Burns, who has a lawn service, said he has three yards to cut over the weekend.

"I'm having fun," said the Dunnellon resident, who will turn 100 in January.

But while Burns is excited about sitting on his riding lawn mower cutting grass, he's equally ecstatic about one other thing — meeting fellow veterans like himself.

Recently, Burns told Cyndie McQuaig he wanted to meet other World War II veterans. In World War II, Burns, who is Black, was in a segregated group of combat veterans. He said they supplied food, water, ammunition and anything for the troops working on the front lines. To him, he never got a chance to meet the men he served with during combat.

McQuaig, who runs the Marion County district office for State Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, made a few phone calls. Before long, Burns would get his wish.

"It's hard to meet anyone because they're all gone," Burns said, making reference to meeting other war veterans.

On Friday, McQuaig drove Burns from Dunnellon to the VFW Veterans Village in Fort McCoy to meet and greet fellow WWII veterans.

"I don't want to lose this history. If we don't talk about it or video it, then we'll lose it," McQuaig said.

According to The National WWII Museum, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics report of the 16 million American service men in WWII, 325,574 were alive in 2020.

At the village, Burns got to meet many other veterans like himself. And they were equally happy to see a former combat veteran. Burns and his newfound friends were honored at a lunch event at the village.

Joining them were Republican State Representative Stan McClain and Republican State Senator Dennis Baxley.

Baxley said meeting the veterans is the "highlight of my career." McClain said he admires their spirit that motivates them to "keep going." He said that helped them overcome the battles they faced, and we owe "a debt of gratitude to you." Harding said he has always been fascinated by WWII history. He said "you were freedoms last stand," adding, "you are my heroes."

Although Republican State Senator Keith Perry was unable to attend the function, his legislative aid, Suzanne McGuire, gave each veteran at the table a challenge coin.

Harding, Baxley and McClain sat with the veterans at the table. After lunch, each veteran — Russ Poehlman, 94, U.S. Army; Raymond Savoie, 94, U.S. Army; Peter Clemens, 93, U.S. Navy; John Shearin, 93, U.S. Navy; Jim McGee, 97, U.S. Army; Nelson Marvin, 92, U.S. Marines and Burns, U.S. Army — told the audience about how they joined the military and what they did in the war.

Robert Aloard, 94, U.S. Army, who was at the table with them, did not speak. Before the gathering, he told a Star-Banner reporter that he was a U.S. Army medic who took care of wounded men during the war.

"Some of them were so bad off, there was nothing I could do for them," he said.

Aloard said he joined the service from Rhode Island. At the conclusion of the war, he said he worked as an air-conditioning repair man for 40 years at the Providence Journal, a daily newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island.

According to officials at the VFW Veterans Village, 37 veterans, age 60 to 98, live at the facility. There's a woman who also lives there and she will be 99 later this month, officials said.

Meals are prepared for the residents three times a day. To be eligible to live at the village, residents must be members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars with an honorable discharge from the military.

Transportation to and from appointments and doctors visits are provided for residents. The village is owned and operated by the VFW of Florida. The village is a not-for-profit organization that does not receive any local, state or federal funding. Its doors were opened in October 1991, officials at the facility said.

"I like it very much," said Aloard, who has been living at the village for almost nine years.

Alcides Lugo Jr., a former U.S. Army service member and master of ceremonies at the gathering, is the director at the village.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.

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