Carl J. Racine

Carl J. Racine, 94, a decorated Army veteran of World War II and Korea, formerly of Luzerne Avenue, West Pittston, died Friday, September 19, 2008, in Julia Ribaudo Nursing Home, Lake Ariel, where he had been a guest for the past year and a half. Mr. Racine was born in Hoboken, N.J., a son of the late Carmen and Carmella Lepore Recine, and was a graduate of West Pittston High School. He bad been briefly employed in the garment industry and enlisted in the Army in 1942, at New Cumberland, Pa. He served as a sergeant with Co. E, 405th Infantry in the Rhineland and Central Europe, participating in the “Battle of the Bulge.” He received the Combat Infantry Badge and the Good Conduct Medal.
He re-enlisted in the Army in Germany in 1946 and served with Co. D, 43rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 2nd Armored Division, receiving the European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon with two bronze service stars, the Good Conduct Medal, Army Occupation Medal, the American Theater Ribbon and the World War II Victory Medal.
During the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, he had been one of the guards for Field Marshal Herman Goering. He re-enlisted in the Army in 1949, and served as a marksman and an infantryman with the 205th Regiment, 16th Division in the Korean Conflict. He was with troops who invaded North Korea and suffered the loss of territory when Chinese troops entered the conflict.
He witnessed many atrocities by the Chinese against the Korean people, whom he knew and respected. He recently said, “I love our fighting soldiers. I pray for them every day. We need to lay down our arms and embrace and forgive and forget, but don’t give up. We need to bring this war (Iraq and Afghanistan) to a peaceful end.” During the Korean War, he had frozen feet in combat and received the Purple Heart for his injury. He also received the Korean Service Modal with six Bronze Service Stars, United Nations Service Medal, Korean Presidential Citation and another Good Conduct Medal.
Following his military service, Mr. Racine worked as a nursing assistant at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Lyons, N.J. He had more than nine years in Army service and 35 years with the VA prior to his retirement in 1985. At the nursing home where he lived, Carl always wore his veteran’s hat and his blanket inscribed with the words “Freedom is not free.” He was extremely proud of the service that he gave to his country for over 44 years. He was to be honored next month on his 95th birthday for his service to the United States.
Mr. Racine was a member of St. John Neumann Church, Lord’s Valley, and was a former member of Immaculate Conception Church, West Pittston, and its Holy Name Society. He was a member of the Department of Pennsylvania, American Legion.
He was preceded in death by sisters Mary Grace Rose Recine, Antoinette Sickler, Lena Recine and Helen E. Kondreck; and by a brother, Eugene C. Racine.
Surviving are numerous nieces and nephews, including Mrs. Corrine Zirpoli, Hawley, with whom he had formerly resided.
A military funeral will be conducted Monday at 10:30 a.m. from the H. Merritt Hughes Funeral Home Inc., 211 Luzerne Avenue, West Pittston, with funeral Mass at 11 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Church, Luzerne Avenue, West Pittston. Interment will be in West Pittston Cemetery. Friends may call Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m. The family requests that flowers be omitted and that memorial donations be made to Julia Ribaudo Nursing Home, 1404 Golf Park Drive, Lake Ariel, PA 18436.