61 Years Later, Newtown Korean War Vet Earns His Medals

In the early 1950s, Stanley Polcyn served his country, flying missions over the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan as a flight engineer during the Korean War. On Thursday, the 83-year-old Newtown resident, father of 6 and grandfather of 15 finally received recognition for his service.

Rep. Elizabeth Esty pinned stripes on Polcyn's jacket and presented him with four medals during a Veteran's Day ceremony at Edmond Town Hall. With other veterans present and mementos from his service on display, Polcyn recounted his experiences as part of a program called "Serving Those Who Served."

"The military served me a lot better than it was served by me," he laughed.

Polcyn was joined the Naval Reserve in 1948, and when America went to war in Korea, he was called to active duty with Patrol Squad 892. As a flight engineer, he flew — by his own estimate — between 10 and 20 patrol missions, conducted sea rescues, anti-submarine warfare and oversea reconnaissance in North Korea, Okinawa and Manila.

For decades, Polcyn didn't realize his service had earned him the right to medals. When his grandchildren called him for a family project they were working on, he was surprised.

"They were asking me, 'Why don't you have medals, grandpa?'" Polcyn said. "Then I went to a friend's house for dinner, a retired Major, and he showed me his medals. He hadn't even seen action!"

That motivated him to reach out to Esty, who worked to award him four medals — the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the 50th Anniversary Korean War Service Medal.

"This is one reason it's so important schools do oral history projects — so students can learn what their parents and grandparents sacrificed to earn our freedom," said Esty.

Polcyn's wife, daughters and grandson Kyle McCarthy were present for the ceremony. McCarthy, who did some research on his family ancestry as part of the project, said he'd rarely heard his grandfather reminisce over what he did during the Korean War.

"He's very quiet, very humble," McCarthy said.

Though he's 83, Polcyn keeps active -- he still goes skiing with his wife every Christmas at White Face Mountain, and plans to bring the kids along this year, said his daughter Linda Evans.

The ceremony also featured remarks from First Selectman Pat Llodra and Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia, who will serve as the town's new veterans' liaison, working with Newtown's VA to guide veterans to available town resources.