Ortonville – When the war ended for Walter Dybicki—his thoughts of battles, death and far off countries were parts of the solider’s life he’d like to forget.
He was now home—the war was over.
Dybicki was a member of the Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division during World War II.
He earned medals for good conduct as he traveled the world from Europe to Africa, to the Middle East and Rome, fighting for his country.
When he finally came home from the service he met his wife Jean, and chose never to talk about the war again.
The medals of honor he received were tucked away in a medal box, and when his wife asked about them he would tell her he didn’t want to talk about them or the war.
His wife of 54 years, Jean Dybicki said when she would ask him about the medals he still should have gotten from his time in the service, he would say “there should be more but it’s nothing to brag about and I don’t want to talk about the war.”
“He was proud to have served in the war but he just didn’t want to talk about it,” Jean said. “His attitude was that he did what he had to do and it was done.”
One thing he did talk about that was related to the war was how he loved to eat the French and German pastries.
Jean also learned that while her husband was in the service he made sure his parents were well taken care of back home. As a paratrooper he would take on additional jumps for an extra $50 a month and then send the money back home to his parents. His mother was ill at the time.
After the war ended Dybicki came home, met and married his wife Jean and raised their five children, while working at Wayne State University as an animal research technician.
While proud of his military past and the awards he did receive, Dybicki never saw the forgotten medals and badges that he earned more than 54 years ago. Dybicki died in 2001.
On Saturday, Dec. 6 the Ortonville VFW presented Jean Dybicki with Walter’s long forgotten medals.
“It was an honor,” said daughter Theresa Hampton, who lives in Brandon Township.
“We were really happy to finally get my dad’s medals—we are really proud and wish he could have seen them.”
According to Jean Dybicki, Theresa’s daughter Michelle initiated locating the lost medals and John Hay of the Ortonville VFW did the extensive research for the family.
The additional medals awarded were for Good Conduct, a Victory Medal, a Meritorious Unit Award, and two qualification badges.