One woman and her guardian angel
Published: March 26, 2006
“The assignments which I had in the war will go to the grave with me. I said (to my daughter) that I would never tell her, except that I was awarded the medals because of my extreme calm and bravery in times of real danger.
“We are sworn to secrecy and we are told that we are not to tell, even after the war is over, because what we did or what we were doing may still be very useful. So that is what I say about my World War II experience. Most of the time it is very trying; you have to be a little brave, that’s true.”
And she didn’t escape the horrific experience of being taken prisoner. “I was under house close arrest, I couldn’t move without being watched. It really was, I suppose, a mistaken identity. I was considered to be someone else.
“Suddenly you realise: ‘I may not be living more than a few hours and that’s it. Or a few minutes even’.
“And those things, when you come back to civilian life, you put them away, way back in your head.”
Although her generation stood up and shouted “no more war”, unfortunately this has not had much effect, says Coudounaris.
“We said Peace for All Time. But of course did we get it? We wouldn’t say we have had peace since World War II, would we? Every country somewhere there has been a war.”
Unfortunately Coudounaris had misplaced her four medals and couldn’t find them in time for the parade. “It was really my daughters who pushed me into this. Because if Louis was here, I think he would tell me: ‘Oh don’t bother, just forget about it.’ But my daughters have not allowed me. And I’m here today now, mostly because of Roxanne pushing, pushing hard.
“I am not a person who really wants publicity. My belief on this is that it does keep people aware that others have made great sacrifices. Out of the elderly gentlemen who are in this parade today, some of them are very old and they are put into the army truck. And I think they really enjoy it.”
The club the veterans assemble to after the parade does not even begin to reflect the significance of what these people did during the war, says Coudounaris.
“I just go in to say hello and I leave. I feel so sorry for those men, they are old; some of them can barely walk and they are almost forgotten. Because nobody goes into their club to sit down with them for a while. And the club is so bare; a bare table with a few chairs with absolutely nothing in it to suggest to me that this is something that these men are worthy of. They’re worthy of much, much more than that. And there are not many of them now of course.”
Drawing to a close, Coudounaris reflected on her current life in America and described the somewhat naïve take they have on their exact input to the war.
“I’ve lived in America now for over 30 years and I do want to tell you that the Americans really believe that they came in and saved the situation. The rest of the world was tired out. And I don’t often say anything, but once I said: “Do you realise that at the beginning of the war, you weren’t prepared to come in. And while others kept fighting and kept things going you were preparing. And so it was very good that in the end you were able to come in and help and save the situation.
“Which of course really if they hadn’t come in, then the war might not have finished then because they came in from America with great force, to be honest.
“I mean they did their part, but they weren’t prepared in the beginning.”
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