Nearly 65 years ago, a handsome 18-year-old man was placed on active duty in the army and posed in his uniform for a glamorous black-and-white photograph. He was eager to serve and caught up in the contagious patriotism of the day.

In 1943, he joined F Company of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), which was a unit of the 17th Airborne Division.

But the horrors of war that Vantage House Retirement Community resident Paul Imre saw far exceeded what any person should have to witness. Even today, he said he has an occasional nightmare in which the heinous battle scenes are replayed.

“When you get older, you realize what you went through,” said Imre of his role back then in repelling enemy troops. “You realize you can do many things under stress and you know that you’re a survivor.”

Imre traveled to the Bastogne area of Belgium in December, 2007, to take part in the dedication of a memorial monument that was erected to honor the men of the 17th airborne division for defending the citizens of the small village, Flamierge, against German assault. Imre, now 82 and a retired psychologist, traveled with his wife, Jody, three sons and one granddaughter to first do some sightseeing in Paris, France, and then on to the ceremony.

“Starting with the Battle of the Bulge, we fought for 30 straight days throughout Luxembourg, France and Belgium to drive the Germans back to the beginning of their march across Europe,” he recounted of his stint in the army.

“They had armor, heavy weapons and more infantry,” he said. “We had no tanks and no heavy weapons, just rifles or machine guns. Every town we were in was contested – we drove them out, then they drove us out. There was close in-fighting.”

Imre feels fortunate to have survived and to have met his wife, a psychiatric nurse who helped him with nightmares and to whom he has been married for 52 years. They moved into the new city of Columbia in 1968 and have lived in Vantage House for seven years and have been very happy there, he said.

“Our revenge [as survivors] has been to lead the best lives we can” in order to honor those in the 513th PIR who died, Imre said.