Posted by Yoshiko Therrien on January 27, 2011:

June 6, 1928 - November 10, 2010 My husband, Francois X. Therrien Jr., was my mentor. We have been together for 41 years 3 months and 20 days. He was a man of the utmost optimism, dignity and honor, integrity and courage, with an endless energy, and with the zest for life. He was born in June 6, 1928 in Amesbury, Massachusetts, a son of Francis X. and Doris Therrien. He grew up with one older sister, Dorina, and two younger brothers, Robert and Norman. When he was 13 years old, he received a four year scholarship to Assumption Preparatory School, a Jesuit school. When he left home for the Jesuit School, his father told him, "If you get in trouble, you get yourself out of trouble." At the age of 14, he was a boy-scout who advanced to the rank of "Star Scout" and qualified for a merit badge in interpreting. Also, he was a reporter on the school paper called "The Atom". While on school vacations, he would get up early in the morning to fix his breakfast and ride a bicycle to pick strawberries for an old lady who wholesaled to local grocery stores. When he was not picking strawberries, he sprayed apple trees. One day after spraying apple trees, the old lady offered him a piece of cake and a glass of cold milk, which Francois gladly accepted. When it came time to get paid, she subtracted $1.45 from his pay for the cake and milk. He was surprised! He told me he learned a valuable lesson; that nothing is free. I told him that was a very expensive piece of cake and a glass of milk. He said it was. Later, she again offered him a piece of cake and he politely declined her offer. Another time, he worked at the lumber company and the shoe factory. At the shoe factory, his job was to round a heel. He got paid based on how many heels he rounded. At first, he rounded both short and long heels. Then he found out that he could hold more short heels in one hand than long heels. So, it meant short heels increased productivity. Yet, he always finished faster than anybody else and nothing else to do. Since most of all adult men had gone to the war, only one old man, besides him, was left behind at the factory. A few weeks later when he was promoted to a foreman, he gave long heels to the old man and he worked on short heels. When he was 17 years old, he was offered scholarships to West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, Notre Dame, and Georgetown University. He said he did not know which school was better, and chose West Point. Besides, by selecting West Point, his friend who was ranked 2nd to him for selection to the Naval Academy, would be appointed to the Naval Academy. While a plebe at West Point, one of the duties was to call out the menue for the meals. With Francois' primary language being French, he had difficulty with this task and would not have enough time to eat his meals. So, when his parents visited him at Christmas, he was in the hospital with malnutrition. By selecting a varsity sport, he would not have to call out the menu, so he selected boxing. Boxing came naturally to Francois, as a "golden gloves" boxer, he held a record of 41 - 3. In one of his fights, Francois recalled that his opponent was a very large man with a neck as wide as his shoulder, resembling a refrigerator. When Francois hit him with everything he had, the man just stood there and smiled. At that point, Francois knew he was in trouble. Ironically enough, Francois never detailed the outcome of the fight, leaving us to assume that this was one of the fights he lost. He lived his life to the fullest and carried more than his fair share of duty for the country he loved. Here is a look at some of his walks of accomplishments: After graduating from West Point on June 6, 1950, he served as a Company Commander and Platoon Leader in the Korean War, Task Force Smith. Following is an excerpt from "FIRST TO FIGHT BY WILLIAM ANDERSON" beginning Francois' journey with the military. "On 08 September 1950, Lt. Francois X. Therrien joined us during an assault on a hill." Anderson recalled they were assaulting a fairly steep incline when Lieutenant Therrien met with the company commander, taking cover behind a large rock. "Captain Wyrick said, 'See those guys trying to take that hill? They are yours, so go get them.' With that, Therrien took over as Anderson's platoon leader. "That night, we dug in on that very hill, and NKPA infiltrated our positions," he said. "Lieutenant Therrien confronted one with a burp gun. After the shooting was over, the NKPA was dead and Lieutenant Therrien had forty holes through his poncho on either side of his body. There were also two holes through his canteen. None of these bullets ever touched him." Francois saw so much devastation. At such a young age, he witnessed fellow soldiers dying around him. As a 1st Lieutenant, Francois received the Silver Star for gallantry in action during the first bitter months of combat in Korea. It was cited he led his platoon across the Naktong River through a murderous mortar and machine gun barrage. The action took place September 19, 1950, as outnumbered UN forces battled to hold back the rapidly advancing North Korean army. His heroism is credited with inspiring his men to the "highest possible combat efficiency" and enabling them to sweep strongly entrenched Red units from hill positions overlooking the river. When he was en route to go back home, a higher ranking officer patted his shoulder and told him that he will join the French forces as a liaison officer and assume command of a company of Legionnaires, where he earned his most prized award, the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. Francois inspired his men. He told me about one of his courageous Legionnaires who, while holding his wounded gut with two hands, walked for two days, to report an attack and he died. From 1952 - 1953, when he was not fighting overseas, he was a Training Officer at Fort Dix, New Jersey. From 1953 - 1956, Francois was a Company Commander at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii and was also assigned to Cambodia to establish the Advisory Group and SEATO Planning Conference. From 1957 - 1959, Francois was an Assistant Professor at Clemson College in Clemson, South Carolina where he supervised the 400-student freshman ROTC program, organized and instructed in military history and the map reading course. Also, he served as an advisor to French Club. From 1959 - 1960, he was an Operations and Training Officer at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, where he was responsible for operations and training of an experimental 4500-man unit, wrote reports used for evaluation purposes concerning reorganization of the divisional structure. From 1960 - 1962, he was a Graduate Student at University of Arizona where he received a master's degree in Aerospace Engineering. From 1962 - 1965, he was an Action Officer for Logistics, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C. He organized the industrial defense program, including regulations, personnel and budgetary changes, from the Department of Army level down. Also, he managed all Armey-owned industrial facilities during a period when the total was cut from 62 to 53. He also conducted cost analysis studies leading to the closing of the Springfield Armory and Watertown Arsenal. He served as action officer on development of titanium dioxide in ammunition to extend gun tube life by a factor of up to 40, resulting in a savings of some $12 million per year, even in peacetime years. He also cut several million dollars of "fat" from the testing budget. He managed the Industrial Mobilization Program and served on the group conducting a study of industrial capacities for support of future contingencies. He received special accolades for his ability to carry a plan through from initial conception to completion. He was promoted from Major to Lt. Colonel at the age of 37. Also, Francois became a member of Joint Chiefs of Staff. From 1965 - 1966, Francois was a Senior Logistics Advisor for the Republic of Korea. He advised on all phases of logistics for an organization employing 50,000 personnel (65% civilians). He achieved acceptance of change of logistics system from technical services to functionalization, together with placing of system on data processing. From 1967 - 1968, he was an Assistant Chief for Logistics, Military District of Washington, D.C. in charge of all logistics operations for key Washington-area installations, including the Pentagon. From 1968 - 1969, he was a Logistics Plans and Operations Officer in Vietnam, responsible for the overall logistical planning covering 47% of the land mass area of all South Vietnam, and involving some 150,000 personnel. From 1969 - 1970, he was Chairman of International Logistics Department, Logistics Management Center, Fort Lee, Virginia. He directed and participated in teaching the graduate-level course for upper managment and executive personnel, both civilian and military. Also, he served as a visiting lecturer in international logistics at various installations. He conceived, developed and revised publications relating to the field of international logistics. He achieved recognition as authority in this area. During 24 years of the challenging, yet exiting, military service, 5 years 9 months and 25 days were unaccounted for due to direct orders from his Chain of Command to act as one man mission to the countries in Asia. One of his assignements was to find out what was going on with Indochina. For this mission he handpicked one sergeant and one interpreter whom he could trust and depend on. His distinguished service is represented with numerous medals such as The French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge 1st Award, National Defense Service Medal with 1 bronze service star, Army Commendation Medal with 1 bronze oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Unit Commendation with 1 bronze oak leaf cluster, Presidential Unit Citation with 1 bronze oak leaf cluster, World War II Victory Medal, Korean Service Medal with 1 bronze service star with 1 silver star, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with 4 bronze service stars, United Nations Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon with Device (1960), Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII, Marksman Badge with Carbine Bar, Korea Defense Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation, and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. Francois has the honor of being the most decorated member of his graduating class at the military academy. He was referred to as "Old Rabbit's Foot", because despite the heavy action he was engaged in, he was never wounded. He retired on July 31, 1970 as a Lt. Colonel. His life as a civilian just began. Times were tough and the U.S. economy was heading toward a recession. He was a survivor and optimist. He built an amazing business, as business and tax consultant, called Yoshiko Enterprises,Inc. in 1972. His business grew by leaps and bounds. He expanded his business to include securities in 1987. Clients, not only locally, but also out of state, came to see Francois, sometimes just to talk or seek his opinion or advice. Francois was a generous soul who would prepare tax returns for clients in unfortunate financial circumstances not expecting payment for his services. During the funeral sercice, the son of one of Francois' former clients stood up to express his gratitude for Francois' help, support and guidance when he was unexpectedly left to manage and operate his father's trucking business. He told of how Francois put his arm around him and assured him that everything was going to be alright. The company is still running to this day and is a true testament of Francois' selflessness and his willingness to help others. Also at the service, my daughter's elementary school friend, whom she had not seen for over seventeen years, came to pay her last respects. Her friend told us that when her swimming teacher and her parents said that she would never learn to swim, Francois said he would teach her. Francois not only taught her how to swim but to never give up on herself. He was a very kind man. He undestood life. He was a mentor to many. To us, not even one day passes without missing him. Surviving Francois is his wife, Yoshiko Therrien, his children; Francois (Kim) Therrien III, Norman (Susan) Therrien, Sakura Therrien and Izumi Therrien, Cousin; Charles (Ellen Marie) Gauthier, Grandchildren; Francois (Carla) Therrien IV and Grant Therrien, Great grand children; Gage Therrien and Marleigh Therrien, his nieces and nephews, and last but not least, beloved cat, Tiger. In the immortal words of General Douglas MacArthur, "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away." His interment will be held in Arlington National Cemetery on February 17th, 2011 at 12:45PM. A gathering to celebrate his life will be held following the interment at the residence of Norman and Susan Therrien at 3150 Valley Lane, Falls Church, Virginia 22044-1737, Home: 703/241-1360, Norman's Cell: 703/625-4563.

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