Lawrence Nicholas "Larry" Guarino (April 16, 1922 – August 18, 2014) was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

officer, and veteran of three wars.Hubbell, John G. ''P.O.W.: A Definitive History of the American Prisoner-of-War Experience in Vietnam, 1964-1973'' (New York: Reader's Digest Press), p. 50. Shot down on his 50th combat mission, he spent more than eight years as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

(POW) during the Vietnam War and earned the Air Force Cross. As a POW at

Hỏa Lò Prison Hỏa Lò Prison (, Nhà tù Hỏa Lò; ) was a prison in Hanoi originally used by the French colonists in Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During this later perio ...

(the "Hanoi Hilton"), he shared a cell with

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

, the future

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election. Guarino wrote ''A P.O.W.'s Story: 2801 Days in Hanoi'' about his experiences in captivity. Guarino flew the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His last duty station was

Patrick Air Force Base Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

and he retired to

Satellite Beach Satellite Beach is a coastal city in Brevard County, Florida, U.S. The population was 11,226 at the 2020 United States census, up from 10,109 at the 2010 census, and it is located with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Banana River to the ...

and

Indian Harbour Beach Indian Harbour Beach is a coastal city in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay–Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, after leaving the Air Force. He died on August 18, 2014.

Awards and decorations

Lawrence Guarino's ribbons as they appeared at retirement: COMMAND PILOT WINGS

Command Pilot Badge

Air Force Cross citation

:Colonel Lawrence Nicholas Guarino :U.S. Air Force :Date Of Action: May 11, 1968 – September 22, 1969

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guarino, Lawrence N. 1922 births 2014 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War People from Satellite Beach, Florida Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Silver Star United States Air Force colonels American prisoners of war in the Vietnam War People from Indian Harbour Beach, Florida Vietnam War torture victims American torture victims

Awards and decorations

Air Force Cross citation

See also

References