Joe LaCourse, a Westbrook High grad, gets hearty thanks upon

return from Afghanistan

WESTBROOK – If you’ve seen the film, “The Hurt Locker,” you will have some idea of what 25-year-old Joe LaCourse experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Like the soldiers depicted in that movie, LaCourse, who joined the U.S. Navy in 2003 after graduating from Westbrook High School, was involved in explosive ordnance disposal. In simple terms, that means he had the white-knuckled job of defusing bombs hidden along roads, in buildings and elsewhere.

During the nine months LaCourse spent in Baghdad and then his more recent six-month deployment in Afghanistan, his family constantly feared for his safety as he disarmed live explosives so they couldn’t blow up and hurt others.

But now LaCourse is safely back stateside, stationed in San Diego. And when he and his wife returned to Westbrook for a visit over the Labor Day weekend, his family threw him a big surprise party that included a motorcycle escort by military veterans and by police cars into the city.

But the party wasn’t just a celebration, said LaCourse’s aunt, who hosted the Sept. 4 event at her Hammond Road home.

“It was more of a thank you,” said Norma Blood. “Thanks, Joe, for what you’ve done for us.”

She and Michael LaCourse, Joe LaCourse’s father, said they also wanted to express thanks to other veterans who have served this country in times of war, including three generations of their own family.

Joe LaCourse, whose full name is Joseph, is named for his great great grandfather, who served in the Navy during World War I. His great grandfather, Jim Lacourse, also joined the Navy, serving on a submarine in the Pacific during World War II. During the Vietnam War, Joe’s grandfather, Jack Lacourse, served in the U.S. Air Force.

Jim Lacourse and Jack Lacourse – the two men spell their last name differently from the way Michael and Joe LaCourse spell theirs – praised the youngest member of the family to continue on with the military tradition.

“Well, of course we’re real proud of him,” said Jim Lacourse, 85, during an interview earlier this week. “I enjoy sitting and listening to him talk about his exploits in the war zone.”

Jack Lacourse, 64, said, “I’m proud of Joey, naturally, very proud of him and his accomplishments.”

Joe LaCourse told them he admired them. He said that “with today’s technology, wars are not really wars.”

“It’s not like when you were in the Air Force in Vietnam or in the Navy during World War II,” he told his grandfather and great grandfather. “Those were the iron men days.”

Joe LaCourse said the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001 helped motivate him to join the military.

LaCourse, a varsity wrestler during all four years of high school who set a high school record for pins in his weight class, still recalls how shocked he and other students felt as the principal summoned them all to the auditorium and told them what had happened.

Two years later, when the Iraq War began, LaCourse said he remembered that time and thought: “This is a big deal. This is my generation’s war … and it’s something to be part of, definitely.”

Also, said LaCourse, who excelled in automotive studies in high school, he knew he didn’t want to go to college but wasn’t sure what he did want to do.

“When you’re a couple months from graduation, the military seems pretty enticing,” he said. “You just get in and start making money and go to different places and see the world a bit. And I was lucky enough to have the motivation and desire to do something special, to go above and beyond what the normal is.”

After considering other branches of the armed services, he decided on the Navy. “It was the job opportunities in the Navy that really made me want to join,” he said.

In country

LaCourse decided to become a special operations explosive ordnance disposal technician.

The 2008 movie, “The Hurt Locker,” is an award-winning drama about a three-man U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team in Iraq. The team defuses bombs, fights with insurgents, and struggles to cope with the danger and death that are part of their daily lives.

LaCourse said much of the film doesn’t reflect real life.

“Many specific details of United States tactics that they used are not realistic. Any service member who has been in Iraq will know what they are,” he said.

But he said some of the film rings true.

“The general danger that would be felt when faced with live explosives and an enemy that is trying to kill you, that is very realistic,” LaCourse said.

When he was in Iraq for nine months spanning 2006 and 2007, he was with a unit that was called in if other soldiers found an improvised explosive device, or IED. LaCourse’s unit then would disarm the homemade bombs.

He was only too aware of the damage such bombs could do because part of his unit’s job was to go and do a post-blast investigation if an undetected device went off.

“We would have to go and assess the damage and see what kind of an IED it was and how much damage did it do and that way we could figure out what the enemy is doing, and in that you see dead bodies and stuff like that,” he said.

Knowing that his work could prevent further loss of life was very meaningful to him, LaCourse said.

“On the day that we go out and find an IED, we take care of it and get it off the road, that means another truck is not going to get blown up and that means one to five dudes is not going to die,” he said. “That’s pretty important.”

In Afghanistan, where LaCourse was stationed for six months before he returned to San Diego in April, his job was more of an assault combat role, he said. There, he worked with a Navy Sea, Air and Land team, known as Navy SEAL team, whose job it was to hunt down terrorists in their homes and elsewhere.

Often, he said, the terrorists “put booby traps around their houses and they have bombs and they build bombs there, so the SEALs need technicians like myself to disarm any bombs they find.”

However, he said that in both cases, his mission as an explosive ordnance disposal technician remained the same: “to protect and save lives.”

At home

During LaCourse’s deployments, his family grappled with fear for his safety.

Although he had regular opportunities to contact his wife, Julz LaCourse, and other family members by satellite phone or e-mail, the conversations could be nervewracking.

For example, Michael LaCourse said his phone calls with his son were often interrupted by the sound of exploding mortar shells. His son would have to end the conversation and head for cover. “It caused an extreme amount of anxiety,” Michael LaCourse said.

Julz LaCourse said it was frustrating because her husband couldn’t tell her much for security reasons.

She described a typical conversation: “So, what did you do today? Can’t tell you. Where did you go? Can’t tell you. Well, who were you with? Can’t tell you. I’m like, OK, I hope it was a good day.”

Joe LaCourse, listening to her recount the story this week, grinned at her and said: “I was talking to you so it must have been a good day.”

Blood, LaCourse’s aunt, said she stopped watching television news. “You sit there and we’ve had how many Maine soldiers that haven’t come home and that could easily, easily have been Joe, you know,” she said.

And he was missed, especially on holidays.

“I remember that, in Iraq, I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s on duty out disarming bombs and stuff,” LaCourse said. “But it comes with the trade. I love my job, honestly I do.”

Adjusting to being back in the United States has been a little challenging, he said.

“You go from carrying a fully automatic weapon everywhere you go to coming home and having to worry about stuff like is my car registration due or something like that,” he said. “It’s a whole different world.”

He’s now on shore duty, which means he won’t be deployed for at least three years.

And his current role is to be an instructor, passing on his knowledge about explosive ordnance disposal to others. LaCourse also is considering making a career out of the Navy. A petty officer, second class, he hopes to become an officer next year.

His great grandfather is pleased that LaCourse is focused on a future in the military.

“I’m kind of satisfied he’s going to continue on with the service,” Jim Lacourse said. “It’s a good move.”

Joe LaCourse, above right, a 2003 Westbrook High School graduate serving in the U.S. Navy, returned to Maine this weekend for the first time since completing a tour defusing explosive devices in Afghanistan. He was greeted at a surprise party Saturday by friends and family members, including great grandfather Jim Lacourse, left, uncle Jim Lacourse and grandfather John Lacourse, all veterans of the U.S. military. Photo by Rich Obrey