City of Satellite Beach
50th Birthday Celebration
Colonel Lawrence N. Guarino,
(USAF, Ret.)
Fighter Pilot
Colonel Larry Guarino was born April 16th, 1922 in Newark, New Jersey.
Growing up his boyhood hero was Charles Lindbergh because of his heroic, solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Young Larry always dreamed of becoming a flyer, like his hero.
In high school he was quarterback of his team and at a school dance he met his future wife, Evelyn Gennell.
After Pearl Harbor, Larry joined the Air Corps and won his wings and commission on February 16th, 1943.
However, Evelyn and Larry thought that Valentines Day would be more memorable, so two days before graduation from flight training they married.
Evelyn was 18 and Larry 20.
As a young fighter pilot Larry flew the British Spitfire aircraft in Sicily and during the allied landings in Italy at Salerno and Anzio, downing several German fighters in those campaigns.
He then flew the P-51 Mustang in China and into the land then known as French Indo-China, present day Vietnam.
In 1950-54 he flew the F-86 Sabre on air patrols in Korea. Again in 1961 he went to Southeast Asia and in November 1964, began flying combat missions into Laos and North Vietnam in the F-105-D.
On June 14th 1965, while attacking a target west of Hanoi, he was shot down and captured.
He was held in prisons near Hanoi where he spent nearly eight years as a POW undergoing extreme deprivation and torture.
Following repatriation in February 1973 he was awarded the nations second highest award, the Air Force Cross, also the Distinguished Service Medal, two Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts and many other decorations.
The Colonel and Evelyn, his wife of 63 years, were long time residents of Satellite Beach, they now live in nearby Indian Harbour Beach.
Colonel Guarino is an author of “A POW Story 2801 Days in Hanoi”, published by Random House, which explains his experience as a prisoner of war.
His wife Evelyn self-published “Saved by Love” which is an inspiring account of the challenges she bravely faced while her husband was captive in North Vietnam.