FALL RIVER — Antone Souza, 93, sat in the company of fellow veterans at the Corky Row Club mid-morning Monday.

The Navy seaman wore a wedding ring that was forged from a shilling coin many decades ago, a ring he said was given to him by a jilted British prisoner of war who climbed aboard his vessel, the USS Monitor, after the Japanese surrendered to Allied forces and he was freed from captivity.

The former British POW approached the young Souza, and offered him the silver wedding ring. Sousa initially refused. "What use do I have for a wedding ring?" he thought.

“He said, 'Take it or it’s going overboard,'” Souza recalled the man saying after disclosing that his fiance left him while he was overseas.

“We were all young, we were kids," Souza said.

Souza ended up accepting the ring that day, and still has it more than 70 years later. He only began wearing it decades after the encounter, when he married his wife, Ethel.

The Little Compton resident spoke after eating lunch at The Veterans’ Kitchen, housed inside the Corky Row Club, 602 Third St., where volunteers with the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 9 serve complimentary meals to local veterans from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Monday and Wednesday. The kitchen is in its second week.

Volunteers Dawn Trahan, Jackie Costa, Leo Silvia and Dawn DeCosta fed about a dozen veterans and their spouses Monday. As conversation flowed and dessert was served, Trahan answered her cell phone. It was a veteran, calling ahead to make sure it wasn’t too late to come by and eat lunch.

“The coffee’s always on and hot, you know that,” Trahan replied.

Director of Veterans Services Ray Hague, at the club for lunch, said the free meals aim to meet the needs of the approximately 7,500 veterans who live in the city, regardless of income. Trahan said the meals are prepared by Chef Robert Gould, as well as volunteers Elaine Braga and Constance Dolline Lariviere.

“It’s open to all veterans. It’s not income-driven,” said Hague. “And it’s all on a volunteer basis, so thank God for the volunteers and the donations.”

Souza flipped through a photo album filled with snapshots from his trip to Washington, D.C., last year with about two-dozen other veterans. He arrived at T.F. Green Airport early in the morning, then flew to the nation’s capital.

When he touched down in D.C., his group of veterans was welcomed by soldiers and civilians. Soldiers offered a military salute, and Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island greeted the veterans at the World War II Memorial.

Souza's trip to D.C. through Honor Flight, the nonprofit that brings veterans to significant monuments in the capital, brought up good memories, and bad ones, he said. It also showed how many people still value his service to the country.

“I thought that people didn’t care,” he said. “But they did. I was amazed. It made me break down quite a few times.”

Those who wish to volunteer or donate to The Veterans' Kitchen can contact Trahan at 774-526-0611, or through the The Veterans’ Kitchen Facebook page.

Email Amanda Burke at aburke@heraldnews.com.

