And whilst we are at it. Veteran finally honored for service in WWII More than 60 years after returning home from World War II, Loyd Keever has been duly honored for his service and courage. Keever, 93, was presented medals for his military service during a special ceremony held in his honor at VFW Post 2031 on Sunday afternoon. The veteran was presented with six medals, including an American Campaign medal; WWII Victory medal; honorable service lapel button, WWII Philippine Liberation ribbon and Campaign bronze star; Asiatic Pacific Campaign medal and triple campaign Bronze Star. Keever, who didn't speak much about his time in war, said he was honored to be recognized before his friends and family. "It feels pretty good," he said. Keever, who was drafted into the Army in his 20s, served in the 77th Division 304th Artillery. He spent nearly four years in the military, before making a profession out of construction work. During the war, he served in Okinawa, Hiroshima, Guam, Pearl Harbor, and a host of other places. As the years have passed and memories have faded, Keever remembers bits and pieces of his life 64 years ago. But he does remember the overall feeling of being at war. "It was pretty rough," he said. Keever didn't know he was going to receive the medals until they were pinned on him by his three sisters Sunday. His sister, Fairy Stallings, was responsible for starting the process three years. She said her brother never talked much about his experiences, but she became interested after her husband, Joe, read a book about Keever's division and its achievements. "We've got a hero in our midst so I started thinking about his medals," Stallings said. "I'm probably more excited than he is." Keever's brothers, Garland and Glenn, also served in the military. Stallings' husband, Joe, who is a retired colonel, presided over the brief presentation. "Loyd is one of the few parts of the American treasure still living," he said. "We can't forget our treasured few."
Not that I wish to take anything away from these gentlemens military sevice but I find it very strange and typically American to award medals after such a vast amount of time has expired. I welcome you thoughts.
I'm not sure why they were forgotten David ... I thought at first it was because the soldiers had to apply for them themselves and they wanted to put all that behind them !! .... here's another ...... John Miles lived life with a smile and keen sense of humor, so it's a pretty good bet he would have found a joke somewhere in the telephone call his widow, Melanie, recently received from Cam Galeti. Cam moonlights getting veterans the service medals they earned but never received. He was calling to let Melanie know that John's World War II service medals had just arrived in the mail. John would have been proud of Melanie for wanting to make sure future generations had a chance to see the medals her husband had earned protecting his country in a time of war. But he probably would have found a laugh in there, too - seeing how they arrived 61 years late, says Melanie Nosek, the Mileses' daughter. Yeah, John named his daughter after his wife because no matter what, he told her, she would always come first in his life. At least, that was the company line. ``Mom wanted to name me Michelle, but Dad was adamant. He wanted me to be named Melanie, the love of his life. Mom and I finally figured out it was because when he yelled `Melanie,' we'd both come running.'' There was always a laugh to be had in the Mileses' house, even during the last few years when John's health was failing. It had been more than 40 years since he'd stepped inside a church to make confession. Maybe it was time to try again, he told his daughter. John told the priest he had never done anything really bad in his 84 years. Never murdered, raped or robbed anyone. ``But you can put me down for two of everything else,'' he said. When it was clear that the end was near in January, Melanie - the daughter -read a book about coping with death. ``One day, I climbed into bed next to Dad and whispered in his ear that it was OK, you can go. ``He shot up and said, `Where we going?' That was my Dad, still joking at the end.'' So, yeah, John Miles would have found a laugh somewhere in the 61-years-late service medals he earned for helping stop a guy named Hitler from taking over the world. It wasn't the postal service's fault. It was the government's. Those medals should have been given to Miles and all our veterans right when they were discharged. ``That's when we were supposed to be given our medals, but a lot of the time the medals weren't there when we were checking out so they told us they'd be sent to us later,'' says Galeti, who has worked as a State Farm Insurance agent in the Valley for more than 50 years. ``A lot of times, they never were sent. Guys went on with their lives and forgot about them. They wanted to put the war behind them, way behind them.'' The 84-year-old Galeti spends his afternoons writing letters to the government to recover the long-forgotten medals. He started in 2004 when he found that most of the men who served in Easy Company with him at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II never got the Bronze Star for bravery that Gen. George C. Marshall had promised them. Galeti went on a one-man campaign to get the medal for the guys in his company. If they had passed on, he got it to their widows. So when Melanie Miles - the mother - read about him in one of my columns, she asked Cam if he could help her recover her late husband's service medals. Like a lot of men who came home from war, her husband never talked about it. But one day, late in his life, she found him looking through a veterans magazine that had an ad for miniature service medals. ``He bought the Good Conduct Medal and the other ones he earned, and put them on his VA baseball cap, right next to the Irish shamrock he had on it,'' his widow says. ``When I asked him why, he told me the medals themselves weren't that important, but what they stood for was.'' Nobody knew John Miles better than his wife. They had met in eighth grade back in Detroit and starting going together at 15. They got married in 1941, during a 10-day leave John had before being shipped overseas. Her husband didn't have to say what he was feeling. She knew. He wanted the real medals. He probably would have laughed and joked about it, but he would have cried a little inside, too. Not for the medals. For what they stood for. Today would have been the Mileses' 63rd wedding anniversary. Melanie and her 57-year-old daughter, Melanie, will be going out to dinner with 55-year-old John Gregory Miles, the son of the family. It will be the first time he's seen his father's service medals. When he was born, John Miles told his wife she could name the boy since he had named the girl. Melanie smiled and told her husband she wanted to name him John. So every time she yelled `John' they'd both come running. ``It didn't work out, though,'' Melanie said. ``Everybody called him Greg.'' dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com WORLD WAR II MEDALS ARRIVE, 61 YEARS LATE. - Free Online Library
The British too !! ...... Sixty years to the day after he was demobbed at RAF Pembroke Dock, Douglas Benson has finally got his wartime medal. The War Medal 1939-1945 was a British decoration awarded to those who had served in the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines full-time for at least 28 days between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945. In the Merchant Navy, the 28 days must have been served at sea. In a surprise ceremony at Pembroke Dock’s Gun Tower Museum, former airman Doug received his 1939-45 War Medal from the RAF’s senior officer for Wales, Air Commodore Dai Williams. Doug had turned up at the Museum for a quiet Saturday visit, not knowing that his son, Bob, and local ATC squadron commander Mark Davies had laid on something very special. A guard of honour of cadets from No 1574 (Pembroke Borough) Squadron, ATC, greeted Doug at the entrance and there was a ‘reception committee’ inside the Gun Tower. In the Roundel Room, beneath models of Sunderland flying boatwhich Doug used to service, he was presented with the medal. Eighty-two-year-old Doug, from Oswestry, joined the RAF in 1943 and trained as a radar mechanic. His final posting was to RAF Pembroke Dock, on Sunderlands, and it was from ‘PD’ that he was demobbed. “I was told I was not entitled to a medal although I had completed four years service, much of it wartime,” recalled Doug. “However, when my son, Bob, did some research he found out that I was indeed entitled to the War Medal, and without my knowing he obtained one for me. It was such a surprise to receive the medal.” Air Commodore Williams, the Air Officer Commanding Wales, said he was delighted that the RAF could at last ensure that Doug received his medal after his meritorious service. The arrangements were co-ordinated by Flight Lieutenant Mark Davies and the medal bearer was Cadet Katy Reeves. Later Doug and guests enjoyed refreshments at the town’s RNA Club. Doug Gets Demob Medal, 60 Years Late!
Today's example. Alabama Army National Guards presents long overdue medals to WWII veteran - WHNT Alabama Army National Guards presents long overdue medals to WWII veteran By Associated Press 2:10 PM CDT, April 7, 2009 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A World War II veteran has finally received five medals he earned while serving in North Africa and Europe 64 years ago. Alabama Army National Guard members presented the medals Monday to Sgt. James Hall, who was surrounded by fellow veterans and a sea of balloons at North River Village, an assisted-living facility. Hall earned the American Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. Hall will turn 90 years old in May. His daughter, Cheryl Dockery, said the medals were special to him and that he began showing interest in them after moving to North River Village more than a year ago. Workers at North River helped make it happen. ___
Another British one. WW2 nurse honoured after 65 years - Telegraph Eileen Driscoll, 90, was part of a team of Women's Royal Air Force who treated injured servicemen while they were being flown home from the front line. The group - dubbed The Flying Nightingales - risked their own lives to help evacuate more than 100,000 wounded soldiers from the battlefields of Europe. Despite their bravery, the nurses were paid the equivalent of less than 3p per day and were not eligible for medals because they held no official rank. Last year seven of the surviving The Flying Nightingales were presented with achievement awards by the Duchess of Cornwall at a ceremony in London. But Eileen, from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, was overlooked by officials - so her daughter Diane Owen stepped in and arranged for her to be honoured. Now Eileen has finally received her Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ministry of Defence. Eileen, who was based at RAF Down Ampney in Glos., and RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire between 1943 and 1946, said: "I was so surprised after so long to receive this award. "At the time I suppose we did not think of the danger and just got on with the job. It was the war period and I got on with it and enjoyed what I did." As well as her award, Eileen also received a personal message from the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles.
60 Years Late But Worth The Wait! Two men who served as firefighters during World War Two have received their Defence Medals - over 60 years late. Bill Edgington and Walter Wilkinson both now live at the Trowbridge Oaks care home in Trowbridge, and were presented with their medals by Wiltshire’s Chief Fire Officer Andy Goves. Defence Medals were awarded to those who gave at least 1,080 days of either military or some types of civilian service during World War Two, but it was only at Veterans’ Day last summer that it became clear that Mr Edgington and Mr Wilkinson had missed out. Steve Williams, Group Manager at Trowbridge Fire Station, contacted the Ministry of Defence Medal Office to see if the two men would qualify for the recognition. He explained: “Both of these gentlemen gave exemplary service to firefighting, and I was sure they should have been awarded medals. Ray Horan at Trowbridge Oaks helped with the application, and it is great that they have finally been honoured, albeit 60 years late.” Bill Edgington spent the war years in Birmingham, where he helped train firefighters in various techniques, including anti gas attack drills. He attended a number of large fires between 1939 and 1945, including the destruction of the tram station near Corporation Street during a night time attack, and was often deployed on fire watching duties from vantage points across the city. Walter Wilkinson became a junior fireman in 1942, serving in Canterbury. He was responsible for the messages being sent from the fire ground to the dispatch point, providing information about the progress of incidents. Because Kent was subject to so many enemy attacks, he was often requested to be part of the firefighting crews as well, and he recalls being able to see hostile aircraft forming up over the Pas de Calais prior to attack. Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer Andy Goves said: “I was proud to present these medals to these two gentlemen. They served their country magnificently during the difficult years of the war, and it is entirely right that they should be honoured in this way. We owe them and their colleagues a great deal.” Tracy Williams, deputy matron at Trowbridge Oaks - which is owned by BUPA Today - added: “We are delighted that Bill and Walter have finally received their medals, and we are very grateful to the Fire & Rescue Service for their help. The presentation was a very emotional moment, not just for them but for their friends and families as well.” press releases
You asked why David ..... maybe this is the reason .... well in the US anyways !! War Medals Awarded After Records Surface from VA Hospital Long-time Nashvillian Emmett Faulkner received war-time medals yesterday for his Army service more than 60 years ago during World War II. At a ceremony held this morning, Faulkner spent time remembering his childhood spent in rural Tennessee. “When I was seven years old, I’d get up and go hunting, catch a squirrel for breakfast a lot of times. I could shoot a 22 rifle. Before I went in the service I could throw up a quart can, throw it up and shoot a hole in it before it hit the ground.” Faulkner’s family notified Congressman Jim Cooper when military records surfaced after he visited a Veterans Affairs hospital earlier this year. It’s not uncommon for World War II veterans to leave the military before receiving service medals, but Cooper says his office is receiving more calls as aging veterans access VA hospitals. “They need a little healthcare. They go into the VA hospital and more and more we’re finding that the electronic medical record in the VA hospital has better records than is stored on paper in the government warehouses. So that’s how more and more veteran are finding out about medals that they won and deserved, but never received. So I’m happy we are getting this out, even if it’s 60 years late.” Faulkner, who is now 82, served under General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines and achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant. WPLN Newscast Stories » » War Medals Awarded After Records Surface from VA Hospital
St. Xavier grad accepts medal for his brother lost in WWII Glenn Rutherford Bill Scanlan, himself a pilot and war veteran, received the POW Medal awarded to his brother, Jack, who was shot down over Japan in 1945 There was no way William J. “Bill” Scanlan was going to make it through last Friday’s medal ceremony at St. Xavier High School without shedding a tear. He knew it and began asking the nieces and nephews gathered around him for tissues before the special event got underway. Scanlan was at St. X to receive a “Prisoner of War Medal” awarded posthumously — and more than 60 years late — to his brother, Lt. John “Jack” Scanlan, who was shot down over Japan on June 23, 1945, just a couple of months before the end of World War II. Bill Scanlan was himself a member of that “Greatest Generation.” He was the youngest of the three Scanlan boys who went to war — Joe, the oldest, was an Army officer; Jack was a P-51 fighter pilot; and Bill retired from the Air Force as a major. He was trained as an A-26 pilot in 1945, but the war ended before he went overseas. But Bill Scanlan didn’t miss his call to battle — he served years later during the Vietnam War. Last Friday’s emotional event was about his brother, though, and Jack Scanlan’s story conveys the horror of war as much as any single episode can. His P-51 Mustang squadron was flying off of Iwo Jima in support of B-29 bombing raids on Japan. During an air-to-air dogfight over their target, Scanlan’s fighter was hit and caught fire. He coaxed his wounded aircraft to a safer altitude, rolled it belly-up and bailed out over enemy territory. He was captured by Japanese soldiers, including an infantry captain who used the parachute material to bind Scanlan’s wounds. But the kindness shown the young American was short-lived. Women working in the hospital where Scanlan was held captive released him a few days later to an angry crowd of civilians. They tortured and killed the 24-year-old Lt. Scanlan with sharpened bamboo spears. Eventually some of the women involved in this atrocity were tried for war crimes. Ten were acquitted; seven others were convicted. The Army was never easily forthcoming with details about Scanlan’s fate, though his mother, Catherine, sought information for years and even wrote to President Truman. The medal ceremony at St. X marked the end of a serendipitous series of events that led the Air Force, after all these years, to correct its error and provide Scanlan’s family with the Prisoner of War Medal their relative so rightly earned. In 2007, an antique dealer named Andy Albatys paid $20 for a box of letters mistakenly left in estate-sale materials by Bill Scanlan. Those letters told the story of Jack Scanlan, and Albatys later wrote a newspaper column carried in the Jeffersonville Evening News and New Albany Tribune. That led to an additional column in The Courier-Journal, and together with a mention of Scanlan’s mission during a History Channel TV show, interest in the case led Albatys to contact family members. Together, their quest for closure led them to Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office and, finally, to last Friday’s ceremony. “It’s a wonderful thing to have happen all these years later,” Bill Scanlan said, noting that all three of the brothers were St. X graduates — Joe in 1936, Jack in 1939, and Bill in 1941. Before Brigadier Gen. Michael J. Dornbush of the Kentucky Air National Guard presented Bill Scanlan with his brother’s medal, the 86-year-old former aviator sat in his wheelchair and tried to describe his emotions. “Back then when Jack was flying, so-called ‘uncommon valor’ was a common thing,” he said. Then his memories and emotions got the better of him for a bit, and his voice trailed off. During the ceremony, Catherine Anne Wiggins, Scanlan’ niece, noted that the Japanese Army captain who first treated Jack Scanlan — Yasumati Miasaka — was mortified when he learned after the war that civilians had murdered the American. His son, Tory, wrote to the Scanlan family in January of 2008 and noted in a letter that “I am sure that Jack Scanlan and my father have met each other and exchanged comments and opinions in heaven.” Upon receiving the medal from Gen. Dornbush, Bill Scanlan said. “I don’t have the proper words to honor my brother.” Then he shed a few more tears. The Record: The Record: St. Xavier grad accepts medal for his brother lost in WWII
The medals that were awarded me during my time of service were never physically "awarded" at a parade or ceremony. An entry was made in my DD214 (Record of Military Service) of the awards and decorations due me. The medals I have in my shadow box were purchased privately by me.
Nice David !! :clapping: Heres a man who waited a long time .... YouTube - Medals Awarded to WWII Veteran, 60 Years Late -- 3
David, I know you posted a picture of yourself with your bemedalled jacket but I can't find it now - and I can't remember whether it had the ribbons or medals.
Almost 65 years after he fought in a pivotal World War II battle, Milton resident and former Fife Mayor Bob Mizukami received a Bronze Star medal for his heroism. Mizukami was a member of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, an Asian-American unit composed mostly of Japanese-Americans. The unit became the most highly decorated in United States history. On Aug. 30, 1944, Mizukami and the 442nd faced stiff resistance on the south side of the Arno River in Italy. Mizukami said he does not remember much about that day, but he recalls his time in Italy. “We were pretty busy at that time,” he said. “It was hot and muggy and a terrible time to be fighting a war.” Still, Mizukami humbly accepted the medal, saying he did not deserve it for anything heroic he did individually. “I didn’t save a million lives or anything, but you have to look at this as the unit doing these things,” he said. “There were some guys in our outfit who did some pretty heroic things, but they were only doing their job as part of a unit.” Mizukami received his bronze medal Jan. 13 – an upgrade from the combat infantry badge he received previously. While he is grateful for the recognition, he said many of the people who deserve Bronze Stars are no longer alive. Mizukami was born in 1922 in Star Lake, Wash. He grew up in Renton and attended school there until his family moved to Fife in 1937, when he was a sophomore in high school. Mizukami graduated from Fife High in 1940. Two years later, President Franklin Roosevelt signed executive order 9066, allowing the internment of Japanese-Americans living along the West Coast. Mizukami, his parents and his two brothers and two sisters were sent to a relocation camp at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, and then to the Minidoka War Relocation Center in southeastern Idaho, leaving behind their home and greenhouses in Fife. A year after Roosevelt’s executive order, in February 1943, the 442nd Infantry Regiment was activated and recruiters began looking for troops in internment camps. “The whole reason we were in camp was because they were testing our loyalty,” Mizukami said. “We thought we could do some good by proving we were as good a citizen as anyone else.” He and his younger brother, William, volunteered then and there. Their youngest brother, Frank, was too young to go with them but was sent overseas for the latter part of the war. Bob and Bill Mizukami arrived in Europe shortly after D-Day, in June 1944. A month later, Bill Mizukami was killed in action. After also receiving a Purple Heart during his service, Bob Mizukami was discharged from the military in 1945. He went to Spokane, where his parents were living, and there he met his future wife, Lily. Together, they had two children. Shortly after arriving back in the United States, Mizukami returned to Fife, where his family purchased their old house and continued to grow flowers and vegetables. Mizukami became involved in the local government and served on the Fife incorporation committee in the mid-1950s. He served on the first Fife City Council, and continued to serve the city on and off for 25 years. From 1980 to 1987, he served as mayor. About five years ago, Mizukami and his wife moved to the Mill Ridge Village retirement community in Milton. Lily Mizukami died two years ago, just two months short of the couple’s 60th anniversary. Although Mizukami said he is proud of his Bronze Star, he is not sure he deserves it. “I’m kind of proud of it, but I’m kind of embarrassed…It’s a team thing, it’s not just about individuals,” he said of his time in the military. Still, he added, “I think it’s kind of nice that they’re so thorough, going through the records and all.
A veteran in New Hampshire was given a special honor this week. John Gale finally received his Purple Heart, thanks in part to Congressman Carol Shea Porter's office. "When you get a Purple Heart, it means that you sacrificed and you suffered." But, John Gale doesn't see it that way. Even though he's waited more than 65 years for his Purple Heart, this World War II veteran is remarkably humble about the honor. "Soldiers who were wounded, really wounded, people who were killed...I just happened to have a little concussion. An inconvenience." An inconvenience he's lived with since 1943. That's when Gale was stationed in North Africa, and found himself caught in the German attack on Algiers that left him partially deaf. Rising to the rank of Master Sergeant, Gale served 20 years in uniform and another 20 as a civilian member of the Army. But, at 93-years-old, surrounded in his assisted living apartment by 10 service medals, Gales holds his stories most dear. Stories of General George Patton. "He was a marvelous soldier, but they had to hold him back. He wanted to go into Berlin." And, stories of his wife, Jacqueline -- a woman he met in Toulon, France, who, after just three dates, followed him to Marseilles. Each one of his stories are treasures, too, for his family.
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS - For John Miller of Colerain Township, a Navy veteran of World War II, Friday was a day he had awaited for 64 years. It was well worth the wait. Most of the six children and 16 grandchildren he and his wife, Dolores, watched grow over the years gathered around him at the noon hour Friday in a conference room at Good Samaritan Hospital. They looked on with love and appreciation as their father and grandfather - suffering from congestive heart failure and battling pneumonia - at long last received the medals and ribbons he had earned as a young sailor all those years ago. "I couldn't have imagined 60 years ago that I would have a family like this all together in one place," said Miller, who had been under constant care from a visiting nurse in the condo he and his wife share before pneumonia sent him to the hospital. "I am blessed." The medals and ribbons Miller earned were never given to him when he left the Navy in December 1945, after serving three years on board the destroyer USS Drayton in the South Pacific. It wasn't until a couple of months ago that one of his daughters, Linda Graf of Colerain Township, realizing that her father's health was declining rapidly, contacted the office of U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus, D-Price Hill, for help tracking down her father's medals. It is something congressional offices are called on to do often - records were lost, officers failed to do paperwork, and hundreds of thousands of veterans service records were destroyed in a St. Louis fire in the early 1970s. In Miller's case, a faulty typewriter operated by a clerk at his old Navy unit rendered his records unreadable. Driehaus' office cut through the red tape. On Friday, the congressman brought to the hospital what Miller had earned all those years ago - a campaign medal, a Combat Action ribbon, an Honorable Service lapel pin (known to veterans as "the ruptured duck") and an honorable discharge medal. Driehaus also handed the World War II veteran an American flag lapel pin. "This is flag you fought for," Driehaus said. Just before the ceremony, the family was told Miller's pneumonia was under control and that he might be released to go home. Graf said that, as they did before his hospital stay, the family would have a palliative care nurse in the home to care for the 85-year-old and their mother, who will turn 83 on Sunday. "They've always insisted on being on their own," Graf said. "So we do the best we can for them." As the children and grandchildren formed a semicircle to snap photos of Miller and his wife - he in a wheelchair and she holding on to his arm - Jean Bosse, a daughter, said the whole family is glad that it did not take any longer than it did to track down his paperwork and have his medals issued. "He's been so sick; he's been in and out of the hospital so many times," Bosse said. "We all wanted him to have a day like this." Kevin Miller, a son, said it was only right that it happen in front of the large family his father has raised. "Family is everything to him," Miller said. "That, and his military service. He is proud of having served. And he is the kind of guy who, if the Navy came to him today, and said, 'Miller, we'd need you,' off he would go."
Glenn Lane has a few scars and many sea stories as reminders of his Navy years and as of Sunday, April 18, he has a new medal — the Purple Heart. This award comes more than 60 years after Lane was injured and at least five years after his daughter learned he never received the honor. “I asked to see his Purple Heart one day,” Trish Anderson, Lane’s daughter, said. “I was so surprised he didn’t have one. I knew he had shrapnel wounds and was burnt.” Lane’s career began with a bang Dec. 7, 1941, on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While fighting fires on the Arizona, Lane was blown off that battleship and swam through the burning harbor to the USS Nevada, another doomed ship. After that awful day, Lane decided to take to the skies. He served as an aircrewman on combat flights during World War II and Korea. Lane ended his career as Whidbey Island Naval Air Station’s first command master chief petty officer. Even after serving for 30 years and through three wars, medals don’t hang in heavy rows in the left side of his uniform. Lane has the obligatory campaign ribbons for different wars. And he has Good Conduct medals. But nothing more prestigious than that. “Once I got over the shock of him not having a Purple Heart, I said I would see he got one,” Anderson said Sunday. Anderson said she made lots of telephone calls and pushed a lot of paper to get her 86-year-old father his latest medal. Capt. Steven Black, commanding officer of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, presented Lane with the medal Sunday and spoke of the Purple Heart’s significance. Black said he regularly authorizes medals, but this was the first time he’s been in contact with a Purple Heart. “Today was special because of the nature of the medal,” Black said. “It’s special because I’ve come to think of the Lanes as friends. And it reaches back 60 years to a defining moment in the Navy and our nation.” Unlike other medals, Purple Hearts are based on record, not on nominations and recommendations from a board. For Lane to receive the medal, he had to find two people who had seen him be wounded and would sign affidavits to that fact. After almost six decades, with World War II veterans in their 80s, Lane and Anderson had some searching. They did locate two men who were in Lane’s division on the Arizona. After receiving their statements, the Lanes submitted more forms and waited. Finally, the award was official. The Purple Heart is a special award for Glenn Lane. “On the back, it reads, ‘For military merit.’ It’s not just for wounds,” he said. Master Chief Petty Officer Rick Bynum was the master of ceremonies Sunday and said it was the greatest honor in his 27 years in the Navy. “To honor a shipmate, especially another master chief, was unbelievable,” Bynum said. Lane receives Purple Heart after 60 years - Whidbey News Times
