Warbird Information Exchange

Just ran across this story in the Union Tribune

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metr ... edals.html

Thanks for sharing the wonderful story...it's always fun to hear about these guys finally getting the recognition they deserve after so many years. Sadly, these types of stories are all too common for many WWII vets. Due to the huge numbers in uniform, speedy discharges after the war, and the slow awards system many vets left the service never receiving their entitled awards.

John

Glad to share these stories with all of you! They may not make national headlines, but at least we know and appreciate our vets!

Just yesterday there was also a ceremony to honor Philipino Americans who served along with U.S. forces in WWII. They had a plaque dedicated at the Mount Soledad Memorial.

Its sometimes hard to believe how many WWII vets we are losing, and sadly for some with hardly any recognition of their deeds and service.

This is kind of special for me as I was able to track down one of my father's crew chiefs from India. He was an amazing guy to talk with as my Dad had already passed.

He was having his 85th birthday party with 250 family and friends at his home in Houston, Texas. To thank him for his time taken with me and for his service in WWII, I sent him one of Dad's Air Medals with an honorary certificate that I created thanking him for what he did for my Dad and other "dad's" after.

He died shortly after his 85th but I received a letter from his wife detailing his party and that he was moved to tears with the medal.

There are so many heros out there who will never "claim" what they deserve and most will never share what they have done. I feel so incredibly honored that I met a guy who figured a role in my Dad's life and that I could bring to him a pleasure he did not expect.

Thank that Vet you meet and engage that "old guy" with the WWII personalized license plate, it is an amazing and fulfilling experience.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

pursuing deserved medals is an admirable & daunting task. cutting through the uncle sam's red tape, researching & let alone finding the records at the military records repository in st. louis missouri is near impossible. my dad was screwed out of the silver star by a colonel who took it for himself in an infantry battle in the pacific in ww 2. i took it upon myself to get dad's silver star, ran the government gobblly gook, only to be told that i needed witness documentation. i contacted my dad's executive officer, he provided a notarized statement, but that wasn't good enough. i wanted this effort to be a surprise for my dad, but in order to secure the medal through channels i had to spill the beans & tell dad what i was doing. well......... upon hearing about it he ripped me a new asshole, & told me if the medal meant something to him he would have got it on his own. the humbleness of the average ww2 vet speaks no bounds!!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!