My Uncle Gets his Purple Heart after 62 years!

This is my Uncle Roy, my dad’s brother. He flew 28 missions in WWll, and got shot down on the last mission and was a POW. He’ll be getting six other medals in addition to his Purple Heart. Really fantastic!

http://www.wnem.com/video/13938670/index.html?taf=sag

YAY UNCLE ROY!
Congratulations! Thats fantastic!

That is awesome. He outlasted the Memphis Belle. He flew in the Atlantic I assumed? Because if he was caught as a bomber pilot flying over Japan, then he has some AMAZING stories to tell. They would lock bomber pilots up in the zoo while the people came by and spat on you.

Wow, that’s awesome! Kudos to Uncle Roy!

Right on…that’s the best story I’ve heard all day. Congratulations to Mr. Peterson and your whole family, and thanks for this weighty and excellent post.

Wow, congratulations.

How old is he?

He’s 85 so it’s been 62 years since he was a POW!(In Germany) Better late than never I guess. :smiley: He’s very humble and doesn’t really like the spotlight, but he so much deserves it and his family is so proud of him, as I am!

Congratulations to your uncle! Well done.

At 62 years a per recognition, that is 372 more years for the other 6. :astonished:

During the Apartheid years we had conscription and I ended up serving two years in the military. If you served in the Operational Area on the (then) South West Africa and Angola border, you would receive a Pro Patria ‘medal’ as a matter of course.

There was some stupid delay with mine and it arrived at my parents’ house many years after I left the service.
So many years in fact that we’d transitioned to a democracy by then.
And that the minister who’s signature appeared on the letter that accompanied the ‘medal’ was actually the Commander in Chief of the forces we fought against while I was serving.

Sadly, this snippet of irony was quite lost on my parents who happily kept the medal for me but threw the letter away.

I was mostly please at realising that govermentr is goverment and that ineptitude seemingly knew now party-political barriers.

Hats off to your uncle Terry. I always have great respect for people that risked their life to preserve my freedom!

Very cool. Say thanks to your uncle from me.

That’s awesome that he finally got the recognition. My father served as a cargo pilot in Asia flying over the Hump to China. He was luckier than your uncle in that he never got shot down or wounded. He received a medal from the Chinese government 40 something years after the war for his services there, the US pulled out so fast that many of the pilots didn’t get the medals the Chinese awarded them, and it took them a while to track him down. It’s good to see that the government hasn’t forgotten those who fought in the past.