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A medal in the mail? It's a real mystery

A World War II veteran says he got a Bronze Star in the mail. The Army says that sounds unusual.

By VANESSA DE LA TORRE
Published November 20, 2005

SEMINOLE - Arthur Huband, a World War II soldier, received a Purple Heart after shrapnel penetrated his left lung when he was fighting the Germans in France. That was awarded in 1944.

He also earned two Bronze Stars. But he says he didn't receive those until six decades later - in the mail.

In a confusing situation that has left some people teary-eyed and others doubtful, Huband says a manila envelope arrived at his Seminole home about a year ago.

Inside was a small box, but no letter. He said the return address escapes his memory, but not the feeling he had when he saw a Bronze Star dangling from a red ribbon, striped down the middle in blue.

"I thought it was a mistake. I thought it was someone else's medal," the 84-year-old said. "But when you turn it around, it has a circle and my name was engraved on it."

Other military veterans have rallied around Huband, angered that the Army would delay in honoring a serviceman. So about a week ago, at the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars military ball in Madeira Beach, Huband stood in a pastel green suit, facing a Navy commander who ceremonially presented him with a Bronze Star.

"There were grown men standing and saying, "Man, that brings tears to my eyes to see this happening,"' said Ray Mireles, a retired Marine and Huband's neighbor who helped arrange the ceremony.

But some are skeptical. Army spokeswoman Betsy Weiner said there are cases in which a World War II veteran received his Medal of Honor decades after the fact. But the Bronze Star, Weiner said, is awarded for a different level of valor, and it would be unusual for the government to track down a former soldier without being told of the slight first.

Weiner also mentioned that the medals "can be sold on eBay." Without Huband's official military records, Weiner said she could not determine whether his claims were legitimate. She said last week that she didn't have enough information on Huband to obtain those documents.

Other factors complicate the story.

The veteran, who was a 19-year-old from Virginia with no high school education when he enlisted in 1939, can't remember what he did to deserve the Bronze Stars.

"Truthfully," Huband said, "I don't have the slightest idea."

Huband wrote a letter to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, which keeps military files dating to World War I. He wanted to know why the Bronze Stars were awarded to him. But in a form letter dated July 15, 2004, the center informed Huband that a fire destroyed "a major portion" of Army personnel records from 1912 to 1959.

Huband said that after he received his first medal in the mail, he went to the VFW office in Madeira Beach, where his discharge papers were examined. He said he was told that the Army should have given him not one, but two Bronze Stars.

But Bill Engel, commander of the VFW post, recalls it differently. He said Huband came into the office on June 2, signed up for the organization and asked, "Isn't this where you can help me replace my medals lost over the years?"

"I got a Bronze Star," Engel recalls him saying. But Huband no longer had it, and wanted a new one along with replacements for his Purple Heart and other medals, Engel said.

That's when the VFW examined his discharge report and noticed that Huband had a second Bronze Star citation that he never received, Engel said. The VFW filed a form with the U.S. Department of Defense to have Huband's medals replaced.

Huband said he recently received his second star, an oak leaf cluster that is attached to the first medal, in the mail.

A copy of Huband's discharge report shows that he received his first Bronze Star citation on Dec. 1, 1944. The second came on June 5, 1945.

Huband was honorably discharged from the Army about three months later.

"You get home, thank God you're alive . . . put away military clothes and put on civilian clothes," Huband said. "Then you went about your business and got a job. You didn't read your discharge that said you did this and that and the other. . . . I didn't pay attention to "Bronze Star."'

Mireles, 37, said his brother is still in the military. He would hate for him to be wounded and not be properly recognized for his actions.

"I find it - honestly, my words - absolutely repulsive. A lot of people didn't come back from that war, and for the government to suggest they don't have enough time, that's ridiculous."

Huband said no further acknowledgment from the Army is needed.

"I'll be satisfied if I don't hear another word," he said.

His Bronze Stars are arranged in a glass case, among his dog tags, Purple Heart and good conduct medals. He keeps the case above his computer desk, between a small American flag and a Glamour Shot of his girlfriend.

[Last modified November 20, 2005, 00:54:20]