My Dad The War Hero
Tonight was my dad’s 60th birthday party. We got the whole family together for supper and celebrated. All of us kids went in together and got his Army medals framed. Here’s a (admittedly not very good) picture I snapped as we were picking it up:
What you’re seeing there are a silver star (the third highest decoration for valor in the US Armed Forces) , four bronze stars (each with an attached “V” to indicated that they were awarded for valor), three purple hearts and an air medal.
Also depicted are his unit insignia (the black horse for the 11th Armored Cavalry), his combat infantryman badge, his Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Award, his Presidential Unit Citation and his Army Meritorious Unit Commendation.
The photo in the middle is my father, all of 19 years old, with the silver star, a bronze star and two purple hearts already. George S. Patton IV, then a colonel and commander of the 11th Armored Cavalry from 1968 - 1970, had just got done pinning them on him.
As you can tell, I’m very proud of my dad and hope he had a happy 60th birthday.
