More than 100 family, friends and strangers watched Junior Howell receive the Purple Heart medal on Wednesday — exactly 72 years after he was wounded in combat.
(USAToday)- “It’s the end of World War II for me,” the 91-year-old Marine told reporters after a Marine unit pinned the medal on his suit jacket. ” … everything turned out fine. I had a good life.”
“From one vet to another, I wanted to show my support,” ex-Army paratrooper Joe Litke, a stranger to Howell, told The Star Press. “I’m waiting to meet Junior when all the well-wishers are done.”
“He deserves it and should have had this a long, long time ago, but unfortunately sometimes the government takes too long,” said another stranger and Army veteran Kevin Davidson, head of the local American Legion Riders chapter. “I don’t personally know him … but wanted to show my respect, and honor Junior for his achievements.”
On Sept. 21, 1944, Howell, a teenager, was riding on an amphibious warfare vehicle fitted with a flamethrower being used in a battle against more than 10,000 heavily armed, virtually invisible Japanese troops on Peleliu island.
(Photo Credit: TheIndyChannel)