WWII veteran from upstate NY receives overdue medals

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

FONDA, N.Y. (AP) — A World War II veteran from upstate New York who fought in some of the fiercest battles in Europe has been awarded long overdue military decorations for his combat service.

Congressman Chris Gibson of New York presented the Bronze Star, Combat Infantryman Badge and other medals to 92-year-old Thomas Williams of Central Bridge during a ceremony Tuesday in Montgomery County.

Williams was a month shy of his 19th birthday when he enlisted in the Army in late 1942. He served in the 398th Regiment of the 100th Infantry Division, which fought its way across France into Germany and took part in the Battle of the Bulge.

Williams' family provided details of his service to Gibson's office because the veteran's records were among those destroyed in a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in Missouri.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8c20c10abc464c08a0fbf289e9e27f4f/wwii-veteran-upstate-ny-receives-overdue-medals

[Human101948]

1. My father was also at the Battle o the Bulge with the 101st...

I requested his records but they were also destroyed by that fire. All I got was the records of his last pay--$136.70. (Which included travel costs.)

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait as long as Thomas Williams-- he received his Bronze Star ater the war.

[pinboy3niner]

2. I was surprised to see an Easy Company vet at a recent event in my community

There are not many of those guys left.

[Human101948]

3. Yeah, my father passed away in 2007...

He would have been 92 this year.

He went to the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. After all those years, they still treated him like a major hero.

[Dustlawyer]

4. I have presented a couple of thousand clients/veterans of WWII for their asbestos depositions

where these guys had to describe what they did in the wars. I have heard first hand accounts of all of the major battles in Europe and the South Pacific. We should put together a book!

It's not just the battles that are shocking, but what happened when they returned home. At the Exxon Baytown, Texas refinery all white guys started in the "Labor Gang" and we're there for between two weeks to two months before a trade (electricians, carpenters, pipefitters, boilermakers...) picked them up. The black veterans/workers started in the Labor Gangs and were switched to the warehouse when they got too old to physically do the job!