Earl Meyer remembers in vivid detail when his platoon came under heavy fire during the Korean War—he still has shrapnel embedded in his thigh. But over 70 years later, the 96-year-old Minnesota resident is still waiting for the US Army to recognize his injury and to award him a Purple Heart medal, which honors service members wounded or killed in combat. Meyer has provided the Army with documents to back up his assertion that he was wounded in combat in June 1951. Doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs agreed that his account of the shrapnel coming from a mortar attack was probably true. But few men in his unit who would have witnessed the battle have survived, and he thinks the medic who treated him on the battlefield was killed before he could file the paperwork.
An Army review board in April issued what it called a final rejection of Meyer's request for a Purple Heart, citing insufficient documentation. His case highlights how it can be a struggle for wounded veterans to get medals they've earned when the fog of war, the absence of records, and the passage of time make it challenging to produce proof, the AP reports. Meyer took the rare step of suing the Department of Defense and the Army in September. After the AP made requests for comment on Meyer's case, the office of the Army's top noncommissioned officer, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Weimer, said that it's going to take another look.
Meyer says he wouldn't have pursued the Purple Heart because his injuries were relatively minor compared to those of many men he served with, but his three daughters persuaded him. Growing up, they knew that he had been injured in the war, but like many veterans, he never talked much about it. It's only been in the past decade or so that he's opened up to them, which led them to urge his pursuit of a Purple Heart. Meyer first applied for the medal in 2020. The Army denied him, saying he needed more documentation. Sen. Amy Klobuchar's staff then helped him get documents from the National Archives and made numerous follow-up inquiries.
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But even with the additional evidence, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records turned him down. Klobuchar said this week that she's not giving up. "Earl Meyer put his life on the line in defense of our freedoms, and we will continue to do all we can to further the work to rightfully honor his service," the Democrat said in a statement. Meyer was honorably discharged in 1952. His decorations included the Combat Infantryman Badge, which is reserved for those who actively participate in ground combat under enemy fire. He still has coffee with fellow veterans a couple mornings a week at the St. Peter American Legion post. He says his leg isn't acutely sore, but it still aches.
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