Posted on Aug 26, 2025
Purple Heart Belonging to Iowa Native Being Returned to Family 80 Years Later
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Among the items Thompson found was a Purple Heart belonging to Richard "Dick" Milton Paper, of Davenport, a submariner in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He also found Paper's uniform, several other medals and a letter to the family signed by President Harry Truman.
The Purple Heart, which is given to those wounded or killed in combat, was issued in September of 1946, noting that the wounds Paper had received resulted in his death.
The Purple Heart, which is given to those wounded or killed in combat, was issued in September of 1946, noting that the wounds Paper had received resulted in his death.
Purple Heart Belonging to Iowa Native Being Returned to Family 80 Years Later
Posted from military.com
Purple Heart
WWII World War Two
Family
Edited 3 mo ago
Posted 4 mo ago
Responses: 10
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I often wonder how items like this ever got out of the hands of family. Being veterans we understand their significance, but I've also seen family members who were indifferent to military awards.
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SPC James Neidig
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
Some People On This Forum Have Asked Me In The Past About Why I Don’t Have My Deployments And Awards Listed In My Profile. It’s Because Now As A Civilian
THEY DON’T MEAN NOTHING !!!!
Who Cares If I Took An AK Round In My Leg And Watched My Best Friend Die ?
That Was During The Grenada Rescue Mission,October 25 1983 .
18 Years Later I Was In A Head On Collision While Driving A HET At Ft Irwin It Totaled Both Trucks That Were Involved.
That’s When My Back Was Injured
I Went From Being In A Job As An Air Crew On A Helicopter Where I Knew I Was In Danger,To Being A Truck Driver Where I Thought I Would Be Safer.
The Only One’s Who Cared About Anything I Did , Was And Still Is My Family
Brother Rick , I Still Salute You Because YOU Did Your Duty Even If You Think You Didn’t Do Anything.
I Think I Could Have Done A Lot More But Didn’t Get The Chance.
Some People On This Forum Have Asked Me In The Past About Why I Don’t Have My Deployments And Awards Listed In My Profile. It’s Because Now As A Civilian
THEY DON’T MEAN NOTHING !!!!
Who Cares If I Took An AK Round In My Leg And Watched My Best Friend Die ?
That Was During The Grenada Rescue Mission,October 25 1983 .
18 Years Later I Was In A Head On Collision While Driving A HET At Ft Irwin It Totaled Both Trucks That Were Involved.
That’s When My Back Was Injured
I Went From Being In A Job As An Air Crew On A Helicopter Where I Knew I Was In Danger,To Being A Truck Driver Where I Thought I Would Be Safer.
The Only One’s Who Cared About Anything I Did , Was And Still Is My Family
Brother Rick , I Still Salute You Because YOU Did Your Duty Even If You Think You Didn’t Do Anything.
I Think I Could Have Done A Lot More But Didn’t Get The Chance.
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
SPC James Neidig -
I THINK If I Were In Your Position, I'd List My Achievements, Even If NOT Mentioning The Metals Nor The Ribbons I'd Been Awarded, EXCEPT In Here Where We Others Recognize Their Importance And What You'd Done To Have Deserved The Recognition ~ So In That Respect, I'd List Every Damned One Of Them, You Earned Them And We Respect Your Achievements In Them Being Awarded To You. Civilians May Not Understand But We Of The Military Services Certainly Do. Were I To Have Achieved What You Have, I'd List The Darned Things In LARGE BOLD TYPE. You've Made Some Very Important Sacrifices & Deserve To Be Noted For For Every One Of Them. ~ You Stated The I'd Done My Duty, But I Haven't A Clue What It May Have Been. I Worked In 3 AFSC's (MOS's) But Mostly Outside Of All 3 Of Them ~ I'm Not Complaining As I Truly Enjoyed The Variety And Was Seldom Bored. But I Sure As "L", Didn't Do Much To Earn My Big Bucks Of A Whopping $173.00 Per Month - LOL.
I THINK If I Were In Your Position, I'd List My Achievements, Even If NOT Mentioning The Metals Nor The Ribbons I'd Been Awarded, EXCEPT In Here Where We Others Recognize Their Importance And What You'd Done To Have Deserved The Recognition ~ So In That Respect, I'd List Every Damned One Of Them, You Earned Them And We Respect Your Achievements In Them Being Awarded To You. Civilians May Not Understand But We Of The Military Services Certainly Do. Were I To Have Achieved What You Have, I'd List The Darned Things In LARGE BOLD TYPE. You've Made Some Very Important Sacrifices & Deserve To Be Noted For For Every One Of Them. ~ You Stated The I'd Done My Duty, But I Haven't A Clue What It May Have Been. I Worked In 3 AFSC's (MOS's) But Mostly Outside Of All 3 Of Them ~ I'm Not Complaining As I Truly Enjoyed The Variety And Was Seldom Bored. But I Sure As "L", Didn't Do Much To Earn My Big Bucks Of A Whopping $173.00 Per Month - LOL.
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SPC James Neidig
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
I Haven’t Updated My Profile In Years.
Someday When I Have The Time I May Go Through All My Paperwork And Update My Award’s.
I Used To Carry A Copy Of My Marine Corps DD-214 When Ever I Wore My Dress Uniform , Because I Would Get Questioned About My Four Rows Of Ribbons
I Currently Am Half Owner Of A Restaurant
And Am There Somedays 12 Hours A Day.
Yes You Can Run A Restaurant With The Use Of Only One Arm. I Don’t Have Any Feelings In My Left Arm And Can’t Feel Pain In It.
When I Joined The Army Guard My MOS Was 88M Wheeled Vehicle Operator But I Was A Guard Technician Repairing Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
I Also Served As The Driver For The Pennsylvania Guards Division Commander
The Military Often Has You Doing A Job That Is Not Your MOS !
I Didn’t Sign On The Dotted Line During Any Of My Enlistments For The Money, I Did It To Serve My Country.Yes The Money Sucked, But The Important Part Was My Family Had A Roof Over Our Head And We Never Went Hungry.
I Haven’t Updated My Profile In Years.
Someday When I Have The Time I May Go Through All My Paperwork And Update My Award’s.
I Used To Carry A Copy Of My Marine Corps DD-214 When Ever I Wore My Dress Uniform , Because I Would Get Questioned About My Four Rows Of Ribbons
I Currently Am Half Owner Of A Restaurant
And Am There Somedays 12 Hours A Day.
Yes You Can Run A Restaurant With The Use Of Only One Arm. I Don’t Have Any Feelings In My Left Arm And Can’t Feel Pain In It.
When I Joined The Army Guard My MOS Was 88M Wheeled Vehicle Operator But I Was A Guard Technician Repairing Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
I Also Served As The Driver For The Pennsylvania Guards Division Commander
The Military Often Has You Doing A Job That Is Not Your MOS !
I Didn’t Sign On The Dotted Line During Any Of My Enlistments For The Money, I Did It To Serve My Country.Yes The Money Sucked, But The Important Part Was My Family Had A Roof Over Our Head And We Never Went Hungry.
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
When Time Allows You Really Should Update Your Profile For Yourself And We Others Whom Read It And Get To Know You Better. If You Don't Have ALL The Information, At Least Include Everything You recall To The Best Of Your Knowledge. I Know What It's Like To Be A Business Owner & Work Long Hours. I Was The Owner Of 3 Printing Shops & Recall The Days When I'd Sleep On The Floor And When I Woke Up, I'd Have To Continue On, And Working 12 Hours Was JOKINGLY Considered "Only Working 1/2 Days".. Those Were A Bitch! ~ When I Returned From South Korea And Recieved My DD-214, I Placed My Uniforms & Even My ole Fatigues In A Foot Locker And Stored Them In The Overhead Of Our Car-Port And They Disappeared. - Obviously Stolen. But I Still Have My Original 2 Dog Tags, A Bunch Of The Paperwork Which INCLUDES My "FIGMO: Letter.~ A Humorous Letter To Be Sent To Family & Friends Explaining Why You're Acting So Weird After Having Spent 13 Month In South Korea ~ Chop sticks~ Always Eating In A Squatting Position, Etc. ~ But Getting Back To My Actually Serving My Country ~ The USAF Gave Me A Free Education, Travel To Place Where My Friends And Family Never Even Dreamed Of Going. Experiences I Never Knew Existed, As I Was Somewhat Escorted Throughout South Korea By A South Korean Soldier QUAN, To Place Where An American Had Never Been Seen Before. In Return, I Gave The USAF Damned Little.
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Its so good those important items were returned to the family. Shown here in this picture is My Dad's own US Navy foot locker from WWII that is full of items from His wartime service. He only passed in May of 2023 at age 97. I also received a large batch of photos of Dad from My sister during His 10 years of active duty, plus childhood and later adult life. I also have the United States Flag present to Me by the Navy detail from His burial which is on top of the footlocker here.
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SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
Shown here is the Navy detail at My Dad's grave in 2023 with the United States Flag which My siter thought should be presented to me as a Armed Force Veteran Myself which it was. This is the same Flag shown on My Dad's navy foot locker in the photo above.
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
If There's Anyone Whom Doesn't Understand The Significance Of This,
They Must Not Have Known Anyone Nor Been In The Military Service !
I Was Selected And Honored To Serve At A Military Funeral ,Back In 1963
It's Something One Will Never Forget - And Obviously I've Not.
They Must Not Have Known Anyone Nor Been In The Military Service !
I Was Selected And Honored To Serve At A Military Funeral ,Back In 1963
It's Something One Will Never Forget - And Obviously I've Not.
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