News-Info-Alerts

Re: 60 Years After War, Men Receive Medals

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: August 06, 2003

"Two area veterans receive medals 60 years after World War II

BRIEN T. BOYCE , Staff Writer

Donald Schroder of Council Bluffs and George Jones of Tabor recently received military service medals due to them for their service in World War II. Schroder, a former prisoner of war, received his POW medal and seven others, and Jones was granted 11.

Both men served in the Army.

Schroder was contacted by Donna Barry, regional director for Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in early July after she read an article on the veteran in The Daily Nonpareil.

In turn, Barry submitted the necessary paperwork on Schroder and expected to have a response within the normal time frame of six months to a year.

Barry had the medals sent to her office several weeks later.

"Somewhere in the scheme of things, they must have put a red star by his name, because I've never seen it done in two weeks," she said. "It was wonderful."

"I was really proud that he (Grassley) got them for me," Schroder said of the senator and his staff. Barry hand-delivered the medals to him Friday.

Schroder fought in the Battle of the Bulge, the largest land battle Americans fought in during World War II. During the battle, he and others in his unit were captured by the German army and held for several months before escaping.

Created by former President Ronald Reagan, the POW Medal was approved in 1986, and is awarded to any service member taken and held captive after April 5, 1917, during World War I and II, the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, and during Operation Desert Storm I and II.

Unlike Schroder, Jones contacted Harkin's office after numerous attempts to secure his medals through his own efforts.

Harkin awarded Jones' medals at a ceremony held at the National Guard Armory in Council Bluffs Monday morning.

Jones was a sergeant with the 11th Airborne Division from 1943 to 1946. His unit, Company F Parachute Infantry, served in combat during the battle for the South Pacific Islands.

Harkin said his office was contacted back in April, and Jones was awarded his medals by May.

A Navy veteran himself, Harkin said his crusade to expedite backlogged decoration requests began in the mid-1990s.

Back then, the process to secure any backlogged decoration was long and arduous.

"It's a very frustrating process," Harkin said, and added it took up to a year and a half before any medals were awarded to an individual.

A further investigation revealed the department that processes the thousands of decoration requests on an annual basis is operated by one full-time and one part-time person.

In 1999, Harkin added an amendment to eliminate the backlogged requests.

Schroder and Jones are appreciative for the help of both senators in getting them recognized for the work they did for their country more than a half-century ago.

Both Grassley and Harkin are well-known throughout Iowa for helping veterans secure military decorations.

For more information, contact Grassley's Council Bluffs office at (712) 322-7103 or Harkin's Sioux City office at (712) 252-1550.

©Daily Nonpareil 2003 "