Not too late to acquire deserved WW II medals
By Jennifer Archibald

Dick Curts of Flora recently received a World War II medal - 60 years after he was discharged from the service.

He said after the war was over and he completed his tour of duty, he was just happy to get home. He didn't give much thought to medals he had earned.

Like many other World War II veterans, he went on with his life and didn't talk about the war.

"Fifty years later, I sat down at the table with my family and told them everything," Curts said.

In recent years he also decided to try to find members of his squad.

"I located five, but three are dead," he said.

In 1995 he began corresponding with one of the remaining two squad members, and they had an emotional face to face reunion in 1999.

Since then, he's thought about his war memorabilia and about the medals he should have received. It said on his discharge papers that he was entitled to the European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

Through reading messages from other World War II vets on the Internet, he learned that many others didn't receive their campaign medals.

One veteran online said the Army ran out of the medals and never followed up on the shortage. Curts recently read in a World War II magazine that many medals weren't given out because the use of brass was restricted for munitions manufacturing.

Curts contacted U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar's office in Indianapolis and sent a copy of his discharge papers.

"His office did all the work," Curts said.

Curts discovered that there is no record of his unit at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Mo. In1973, there was a fire at the Center that destroyed the major portion of Army personnel records for the period 1912 through 1959.

Fortunately, there was an alternate records source which verified that Curts' unit served in the EAME Campaign. That source was the Unit Citation & Campaign Participation Credit Register.

Subsequently, the Department of the Army issued the EAME medal to Curts.

Curts served in the 252nd Engineer Combat Battalion from 1943 to 1946.

"We were doubly trained," he said.

Curts explained that his unit built bridges and other infrastructure, took up mines, and in times of need, they were called in as infantry.

His battalion landed on Omaha Beach, France, on Sept. 1, 1944. Their job was to clear the mine fields laid by the Germans.

"Our company lost 13 men in one day in a mine field," Curts said.

They were called to the front lines as replacement infantry in Holland during the Battle of the Bulge.

"We spent seven days in a fox hole, and we lost two men from our company," Curts said.

His unit continued through northern Germany to the Elbe River.

"When the Germans were whipped," we occupied Berlin and repaired roads that had been bombed," Curts said.

His unit took part in the occupation from October 1945 to March 1946.

Curts said he'd like to apply for the occupation medal, but it may be hard his discharge papers.

"I'm going to try to get it added to my discharge," he said.

"The medals aren't just for me. I want them for a legacy to my children."