MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC/Gray News) – A Korean War veteran from Minnesota who still has shrapnel in his leg from when he was wounded in combat will finally get his Purple Heart medal – 73 years later.
The U.S. Army notified 96-year-old Earl Meyer on Monday that he will receive a Purple Heart, which honors service members wounded or killed in combat.
The decision came after a campaign by his daughters, his attorney, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Those efforts paid off once already as Meyer was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal just last year for his service.
The Army’s top noncommissioned officer, the sergeant major of the army, took an interest in Meyer receiving a Purple Heart medal after having been rejected for years due to a lack of paperwork.
U.S. District Judge John Tunheim this year ordered an Army review board to take another look.
The Army sent Meyer’s attorney a stack …