Army Will Present Purple Heart to Minnesota Veteran 73 Years After He Was Wounded in Korean War

After 73 years and a long fight with the U.S. Army, a Korean War veteran from Minnesota who was wounded in combat was set to finally get his Purple Heart medal on Friday.

The Army notified Earl Meyer, 96, of St. Peter, last month that it had granted him a Purple Heart, which honors service members wounded or killed in combat. Meyer, who still has shrapnel in his thigh that continues to cause him occasional pain, was scheduled to receive it in a ceremony at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

An Army review board had rejected Meyer’s application several times due to a lack of paperwork, but it reversed course after a campaign by his three daughters and attorney. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota also intervened on his behalf along with the service’s top noncommissioned officer, the sergeant major of the Army. A federal judge ordered the review board to take another look.