KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A metro Vietnam veteran has been waiting nearly 50 years for his Purple Heart.
Milton Shelley served in Vietnam in the 60s and was injured while serving. The veteran gave up hope, but Saturday night he got the surprise of a lifetime while at a T-Bones game.
Milton Shelley waited in a line of military veterans. Then he stepped up to the mound and threw the first pitch of the game.
Shelley thought his job was done and started to walk back to his seat, when he was told to stand on home plate.
The announcer began to tell him he wasn’t just there to throw the first pitch.
Milton served in Vietnam in the 60s, he was shot and injured. For nearly 50 years, Milton wondered why he didn’t get a Purple Heart.
“I never thought I’d get it,” Shelley said. “I tried several times. Mailing stuff in.”
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About the Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action. It is specificaHistory of the Orderlly a combat decoration.
The organization now known as the “Military Order of the Purple Heart,” was formed in 1932 for the protection and mutual interest of all who have received the decoration. Composed exclusively of Purple Heart recipients, it is the only veterans service organization comprised strictly of “combat” veterans.
Funds for welfare, rehabilitation and/or service work carried on by the organization are derived through the collection of used household items, the operation of thrift stores, through the donation of automobiles and, at the community level, The Purple Heart Violafrom the annual distribution of its official flower, the Purple Heart Viola. Violas are assembled by disabled and needy veterans, many of whom receive little or no compensation from other sources. Thus, your contribution to our programs serve are two-fold. First, they help the veterans who participate in these endeavors and, secondly, they enable the organization to do many things on behalf of hospitalized and needy veterans and their families.
Wives, mothers, daughters and adopted daughters of Purple Heart recipients are eligible to belong to the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which also does important work nationally and locally in veterans’ hospitals.