Man Receives Medals for Service in WWII
The Day | Aug 05, 2014 | by Johanna Somers
NOANK -- Wearing an enormous smile on his face and balancing on a cane, Marty Schames, 91, accepted eight long-awaited medals for serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
"I never expected anything like this," Schames said. "I am flabbergasted."
About 30 friends, public officials and colleagues from the American Legion Post 115 in Noank attended the ceremony for Schames on Monday at the Noank Veteran's Memorial.
"This has been long, long, long overdue," said Brian Turley of Noank who is a member of Post 115. Turley said he made the call to U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney's veterans' affairs aide to start the process of recognition for Schames. He added this kind of event will likely result in more veterans calling him to track down their medals.
Schames entered active duty on May 15, 1941, as an airplane maintenance technician. He served through the duration of the war and was a member of the 15th Bomb Squadron, which was part of the 27th Bomb Group.
During Schames' service he conducted missions in Tunisia, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France and the Ryuku Islands.
It is unclear how many WWII veterans are missing their medals. When WWII ended, millions of military service members were processed out of the military quickly and did not obtain their medals, Schames said.
Schames said he wanted his medals to pass down to his son.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/08/05/man-receives-medals-for-service-in-wwii.html?comp=1199436026997&rank=4
