Published: July 04, 2009 11:48 pm      

WWII veteran’s long-lost medals replaced

Harry Daughenbaugh of Mundys Corner earned many medals for his service during World War II.

He served in Germany in the U.S. Army’s 17th Airborne Division and then as a paratrooper under Gen. George S. Patton. He earned awards as a sharpshooter and expert marksman, and also received three Bronze Stars and a Silver Star.

The honors were sent home for safekeeping, but were never given to the young vet after the war.

Their fate remains unclear. Perhaps family members misplaced them or perhaps they were left behind in a move.

Daughenbaugh was never sure where they ended up, but he always wished he had them.

“I kept hunting for them,” he said.

On Saturday, he got his wish.

Family members, who had made a request to the military and were sent replacement medals, presented them to the 85-year-old at the family’s reunion in Mundys Corner.

“We figured what better day than the Fourth of July,” his daughter Jan (Daughenbaugh) Bracken of Ebensburg said.

Bracken said her father frequently mentioned the missing medals and had talked about them just last month.

“For him it means a lot,” she said. “It was something that was important to him.”

When he received the new medals he was speechless, his daughter said.

“Surprised wasn’t the word for it,” Daughenbaugh said. “That was really something.”

Bracken said her father, who had eight children, was not a very demanding man, so getting him his well-deserved honors was important to his family.

“In 1981 he had open-heart surgery. At that time they gave him five years (to live),” his daughter said.

“Since then he has had another heart surgery and a knee replacement and I guess he just doesn’t ask for that much.”

Daughenbaugh plans to display his medals in a frame above his television, where he will see them frequently.

“They really meant a lot to me, but I have them now,” he said.