Following a 52-year wait, Capt. Paul Wade received his Purple Heart.
While serving as a helicopter pilot, Wade was assigned to the 191st Boomerangs supporting the U.S. Army’s 9th Division, Navy Seals, and multiple ARVN units. He was shot down a total of seven times during his two tours in Vietnam. On Sept. 6, 1969, he was shot down three times in one day and sustained injuries. He received the “V” device for this action, and on Oct. 14 he received a Purple Heart.
During Thursday’s Veterans Day opening of the Brown County Museum of History’s Vietnam Veterans Exhibit, Wade’s Purple Heart and other artifacts were on display, and a ceremony was held that included U.S. Congressman August Pfluger and State Senator Dawn Buckingham among those in attendance.
“One of the reasons I agreed to do this (exhibit with the museum) is getting information out to veterans on how to get the awards, decorations and honors they and their spouses, their siblings and others deserve,” Wade said.
Of receiving the Purple Heart, Wade said, “George Washington designed this medal and it’s the only medal where your name is molded on the back. The rest are etched, but my name is molded on the back. It’s part of the medal.”
Pfluger said to those in attendance, “Today has been the best day of my service in Congress to date because you really understand what America is made of. Recently in D.C., the Permian Basin sent an honor flight of 110 veterans, most of them were Vietnam veterans, and what I saw first hand and what you mentioned me to was this healing process that did not happen in the 1970s. To witness the healing that was going on right there at the memorial was one of the most powerful things. The second day best of my service was pinning on decorations to three Vietnam veterans in San Angelo. That’s not 30,000, that’s just three, but we will not stop doing that until we get to the point.”
Buckingham also addressed those in attendance, stating, “This is about veterans and how Texans can better serve our veterans. We are all looking for ways to better serve our veterans so we really appreciate (Wade) doing this, all you’ve given and all you continue to give.”
