WWII vet gets his medals with help from boy, 8 (fantastic)

http://www.usatoday.com/

ROCKPORT, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Another veteran finally has his medals from World War II, thanks to the work of some good friends.

94-year-old Roland Richards was awarded his medals in a ceremony Thursday in Camden. Richards says he's really too old to be getting medals, but no one else thought so --especially his eight-year old neighbor, Thor Gabrielsen. Thor and his parents live across the road from Richards and have become friends. When Thor's mother learned Richards had never received his medals, the boy decided to write a letter to U.S. Senator Susan Collins to make things right.

Richards was drafted into the Army in 1942, and became part of the "port battalion" unloading ship convoys-first in North Africa, then Sicily, Italy and finally in Marseilles, France, where he also drove truckloads of ammunition toward the lines. He returned home to Maine three years later and went back to civilian life, like many of the millions who served in that war, Richards' medals simply were never sent to him. Congressional staff members say it can be a challenge tracking down the needed records to prove the service, but in this case it apparently happened quite rapidly. The Senator responded, and worked with the Army to obtain the proper medals and citations. Roland Richards was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the World War Two Victory Medal-a victory he helped win sixty-six years ago.

Asked why he started the whole chain of events, Thor Gabrielsen said, "I thought he deserved to get his medals."