Families of Deceased Soldiers Thankful for New Purple Heart Criteria

A Medal for 'Boogie'?

Charles Paul of Harrisburg, Pa., has been trying to get the remains of his uncle repatriated for years with the help of the Korean War Project, which lists more than 250 POWs whose remains were left overseas. Like Embery, he'd looked into getting a posthumous Purple Heart, but found that Sgt. Norman Gressens, his mother's brother, wasn't eligible.

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According to other POWs who were held captive with his uncle, Gressens died from malnutrition and pneumonia in a Manp'o prison in the fall of 1950. Captured in South Korea July 20, 1950, Gressens and his fellow soldiers from the 34th Infantry Regiment were forced to march to the prison in North Korea.

Paul, who was 4 when Gressens died, said he has one memory of his uncle.

"I remember his standing, talking to my father who was a World War II vet," he said, adding that he doesn't remember what the men were discussing. "I was just a little kid."

But he's been told all about Gressens, from the days he worked shining shoes at a local movie theater to the dancing skills that earned him the nickname "Boogie."

The loss, he said, was absolutely devastating to his family. Paul said he's tried to get more information about Gressens' last few months from POWs who made it home but found they were generally reluctant to say much about the experience.

It's only an assumption, but Paul and his family believe that Gressens clothing and other belongs may have been taken from him because he was small in stature like his captors. That would have left him exposed to the cold North Korean weather with little protection.

Paul, 61, himself a Vietnam War Navy veteran, has made a passionate hobby out of collecting photographs, documents and news clippings about his uncle, who never married or had children. He's excited at the possibility of finally bringing home a Purple Heart, which would go to his aunt, Gressens' sister, who is the closest kin.

"I'm a military vet. I'm like c'mon now," he said of his yearning for Gressens' Purple Heart. "This guy died for his country."