A Tacoma man who was wounded in Iraq will receive his Purple Heart nearly nine years late in a ceremony Tuesday at Joint Base-Lewis McChord.
Marine Corps veteran Kenneth McAllister will be presented with the nation’s oldest military decoration for combat wounds he suffered on April 1, 2003, while serving in Iraq with a 1st Marine Division tank battalion based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
McAllister joined the Marines in 2000 and was honorably discharged in 2004 with the rank of lance corporal. Last August he contacted the Tacoma office of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell asking for help getting the Purple Heart he should have received. His application was reviewed and his Purple Heart was approved Jan. 19.
The unit’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Joseph Raftery, will present the honor to McAllister.
Cantwell will attend the ceremony and deliver remarks.
Congrats Ken!
It took awhile, but they did the right thing…
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Any why on this oversite?
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You are deserving of this award, congratulations. It is too bad it took a self serving US senator who is running for re-election to get this done. She should have fixed this along time ago.
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I’d like to know, too, why it took so long.
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“You are deserving of this award, congratulations. It is too bad it took a self serving US senator who is running for re-election to get this done. She should have fixed this along time ago”
I love how him not getting his medal is the Senator’s fault. Get a life.
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