After 65 years, a Yorkville veteran has received the three Purple Heart medals he earned while fighting in the Korean War.
“It has been a long wait,” Joseph H. Sperry said.
Sperry, 85, was in the audience recently when the Yorkville City Council formally adopted a proclamation to become a Purple Heart City, as neighboring communities have done in recent months.
Sperry enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 16 years old. However, he had to wait until age 17 before he actually went off to boot camp.
Sperry was sent off to fight in the Korean War in 1950.
He said he fought in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, one of the most iconic engagements of the war.
“They sent 120,000 Chinese against us. There were 20,000 of us,” he said. “They had us trapped, so they thought, six different times on the way back (to South Korea).”
Sperry said he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. He has both scars from his wounds and shrapnel lodged in his right arm and leg.
“I came out (of Korea) in 1951,” he said. “When the ship docked in San Francisco, there were no bands and no one there to greet us.”
Sperry said after the war he found work as a truck driver. He married and had two children, as well as a step-child. His first wife and both of his children are deceased.
Sperry said he contacted the Kendall County Veterans Assistance Commission about submitting his application to receive the medals.
“All three came in a package about six months later,” he said.
He said that he appreciates that Yorkville has become a Purple Heart City.
“I like Yorkville,” he said of his 30-plus years living in the city.
He originally hails from Peoria and was raised in Minnesota.
“I drove a truck for 28 years and going through Yorkville I always thought it would be a nice place to retire,” Sperry said.
Yorkville Mayor Gary Golinski said it is great to see veterans honored for their service.
“My dad was in Korea and my brother served in the Persian Gulf,” Gary Golinski said. “Anything we can do to support our veterans, we are happy to do it as a city. They sacrificed their lives to preserve our freedom.”
Vietnam veteran Rick Gardner attended the City Council meeting and presented the mayor with a plaque officially marking Yorkville as a Purple Heart city.
According to Gardner, it isn’t all that rare that a veteran will receive their medals late.
“There were World War II and Korean War veterans who did not receive their medals. I cannot tell you why,” Gardner said. “I have seen a lot in publications where veterans are getting their medals due to them. I am quite happy that (Sperry) received his.”
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
