War vet should get the Bronze Star that he lost

I'm very happy and I congratulate our new City Council. We're lucky to have such dedicated citizens leading our city.

I spoke to one of our City Council members who came to our door, and while he was here, I told him we had a very close friend who fought in World War II and was given the Bronze Star for his bravery and heroism by a brigadier general, but someone stole the trunk containing his Bronze Star and military documents.

This courageous soldier, Staff Sgt. Henry Welz, was with the Army's B Battery of the 980th Field Artillery Battalion. He fed the men who hauled and fired 155-mm Howitzers across France, Belgium and Germany until they experienced victory. I asked the council member, "Can you help me and Henry's family get his Bronze Star back, as Henry is 90 years old and his one wish is to have his Bronze Star before he dies? Do you know anyone who can help him?" He said, "I know people in government, and I'll see what I can do."

The Veterans Day memorial service at Conejo Creek Park was very moving and I cried when they had the flyover, remembering what Henry said to me, "On D-Day 1944, as I and my 980th Field Battalion landed on Omaha Beach at Normandy, the German planes flew over us, shooting at us and all around us. There was a lot of noise and I felt I had landed right in the middle of the war. I set up my stoves in the back of a truck, as I was worried the men at the front were not getting any hot food. I got a Jeep or a weapons carrier and delivered hot food to them for 11 months in blistering heat and a barely surviveable winter which included the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans bulged through our line of troops. We almost lost the war here. It was so cold we almost froze and we slept under tarps. On Thanksgiving Day 1944, B Battery was in Belgium and I wanted my 500 soldiers to have a home-cooked dinner. We had dehydrated sweet potatoes in 5-gallon tins and frozen turkey, the real thing. I mixed spices and oranges and made pumpkin pie. It tasted so real the colonel thought I had stolen pumpkins from the farmers. The men told me it was a real good Thanksgiving dinner."

We should be thankful that we can sit down to a delicious, bountiful dinner and that we're a free country because of men who love our country. The price of lost lives is way too high in any war. Henry lost his brother, Emmet, in Germany in 1945.

Congressman Elton Gallagly, if you read this, can you make this World War II veteran get his Bronze Star back? He has a photo receiving it from a brigadier general after the war. If anyone connected to our government in any capacity can help Henry, please contact the Thousand Oaks Acorn for my phone number.

He and his family will be eternally grateful and he deserves his Bronze Star. Kristal Watters Thousand Oaks