War veteran gets replacement Bronze Star

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers SHOWING HIS STAR--Henry Welz is flanked by his daughter, Mary, right, and Kristal Watters. Welz received a Bronze Star from the U.S. Army during World War II while fighting in Europe. He misplaced the medal, then lost his discharge papers in a fire. Watters wrote a letter to the Thousand Oaks Acorn (Nov. 23 edition). A fellow serviceman read it and made sure that Welz received a replacement Bronze Star. See letter to the editor.

After my letter to the editor was printed in the Nov. 23 Thousand Oaks Acorn ("War vet should get the Bronze Star that he lost") about former Staff Sgt. Henry Welz, who was in the Army's B Battery of the 890th Field Artillery Battalion, I have received five very important phone calls from veterans who fought in three wars.

Servicemen from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars contacted me.

Each one was wounded and several received Purple Hearts and or Bronze Stars for their heroism and bravery under fire. They were so concerned, giving, kind and thoughtful.

Each told me his story, how he received his medals. The Marine was at the Inchon Reservoir when the Chinese stormed his stronghold. He said, "We were outnumbered 30-to-1 and they were only boys 13 or 14 years old. It was shoot or be shot. It was very hard on me. I saved eight men and received four Bronze Stars."

The Army soldier said, "I was also in the Battle of the Bulge the same time as Henry, and he was right. It was the worst winter Germany ever had. It was raining and snowing, and I was running from foxhole to foxhole. I was standing in waist-deep water and it froze, and then I was wounded. The men had to pull me out and chip the ice off of my body so they could send me to a MASH unit to be patched up and sent back out into the war, where I saved three men and received three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart."

Each war vet who called me wanted to help Henry receive his Bronze Star and told me ways to accomplish it.

This is a "thank you" letter to all the war veterans who called me and to the Thousand Oaks Acorn for printing my letter.

I've learned not to take life for granted after speaking to these courageous men. When I told Henry that his Bronze Star was on its way, he had tears in his eyes when he said, "This is so close to Christmas, it reminds me of the star over Bethlehem, as it was the beginning of the most wonderful miracles on this Earth, and this is a miracle to me."

I said to him, "Let's all pray for peace and goodwill. Let's remember, too, the song that says, 'What the world needs now is love, sweet love, no, not just for some, but for everyone.'"
Kristal Watters
Thousand Oaks