It took many phone calls and several months at least worth of work, but a Knox County resident, formerly of the Quad Cities and Aledo, has received both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star — medals that were supposed to be bestowed upon him more than 50 years ago during the Vietnam War.
Friends, family, and perhaps most of Yates City turned up Monday at the Yates City Community Center for a ceremony honoring Roy Swanson.
Swanson was injured during a Viet Cong-led bombing on a military base as he slept in August of 1971. But, Swanson woke up just in time.
“[Swanson] was later found with an injured soldier who he had dragged out from underneath the rubble of the sleeping area, which had been hit by the rocket attack,” said Maj. Gen. David Wilson, Commanding General, U.S. Army Sustainment Command. “Despite facing life-threating injuries himself, Roy saved the life of his fellow soldier that day.”
Swanson’s foot was injured, as some bones were chipped, and an artery damaged, in the shelling.
Swanson, who could be best described as soft-spoken but also a hero, says he blacked out a number of times during that period of bombing, and doesn’t remember saving the life of the soldier he considered a friend.
And, he says he wouldn’t have thought much about getting the medals owed to him until he needed some help recently.
“I was filing for an intent for compensation, and a [Veterans Service] Officer kind of did a bunch of digging around for me,” said Swanson. “I think he’s the one who got the ball rolling on this.”
That led to phone calls and communications with the office of U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-East Moline). Months later, Sorensen helped deliver the medals to Swanson.
“[Swanson’s] story, while incredibly unique to his experience, is not unique to the fact that there are a lot of veterans who have these stories,” said Sorensen, “that we as neighbors, as family members, we need to talk to the veterans in our lives and in our neighborhoods, to talk with them about their experience, and talk with them about how important it is.”
Swanson called the delivering of the medals to Swanson — and any help he says he can give to local veterans — the “most important part” of his job.
Knox County Sheriff Jack Harlan and other deputies, Yates City Police Officers, local firefighters, and others from both Elmwood and Yates City attended Monday’s ceremony.
