Medal Catches Up to Vietnam Hero After 31 Years

After 31 years of living as an unsung hero, Isidro Gomez of Rowland Heights is finally going to receive his Bronze Medal this week for service during the Vietnam War.

His efforts as a noncommissioned officer in charge of drug education and rehabilitation for soldiers in Vietnam earned Gomez the medal with two oak leaf clusters. But the 73-year-old self-proclaimed “born soldier” was so busy during the war that he never knew that he had been recognized.

“There was a war going on, everyone was confused,” Gomez said.

But two years ago when he ran into his former general on a fishing trip, Gomez learned of the medal.

“We were fishing and he said, ‘Oh, by the way, did you ever get your medal?’ ” Gomez recalled. “I said, ‘What medal?’ ”

Gomez said he was shocked and ecstatic.

He wrote a few letters to Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), asking him to help locate the Army’s special orders.

And on Monday, along with the rest of his mail, Gomez received a certificate indicating that his medal was soon to follow.

“I’m walking on the ceiling,” he said.

Gomez will probably receive his medal in the mail, but if Dreier is in town, he may present the award himself, said Mark Harmsen, Dreier’s district director.

“It’s one of the more rewarding aspects of the job,” Harmsen said.