Medals Arrive 55 Years Late

A World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was discharged from the Army a few months later is set to receive 10 medals and badges today, 55 years after he earned them.

Oversight and backlog are responsible for the long delay, but a persistent son-in-law and a helpful congressman at last secured the Quartz Hill man his overdue recognition.

John Medellin, 77, fought in some of the final battles of World War II as an infantryman in the 26th Regiment of the 1st Division. While many of his contemporaries were decorated after the war, Medellin received only a bus ticket back to his home in Pacoima.

Today, the Army makes amends. In a ceremony at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Lt. Col. Celeo Wright will pin on Medellin the Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Service Star, French Fourragere, Belgian Fourragere, Honorable Service Lapel Button and the Rifleman’s Badge.

Medellin would rather have never earned the medals. Few things would have made him happier than to stay in Pacoima in 1944 to keep driving a citrus truck to market each day.

“I kept asking for deferments because I was working in farming,” Medellin said. “Then the day came when they said, ‘No more extensions. You have to go.’ ”

His older brother, Jesus, had already been drafted to fight in North Africa and Italy. John did not know his brother had been shot in the shoulder, but he knew the duty would not be easy.

At John Medellin’s landing in Belgium, the gore ceased to be the stuff of hearsay and lore for the 21-year-old San Fernando High School graduate.

“The guy driving the truck dropped us a mile away from the front,” Medellin said. “The driver didn’t want to go any farther. I knew it was bad. I noticed dead Germans, dead bodies on the road. I could hear the artillery shells and mortar shells. I thank God I made it alive.”

Fighting in the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944, one of the most vicious land battles of the war, reminded Medellin of the high cost of the freedoms he enjoyed in Southern California.

“We want to live in a nation that’s free,” he said. “Sometimes that means fighting for it. I went out there because they called me and told me to serve, so I went. Then I was fighting to stay free.”

Frozen Feet Were Ticket to England

While he sloshed through calf-deep snow in the mountains of Belgium, Medellin’s feet froze. He was flown to a hospital in France and later to England for treatment for severe frostbite. When he was healed, the Army flew him to Colorado Springs, Colo., and, in August 1945, gave him his walking papers.

He thought maybe fighting in the battle that ended Germany’s last major offensive in the biggest war in history might be worth a bit of bronze and a little ribbon. Still, the years went by without the promised official recognition.

“What they’re supposed to give you and what they give you are two different things,” Medellin said. “They gave me the piece of paper that said I was supposed to get the medals, but nothing else.”

Medellin added that he’d like to see some of the generals from that era show up for the ceremony today. “War is not a party, you know.”

Medellin is one of thousands of World War II veterans, including his brother-in-law Ray Castillo and his deceased brother, Jesus, who have not received their decorations--the result of long-ago bureaucratic mix-ups. It took the urging of Medellin’s son-in-law, Tom Martinez, a civilian who works at the Air Force plant in Palmdale, and the intervention of U.S. Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) to cut through the bureaucracy at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

With McKeon’s help, Medellin’s application was processed with no further hitches.

Despite his own frustration with the military, Medellin’s two daughters joined the Air Force, and one still serves there.

His granddaughter, Mia Martinez, will sing the national anthem at this morning’s presentation.