PkoteM by ToM Luck
Bernard Wallace holds the Bronze Star, one of seven medals presented to by Sen. Richard
Burr at Carver School Road Church of Christ on Sunday, Aug. 16.
Veteran receives overdue medals,
but continues to fight for benefits
THE CHRONICLE
BY TODD LUCK
Forty-five years after
his service in Vietnam,
Bernard Wallace was pre
sented with medals, includ
ing a bronze star, from Sen.
Richard Burr on Sunday,
Aug. 16.
Wallace received his
medals at his church,
Carver School Road
Church of Christ. He
received seven medals and
a flag that flew over
Washington, D.C., in his
honor.
H e
said
people
are
still
telling
h i m
con
gratu
lations
for his
Mrs. Wallace
belat
ed bronze star, given for
combat heroism or merito
rious service. He said
receiving the medals was
an emotional experience.
"I was elated. I was
kind of shocked," he said.
His wife, Barbara
Wallace, was looking on
with pride as Burr handed
him the medals. She said
most congregants had only
seen medal ceremonies on
TV. http://www.merriam
webster.com/dictionary/ffo
ntline
"It was such a wonder
ful occasion to have
Senator Burr come to the
church," she said. "The
people at the church were
just ecstatic. They had
never seen that before."
Wallace is still working
to get his claims accepted.
Wallace was drafted
into the Army during the
Vietnam War and served
from 1969. to 1971 in the
101st Airborne. He became
a radio transmission opera
tor (RTO) who was on the
battlefield, calling in
artillery attacks.
Wallace believes the
bronze star came from an
incident in which he helped
save the life of a fellow sol
dier. He said a soldier on
patrol named Eisenhower
fell in a river and couldn't
swim. Wallace said he
dove into the river after
Eisenhower, who was
being swept away by the
current. Wallace grabbed
him, but the young soldier
was struggling, threatening
to drown them both. A ser
geant managed to grab
Eisenhower and pull him
out of the river as Wallace
sank down underneath the
water. Wallace said he
swam with everything he
had to get back to the sur
face, grabbing unto a rock
and eventually back onto
shore,
Wallace said he
received some medals dur
ing the war, but few were
ever given to him in a cere
mony. It was far more com
mon for a superior officer
to just had them to him in
an office. He said he was
aware he'd earned a bronze
star, but never received it.
He said he wasn't thinking
much about recognition at
the time.
"All I was concerned
was at the time, during that
confrontation, was getting
home," he said. "Whatever
medals I got, weren't that
important."
After his tour of duty,
he said a persistent
recruiter convinced him to
sign up for the National
Guard, where he served for
22 years. Among his
friends there was a sergeant
named Joey Ireland, who
did some digging into his
records and saw the bronze
star. Wallace told Ireland
that the medal was "no big
deal," but over the years
Ireland encouraged him to
get it.
Wallace, who retired
from the National Guard in
1998, has spent the last
couple years trying to get
his claims accepted by
Veterans Affairs so he can
get Veterans
Administration (VA) treat
ment covered for things
like a mental health issue
he says stems from his war
service. He was told he
would have to prove he
was in the 101st Airborne.
He turned to HARRY
Veterans Outreach Services
for help.
Helping veterans navi
gate the complexities of VA
claims is a big part of
HARRY, which was found
ed by Cait Shabazz in
honor of her late brother.
Marine veteran Harry
Smith. Shabazz said that
HARRY contacts Burr's
office for every veteran's
claim in an attempt to get
complete service records
for those veterans. She said
she tries to get them any
medals they didn't receive.
"It lets them know their
service did not go unno
ticed," said Shabazz
Burr, a former ranking
member of the Senate
Veterans Affairs commit
tee, regularly awards over
due medals to veterans.
Lost or misplaced
records is very common
among veterans, said
Shabazz. Wallace was liter
ally on the way out of
Vietnam, when he was told
some of his records had
been destroyed in a fire.
However, he does believe
he has all of them now.
He's still working on his
claims, trying to get the VA
to accept them.
One claim the VA did
accept was his Post
Traumatic Stress Disease
(PTSD) claim. However,
Wallace said the coverage
for his PTSD is taken out of
his National Guard retire
ment benefits, reducing it
from about $500 to less
than $60. He said he was
challenging that, too.
Shabazz said it wasn't
unusual for veterans who
don't have a high level of
disability to have their VA
benefits taken out of their
retirement and it's another
issue HARRY will be
advocating on.
"It seems like it's just a
constant battle to do every
thing," said Barbara
Wallace. "All these things
deserved by these veterans,
they have to have to fight
like tooth and nail to get
what they deserve."
1
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