(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Nearly 80 years after an Aurora man was killed in World War II, his family has finally received his medals and awards.
Army Staff Sergeant John Green was killed-in-action in December 1944 in Germany.
Green's family didn't know all of the medals and citations he received, partly because of a massive fire in 1973 at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.
"Mr. Green's records were amongst the lot that was affected by that fire. When we started this process in 2020, only partial records came back," said Jacob Zimmerman, superintendent of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Kane County.
With Zimmerman's help, the family found the records of the long list of military honors he received.
"The Bronze Star medal, the Purple Heart medal, the Army Good Conduct medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign medal with three bronze service stars, the World War Two victory medal, a presidential unit citation and a combat infantryman badge," Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman was honored to help the family.
"To be able to make this right after several years, be a part of that process, to make that right and make sure that, you know, our heroes are not forgotten is a very big deal to me, my staff and the overall veterans community in Kane County.”
Green's family received those medals and awards during a ceremony Tuesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Batavia.
Among them was Green’s 83-year-old daughter, Anna Green Showerman, who was only 3 years old when her father was killed in action.
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