Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It has been one year since President Donald J. Trump placed the Medal of Honor around war hero David Bellavia's neck in the East Room of the White House.
"It feels like five years," chuckled Bellavia. "With Covid, this has been the longest year of our lives. It's been a crazy year," he added. "It reminds us of where we were as a community a year ago, before masks and hand sanitizer, when the world was so different."
Bellavia said one of the things he's been blessed with is that so many people have been so good and decent to him. "It was neat to see so many other people from other generations and other wars take this as their moment too. Mark Poloncarz and Byron Brown and people that we don't tend to agree with politically. Everyone took this as a regional thing and it was a beautiful moment for me personally," he said.
Bellavia was on a national tour with the U.S. Army for several months after receiving the medal. This year a lot of events have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Still, Bellavia is amazed at how many people answer the call to serve during challenging times. "It's really a special time. People who want to go into law enforcement, be a nurse or join the military. Every time we're challenged, people always seem to step up and want to help. It's cool to be part of that."
Where is the medal right now, asked Brian Mazurowski. "I have a wallet that they give you to carry it around in," answered Bellavia. "It's still weird to look at it. It's like someone got the Medal of Honor and left it at my house. I'm trying to find the person it belongs to. I feel like a custodian of it and I'm waiting til the rightful owner comes and gets it."
Bellavia is the first living Iraq veteran to receive the Medal of Honor.