This Veterans’ Day marks a long overdue fulfillment of promises made by the US Army to one of its soldiers. Korean War veteran Leo Hardin received four awards for his military service, including a Purple Heart with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster.
Hardin thanked everyone who witnessed the event and worked on his behalf to get him his deserved military honors.
“As one general said, ‘War is hell,’ and to have been there, done that, and then to be favored by God that I didn’t return in a box,” Hardin said. “And I know it’s been a long time. It’s been a long struggle, just trying to get what was due me…and thanks be to God that I have prevailed.”
The Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster represents two Purple Hearts as Hardin was injured twice in combat. The first were second-degree frostbite injuries occurring in December 1950 in the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. The second Purple Heart was for shrapnel injuries to his right leg, which occurred in September 1951 in the Battle of Bloody Ridge in central Korea.
Brigadier General James M. Robinson, Assistant Adjutant General-Army of the Missouri Army National Guard also presented Hardin with the Combat Infantryman Badge, the National Defense Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal. Those in attendance stood as Hardin received the awards.
“I said ‘in the absence of order’ because 60 years ago, there would have been a room full of soldiers as they stood at attention as the order was read,” Gen. Robinson said.
“On behalf of a grateful nation, it is my honor to give you this long overdue Purple Heart, PFC Hardin, I have never been more honored to salute an enlisted man.”
After Sen. McCaskill’s office was informed that Leo Hardin never received these awards, her office submitted the necessary documentation to correct the error and the U.S. Army confirmed they would issue Hardin’s awards.
“We owe the veterans who have sacrificed for our country an unknowable debt of gratitude,” said McCaskill, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and daughter of a World War II veteran. “One of the best parts of my job is helping honor those sacrifices and making sure we’re keeping our promises to our veterans long after they return from the battlefield.”
Hardin, a veteran of the 2nd Infantry Division, served in Japan in the late 1940s as well as in Korea from 1950-1953.
Hardin’s title has changed from PFC to Reverend, now serving on God’s spiritual battlefield.
“Let us always remember to pray for your soldiers,” Rev. Hardin told those at ceremony. “The military needs your prayers.”
