In the News

It took more than 65 years for Edsel Smith to receive a Purple Heart for a gunshot wound suffered in the Korean War, and he blames the delay on bacon and eggs.

At some point during a firefight with Chinese soldiers in the Chosin Reservoir in the winter of 1950 -- Smith of Bryant isn't sure exactly when -- a bullet pierced his left leg. The former Marine noticed the wound after the blood froze against his skin during the frigid night.

A field medic treated him and recommended he receive the Purple Heart, which honors military personnel wounded or killed in combat. Smith, who also served in the Pacific at the end of World War II, returned to headquarters in Pusan several days later where he was told to go to sick call. Smith, however, never went. The familiar aroma of bacon and eggs emanating from the mess hall demanded his attention.

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