{"id":18247,"date":"2023-12-13T11:24:42","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T16:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=18247"},"modified":"2023-12-22T11:25:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T16:25:57","slug":"navy-vet-receives-his-medals-after-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/navy-vet-receives-his-medals-after-50-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterinario de la Armada recibe sus medallas despu\u00e9s de 50 a\u00f1os"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0Columbia Gorge News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov. 10 was a very special day for Tracy Wickwire: He finally received five of the medals he\u2019d earned during two tours of duty in Vietnam, presented by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley at the Portland Airport USO. There to celebrate with him were his wife Patty, son Nick and partner Della, and crewmate Steve Pringle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wickwire joined the Navy at 17. His missions included Operation Eagle Pull and Operation Frequent Wind in 1975, and he saved cargo on the USS San Bernardino during a typhoon in 1978. He was presented the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal and Navy Good Conduct Medal during the ceremony, and Pringle surprised him with the flag that flew on the USS San Bernardino in the typhoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe gave it to me to take home,\u201d Wickwire said, adding he\u2019d only recently learned Pringle had the flag. \u201cWhen we unrolled it, you could see the tattered ends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wickwire has known for years that he\u2019d earned medals for his service. But receiving them proved difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt seems like nobody could find a record of [my service],\u201d Wickwire said. \u201cI\u2019ve approached other people in the past, even politicians or people in the political world for help. I\u2019ve never really ever had any response, even with VSOs [veterans service officers] in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He felt forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Wickwire reached out to Merkley. \u201cI knew that Jeff Merkley cared about veterans; I\u2019ve watched him over the years, he\u2019s been in there a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkley\u2019s Veterans and Military Constituent Service representative promptly responded. \u201cShe contacted me within a couple of days, and she said, \u2018Sen. Merkley wants me to look into that,\u2019\u201d Wickwire said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she did. Wickwire ended up with seven medals in total, two of which were sent to his home prior to the Nov. 10 presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkley has always had someone who works specifically with veterans on staff to address issues they face. It can be a tedious process for veterans to attempt alone because of the documentation required, which can be hard to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe challenge is finding out the veteran\u2019s unique needs and service story, and what paths to take that best fits their service,\u201d said Oregon Press Secretary Molly Prescott, Office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley. \u201cIt boils down to finding the right records and connect to the medals department of the correct branch of the military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to encourage any veterans who have issues with benefits, who have issues related to healthcare, who have lost their medals or never received them, to contact my team,\u201d Merkley said. Veterans can reach out on Merkley\u2019s website, merkley.senate.gov\/connect\/contact<\/a>, or call the Portland office at 503-326-3386.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Columbia Gorge News Nov. 10 was a very special day for Tracy Wickwire: He finally received five of the medals he\u2019d earned during two tours of duty in Vietnam, presented by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley at the Portland Airport USO. There to celebrate with him were his wife Patty, son Nick and partner Della, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNavy vet receives his medals after 50 years - Merkley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/navy-vet-receives-his-medals-after-50-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Navy vet receives his medals after 50 years - Merkley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0Columbia Gorge News Nov. 10 was a very special day for Tracy Wickwire: He finally received five of the medals he\u2019d earned during two tours of duty in Vietnam, presented by U.S. Sen. 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