Veteran's wait over for medals of honor.

Byline: Jim Feehan The Register-Guard

Sixty years after slogging through swamps under hostile gun fire in New Guinea and the Philippines, Joseph May finally received his medals from the U.S. Army on Saturday.

"I enjoyed the whole experience. You might say it was worth waiting for," May said after he received the awards during a ceremony at the Hilton Eugene.

But he almost didn't make it out of the Philippines.

As a commander of a landing craft, May's unit came under fire during a Japanese air raid near Luzon, he said.

"We didn't have foxholes so I jumped into a nearby river. The last (Japanese) plane in formation came up the coastline right for the river. But apparently he ran out of ammunition and that's why I'm here today," May said.

May was somewhat disappointed that he didn't receive his medals after his honorable discharge in November 1945.

Apparently he was one of many who were made to wait. Because of the sheer volume of soldiers leaving the service in 1945 and 1946, the military simply didn't have enough medals to go around.

Soon, however, May was too busy raising a family and working as a street car driver, and later as a bus driver, in Los Angeles to worry too much about it.

Upon his retirement after 40 years with the transit agency in 1986, though, May said he started thinking about the medals again.

It wasn't until October that his son, Joe May, 54, a financial planner in Eugene, enlisted the assistance of U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio's office. DeFazio's staff researched May's service record through the Defense Department and learned on Jan. 14 that the medals were on the way.

More than 100 people attended Saturday's ceremony hosted by the Army's recruiting office honoring May and other military personnel in Eugene. May was awarded six medals. May's son, Joe, a weapons mechanic in the U.S. Air Force who saw his share of combat during a tour of duty in Da Nang, Vietnam, from 1969 to 1970, pinned the medals on his father's navy blue double-breasted suit.

Several members of the family have served in the military overseas, including Joe May's maternal grandfather, a World War I veteran, Joe May said.

"We're all very proud of our military service. I'm happy for the opportunity to acknowledge the sacrifice Dad made," he said.

Receiving the medals six decades after the fact does have one reward, said May's eldest child, Mary Frances Vitek, 56, of Carlsbad, Calif.

"The beauty of receiving the award 60 years later is that your whole family gets to be there with you," she said.

Also in attendance was May's wife, Mary, and the couple's youngest child, Susan Blaine, 49, of Eugene.

MEDALS AWARDED

The Army Good Conduct Medal: For exemplary conduct in active military service.

The American Campaign Medal: For service within the American Theater while assigned to a unit accorded battle credit for an anti-submarine campaign.

The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and Arrowhead: For service in active combat within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.

The World War II Victory Medal: For service in the U.S. Armed Forces from Dec. 7, 1941, to Dec. 31, 1946.

The Philippine Liberation Ribbon and Bronze Star Attachment: For active combat within the Pacific Theater.

Honorable Service Lapel Button World War II: For exemplary conduct during active military service in World War II.

CAPTION(S):

After 60 years, Joseph May gets medals, presented by son Joe, that he earned for service in World War II. "I enjoyed the whole experience (at the awards ceremony), you might say it was worth waiting for." - JOSEPH MAY, AFTER RECEIVING SIX MEDALS FOR SERVICE IN WORLD WAR II