Vet gets belated Bronze Star

When Lorence Schlechte was asked to show up at Stoneridge Resort on Thursday, the Blanchard, Idaho, man was worried that he was going to hear a sales pitch for a condominium.

So his family told him a half-truth – that there was a lunch for Veterans Day and he needed to be there. Then one of Schlechte’s friends called and almost blew the surprise by congratulating the World War II veteran for finally receiving the Bronze Star he’d earned as a young man. The award hadn’t come through 60 years ago because the paperwork was lost.

His daughter, Gwen Stevens, said she tried to cover for the friend’s blunder. She told Schlechte that his medals wouldn’t arrive for months and that Thursday’s celebration was in fact just a lunch.

An unsuspecting Schlechte arrived at the Blanchard resort on Thursday and was greeted by room full of veterans, friends and family – and a couple of Bonner County commissioners.

When Commissioner Marcia Phillips introduced herself and told the 81-year-old that he was the cause for celebration, he smiled.

“I thought maybe you were going to get me all my tax money,” he joked.

Phillips said she’d received a letter from Schlechte’s commanding officer from his Army days. He told her that Schlechte had some overdue recognition coming.

“We set this date without knowing your medals would be here,” Phillips said. When it appeared that the medals wouldn’t arrive in time, Phillips said commissioners considered presenting Schlechte with a fax instead, or even making a Bronze Star out of paper.

With the help of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s office, the medals arrived earlier than expected.

Phillips told Schlechte that if he had received the Bronze Star when he was young, most in the room wouldn’t have been able to watch.

“You have given us a very special gift, to say thank you personally,” Phillips said.

Schlechte belatedly received several other awards Thursday, including the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantry Badge for hand-to-hand combat.

The Bronze Star was awarded for injuries Schlechte, a private first class, received on March 23, 1945, in Germany.

That day, Schlechte said, is etched in his memory.

“I thought the whole world blew up in my face,” he said. A mortar landed in the trench nearby. Schlechte said he had shrapnel in his arm and face.

A fellow soldier was shot in the chest.

“All my buddy said was, ‘My God,’ ” Schlechte said.

Amazingly, the man survived. Schlechte said the bullet had missed his heart by only an inch or two. But many others died that day.

Schlechte said he lost half his squad and one of his sergeants was killed, too. He said Thursday that he was thankful to have survived.

“War’s nothing to laugh about,” he said. “War is hell. But there’s always someone worse off.”