No Tarnish On Late Medals Marines Finally Locate, Honor Spokane Vets

Thor Kiilsgaard and Ralph “Ron” De Vore, Jr. were the center of attention at the Naval Reserve Center on Friday night, though both last wore a Marine Corps uniform years ago.

The two war heroes from battles past were honored for their valor during separate wars.

Kiilsgaard was awarded the Purple Heart - his second - for wounds received in action on June 20, 1945, in Okinawa. De Vore received the Bronze Star for heroic achievement on June 2, 1967, as a forward observer during the Vietnam War.

Four rows of current Marines joined 25 friends and family members in honoring the veterans during the short ceremony held in the gymnasium.

For Kiilsgaard, the honor came 50 years after a bullet wound almost took his life. He had no doubt about which Purple Heart was the most special.

“The second one is,” Kiilsgaard said. “I am very fortunate to be here.”

Kiilsgaard was shot in the head by a Japanese sniper while he and several members of his company were returning to the front line after clearing a mine field about a mile behind the battle line.

While Kiilsgaard, who retired a captain, spent nine months recovering in various military hospitals, the Marine Corp lost track of him. But Kiilsgaard harbors no ill feelings.

“It’s not the Marine Corps’ fault,” Kiilsgaard said. “There must have been tens of thousands of casualties.”

De Vore, then a lance corporal, was shot in the foot when his company came under heavy fire in Vietnam. Despite being wounded, and his unit outnumbered, De Vore instructed his comrades to carry him to a vantage point where he directed devastating mortar fire on the enemy, forcing them to retreat.

De Vore was originally scheduled to receive his Bronze Star in August 1972, but the Marine Corps lost track of him as well. Friends in the Marine Corps encouraged De Vore to track down his medal 28 years after he was shot.

It wasn’t until Kiilsgaard was set to return to the site of his last battle that he inquired about his award.

“It was more or less fitting that it be 50 years late when I received it,” Kiilsgaard said.

He landed in the Naha Airport in Okinawa, on June 20, 1995, 50 years to the day - and within a couple of hours - of when he was shot in the head.

“It was a surprise and kind of an emotional return for me,” Kiilsgaard said of his flight, which was moved up a day.

Nicknamed “Tojo,” Kiilsgaard received his first Purple Heart in 1944 after suffering a gunshot wound to his leg during the battle for Peleliu in the Palau Islands.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo