St. Peters Man Receives Purple Heart Decades Later

A St. Peters man received a Purple Heart almost 50 years after he was wounded during the Vietnam War. 

Sitzwohl, 65, enlisted in the US Army in 1968 and deployed to Vietnam where he eventually served the 101st Assault Helicopter Battalion in Phu Bai. He was wounded on April 10, 1969 while on patrol following enemy contact from the previous day. He served 21 months, 19 days in Vietnam, according to a press release from Sen. Claire McCaskill's office. 

Tomme Sitzwohl, Walter's wife, asked that McCaskill help her husband receive a Purple Heart. The Army reviewed its records and found that Sitzwohl  should have been awarded a Purple Heart medal for combat wounds he sustained. 

Walter Sitzwohl will be honored during the Sept. 12 Board of Alderman meeting.