Purple Heart Awarded to Navy Officer 47 Years After Death

A U. S. Navy Commander was posthumously awarded the purple heart.

The Massachusetts family of a U.S. Navy commander killed in action has accepted a long-overdue Purple Heart award on his behalf after nearly 50 years of fighting to correct his military record.

The Boston Globe reports that the family of Cmdr. Melvin Lederman accepted the military honor at a ceremony Monday at Brookline Town Hall.

Veterans' Services officials say Lederman died alongside five Marines and one sailor on Nov. 29, 1969 when their rescue helicopter exploded in flight.

The deaths were initially attributed to a mechanical failure, but further investigation revealed that the aircraft crashed after taking hostile gunfire. The records of the five Marines were changed to Killed In Action and they were given Purple Hearts.

Lederman and the sailor's records weren't adjusted until U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III intervened.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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