WWII veteran still waiting to receive Purple Heart

World War II veteran Clinton Sagers has a small voice that requires a little straining to hear, but a few key people are listening to his story about how he was wounded in Germany and never received a Purple Heart.

Sagers fought in the Battle of the Bulge and in 1944 was taken prisoner while he was serving with the 196th Infantry Division, 423rd Regiment Company C. Today Sagers describes surviving harsh winter conditions, sleeping in the boxcar of a train and being ordered to dismantle the tracks on a German tank.

On Sunday, Sagers, now in his 80s, is being honored by leading the Veterans Day parade in Murray at 11 a.m. He also attended a ceremony Friday at the University of Utah that honored 11 fellow WWII veterans. But Sagers, who points to his left knee, the one that was injured 63 years ago, says he's still without one honor.

Back in the 1970s, his military records were destroyed by fire where they were stored in St. Louis. Five years ago, Utah Department of Veterans Affairs director Terry Schow heard Sagers was trying to finally get what he deserved, his Purple Heart. But without the records, the Department of Defense has no way of verifying that Sagers was wounded by shrapnel in his knee.

Schow said he has involved Utah's delegation in Washington and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to ask them for help in prodding President Bush to help Sagers get what he deserves.

"I have a file two inches thick with correspondence to multiple entities within the DOD," Schow said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "In my heart I have faith that once this has been brought to the personal attention of the president, he will ensure Clinton receives his Purple Heart and is not punished because his records were destroyed."

Schow said over the phone Friday that he is still waiting to hear whether Bush has received yet another letter, which Schow said is supposed to be signed by every member of the Utah delegation and hand-delivered to Bush.

"We've tried everything we can," Schow said. "I've been up and down the flagpole 50 times," including working his own DOD contacts in Washington.

"At this point it will take somebody at fairly high levels to say, 'Enough, fix it,"' Schow said. "This humble little guy just wants his Purple Heart. He's earned it. There's no doubt in my mind he has.

"They're doing what I call the bureaucratic shuffle. It'll break my heart if we don't get this before he dies."

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com