Lost legacy restored: WWII vet's stolen medals replaced

MONTEZUMA - World War II veteran William West at long last on Wednesday received medals for his service in the Army Air Corps after having had his original medals stolen long ago.

West, 95, sat comfortably in a recliner at his daughter's house in Montezuma as Aaron Locker, aide to state Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, presented the World War II Victory medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign medal, the American campaign medal and West's air medal with oak leaf cluster signifying 300 hours of missions flown. Locker also pinned on West's Honorable Discharge lapel patch, known fondly as The Ruptured Duck.

West sat smiling at his replaced medals.

"Oh, my," he said. "I'm reminiscing that's for sure. And it's been a long time. There's more than 50 years here."

West, who drives a shiny red Chevy Camaro, served in the Pacific Theater as a co-pilot, bombardier and navigator in a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber from 1944-1946.

"We didn't carry too many big bombs," West recalled. "Mostly we carried anti-personnel bombs."

He had spent time in Burma, India and China during his service. He especially remembered acting as navigator for a flight from South America to Burma, having to carefully figure a fuel window in the B-25 to land on Ascension Island, a small stretch of land barely within fuel range for the massive plane.

"It was a real challenge for the navigator back in those days," West said chuckling. "It wasn't a gimme at all."

After his medals had been stolen, West's daughter, Carol Szanto and her husband, John, began the process of replacing them. They soon learned, however, the warehouse holding the needed military records had been destroyed in a fire, making the process that much more difficult.

West's records finally were obtained through a search by Renacci's office, and Locker was sent to deliver the good news.

"This is my favorite part of my job," Locker said after the presentation. "We help veterans. If a veteran has an issue, they can come to us and we can do our best to help them but to reward them, especially these World War II veterans, a lot of them have never seen these medals. Their families don't even know a lot of the amazing things they have done. It's fantastic to be able to honor them and shake their hand one more time and tell them 'thank you' for your service one more time, especially in front of their families."

Asked what he thought about his time in the service, West said he wouldn't change a thing.

"I hate to say it, but I enjoyed every minute of it," he said.