TODD: Today\u2019s EIB High Note is about Petty Officer Third Class Donald Helfer, World War II hero. He never told anybody he was a World War II hero. His kids knew he had served in the military, but they never knew the extent until three decades after his death. Someone found this guy\u2019s medals and other military memorabilia in a Dumpster in Hickory, North Carolina.<\/p>\n
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So the individual who found them saw what it was worth and he turned them over to a Navy vet and American Legion Post 544 Commander Jeff Truitt. Mr. Truitt reached out to the family, and Helfer\u2019s daughter, Linda Delorey, drove an hour to meet him, and she got his memorabilia, and Truitt had organized everything in a binder to present to her.<\/p>\n
So you can imagine, she was stunned. You know, she grew up, and knew her father only as a police officer. So Helfer joined the Navy during World War II as an aircraft engine mechanic. He completed nearly 30 flights into enemy territory, was awarded the Navy Flying Cross, and the Bronze Star.<\/p>\n
He was recognized by President Harry Truman who thanked him in a letter for helping to “bring about the total defeat of the enemy” and offered the “heartfelt thanks of a grateful Nation.” Truitt told Fox 46, it was important to return the treasured items — and rich and meaningful history they contained — to the family.<\/p>\n
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TRUITT: I\u2019ve learned that you never know what a person has done in their life. He was just one of millions that served, and that\u2019s his story, and that can be told forever now.<\/p>\n