Benicia Herald - Vietnam veteran finally receives military awards
Donna Beth Weilenman
It took 39 years and the help of U.S. Representative Mike Thompson for James Hilderbrand to receive the military honors he earned during the Vietnam War.
In a Friday afternoon ceremony in front of the Benicia Veterans Memorial Building, Thompson pinned three medals to Hilderbrand's chest, under the two rows of ribbons he also finally received.
Hilderbrand enlisted in the U.S. Air Force a year after his high school graduation. Among his deployments was to U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand, where he was a crew chief in the 307 Organized Maintenance Squadron, making sure that airplanes were ready to fly into combat missions over North Vietnam.
He was discharged honorably in 1976, receiving papers that told him the awards he had earned. He neither got the actual ribbons or medals, nor give them much thought for about 30 years. "I knew what I did," he said.
That changed when he read what others had earned in U-Tapao. But he just ran into dead ends as he researched how to get his medals. Finally, he gave Thompson's office a call.
"It takes some work," Thompson said, adding that he is willing to do the same work for any other veteran who hasn't received earned medals. "You have to contact the Pentagon, and give them the veteran's information."
Even with his authority, a year passed before his office surprised Hilderbrand with a call to say the veteran would be getting the Air Force Good Conduct Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster device, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forced Expeditionary Medal, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon with V and 4 Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster devices, the Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon and the Small Arms Marksmanship Ribbon.
"I would have been happy getting them in a box at the post office," Hilderbrand said. But Thompson wants veterans to get the recognition they deserve and give others a chance to celebrate the accomplishments.
Thompson pinned the medals to Hilderbrand's chest, witnessed by members of the local posts of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign wars were joined by Maj. Gen. R. A. Luhdin, the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) ambassador to California, Benicia Police Chief Erik Upton and such veterans as Peter Caggiano, who served in France and Germany during World War II.
"This is the icing on the cake," Hilderbrand said.