George Pettit, District 1 Elder
Elderly Coordinator for D1, Doris Jold said that Pettit would often talk about the medals he received for his service in the Navy and how he regrettably had lost his medals through the course of his life. As a proud veteran of the Navy, Pettit felt these honorable decorations spoke to the commitment and excellence of his service to this country. Yet, they were missing.
Interestingly, the widowed Pettit is not a GRIC Community member but was married to a Community member and has lived here for many years.
Pettit asked Elderly Center employee Cruz Lewis to look into having his medals reissued to him. Lewis took it upon himself to give it a try.
With only a partial service record provided to him by Pettit, Cruz beat the trail to the Navy department via phone calls and emails. Putting the information together was a puzzle of sorts.
"Some medals were listed on the record," Cruz said. "[Pettit] had some ribbons that were issued to him and these matched the service records."
Having put some of the pieces together, Cruz said the Navy department was able to assist in following through with rest. Altogether the process took three months which in the scope of things isn't very long.
During D1's Christmas Dinner on Wed, Dec. 21, 2011 all the elders came together as usual. They watched Community Council on their television. But before the meal was served, veterans from the Haskell Osife-Antone Post #51 were called upon to make a special presentation.
The Navy department had restored George Pettit medals. Pettit had medals from the 1st Asiatic Campaign with stars for his service in Quadulan, Saipan in the Philippines; American Medal for Service, World War II Victory Medal and the Philippine Liberation Medal.
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