Veteran receives Bronze Star

When Lyndall Preslar finally got a moment to himself he fixed his watery blue eyes intently on his newly acquired military awards - all 10 of them.

A tear rolled down his cheek as U.S. Marine Cpt. Henry Billings pinned a new Bronze Star to Preslar's shirt. Media and family bustled around him, but Preslar was having a moment to himself. 

The 88-year-old World War II Marine veteran and former prisoner of war was honored Thursday for things he endured some 60 years ago.

"I'm almost speechless," Preslar said smiling at the new collection of medals.

A room of veterans, VA Hospital staff and five generations of Preslars filled the VA nursing home and piled out into the hallway Thursday afternoon to celebrate his life and hear a piece of his story.

The event was a surprise to the shocked and deeply moved veteran.

"All I thought I was eligible for was a POW medal," he said. Because his discharge papers were incomplete, he said he didn't make an effort because he didn't think anything would happen.

After 40 months of torture, starvation and slave labor in a POW camp, all Preslar wanted was a normal life back in Odessa. Before presenting the Bronze Star, Billings told of how the 6-foot-tall Preslar had dwindled down to 75 or 80 pounds while in the camp.

Being alive was enough.

When he returned home, Preslar said he just moved forward.

"I tried to make a make a home and everything that makes a good life here and forgot," Preslar said. He worked some in the oilfield before becoming an Odessa firefighter for 28 years.

Preslar said he didn't actively seek his medals because records weren't available.

More than 60 years later, VA social worker Jan Lentz was the woman who made Preslar's awards ceremony possible.

After she heard Preslar's story three years ago, she didn't stop fighting with the VA for his medals until they arrived two weeks ago. 

"Sometimes the wheels turn very, very slowly - sometimes they hardly turn at all," Dr. Chris Bacorn, Interim VA Medical Center Director, said of the U.S. government.

Lentz shared the story.

About three years ago she asked Preslar if she could display some of his medals at the hospital, something they've done for other veterans.

"He told me he had never been recognized for his service in World War II and (being) a POW for three-and-a-half years," Lentz said, her voice trembling and tears falling.

She said she asked if she could search for his medals, something she deeply felt he deserved. She filled out forms and was ignored. She searched the Internet and called overseas and still no luck. She finally wrote a letter to Sen. John McCain - 10 medals arrived two weeks ago.

As she told her story, Preslar and his family wiped away their tears.

"Thank you Mr. Preslar for everything. You are a hero to all of us," Lentz said.

Preslar gleamed as he gripped his medals and said they reflected one of the biggest highlights of his life.

"I really didn't think it was going to happen," Preslar said.

Preslar's daughter Len Redmon said the recognition was a long time coming.

"He's finally getting what he deserved," she said. "Without people like him, we will not know the true history of war."

"He's totally my hero," she said.

Preslar's Medals

>> Bronze Star Medal.

>> World War II Victory Medal.

>> American Defense Service Medal.

>> Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal.

>> China Service Medal.

>> Combat Action Ribbon.

>> Prisoner of War Medal.

>> Discharge Button.

>> Honorable Service Lapel Pin.

>>Philippine Military Award.