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After he gave up a Purple Heart, Navy honors St. Paul WWII veteran in hospice care

Ray Petschel worried putting his name on a list for the Purple Heart would prompt the Navy to notify his mother that he had been on a bombed ship. So he didn't.

ST PAUL, Minn. — His daughter says it wasn't until last year that World War II Navy veteran Ray Petschel started telling stories. 

"I took him out to lunch at a restaurant and he told me, 'I got to tell you what I'm thinking about.'" Barbara Major says she was shocked by the stories her dad told her. But she was most surprised when he told her about being on board a ship in the South Pacific when it was shot at and bombed by the Japanese. 

"All of a sudden, boy, something happened. I got knocked down," Petschel recalled.

Petschel says a Lieutenant came around after the bombing, asking for the names of everyone who had got knocked down in the blast.

"He said, 'I'll see that you get the purple heart.'" Petschel recalled. 

But Petschel was worried. His older brother, a pilot in the war, had been killed in action. He remembered what getting the notice had done to his mother. He was worried putting his name on the list would prompt the Navy to notify his mother he had been on a bombed ship. 

Credit: KARE
Ray Petschel, pictured here during his time in the service.

"You told me that it would kill her when she got a notice about her second son in the war," said Major to her father.

Major thought the story needed a different ending - and soon.

"He was put in hospice when they found his tumor," said Major. "They found a tumor in his lung. Dad has refused any more surgeries in his life."

Major said she wanted to do something before her dad got worse. So she contacted Senator Amy Klobuchar's office. They wrote to the National Personnel Records Center, which confirmed Petschel's record. 

So during a surprise ceremony Friday, organized by Hospice of the Midwest Minnesota, the Navy honored Petschel for his service by giving him medals he had earned. 

"Thank you, again, for your service to the United States Navy, and your community, and our country," said Navy Chief Damon Sims during the ceremony. 

"You know, news media carries stories of [veterans] posthumously [being honored], the families getting it. I think it would be just fabulous as long as my dad is so strong of mind that he would get this before he gets sicker," Major said. 

Petschel, who will be 98 in March, was also a St. Paul police officer for 33 years. 

The Navy says giving someone the Purple Heart is a long process. Petschel's medical records need to be verified before he can be presented with the Purple Heart citation. 

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