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LOCAL MAN RECEIVES MEDAL WWII SERVICE

By Erin France/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 9:49 AM CST

U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, presented the Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Service to Sgt. Joe Irvin of Pine Bluff Monday afternoon, more than 60 years after his service in the U.S. Army ended.

U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, pins the Bronze Star on Joe A. Irvin on Monday at the George Howard Jr. Federal Building. Special to The Commercial/Rusty Reid

Irvin, 84, gathered with a small group of friends and family members to receive an honor long overdue.

“This is such a well-deserved award,” Ross said, before he pinned the medal to the man’s chest. “You’re a part of America’s greatest generation and we salute you, sir.”

Irvin saluted the congressman and the flashing light bulbs in the small, crowded room.

Someone shouted an Army “ho-rah,” another said, “Yeah, Daddy.”

He drove a tank across the Rhine River and saw much of Europe during his time in the U.S. Army from April 1943 to April 1946. In November 1945, Irvin was chosen as a guard for the Nuremberg trials.

Besides the Bronze Star Medal, Irvin also has received recognition through the American Theater Ribbon, the European-African Middle Eastern Ribbon, a Good Conduct Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge.

“When dad talked about the war to us he only talked about the positives,” said daughter Michele Irvin-Giegerich of California. “None of us knew he’d been awarded medals and citations.”

Irvin’s wife, Wanda Irvin, said she approached Ross about collecting her husband’s Bronze Star Medal when she heard of another veteran who was awarded the honor decades after their service.

“Oh yeah, he was excited,” Wanda Irvin said about her husband’s reaction to her plan.

“It’s probably a bigger deal for us,” Irvin-Giegerich added. “He’s a very humble man.”

Joe Irvin’s well-wishers blocked the tight hall after the ceremony, lingering despite the heat on an unseasonably warm day.

Almost everyone stopped to shake Irvin’s hand.

Another daughter — three of Irvin’s four children made it to the ceremony — quipped that her father would still be tough competition in a foot race.

Irvin’s grip is tight and his eyes are clear.

“I’m not too old,” he said.

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