Richard Etchberger died in Laos in 1968, saving fellow Americans at a top-secret radar station overrun by North Vietnamese commandos.
Etchberger, who grew up north of Reading, Pa., was nominated that year for the Medal of Honor. But there was a problem: The United States was not supposed to have troops in Laos. President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to award the medal.
On July 7 of this year, Etchberger’s son, Cory, received a phone call. “Will you please hold for the president?” a woman asked.
President Obama then told Cory Etchberger that his father would finally receive the Medal of Honor.
Interestingly, I just read a novelization about the secret site in Laos, Lima Site 85. Now I’ll have to find a non-fiction account.