Green Valley World War II veteran also to get medals
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Friday will present a Purple Heart Medal to the granddaughter of a Southern Arizona infantryman who was wounded in France's Argonne Forest in World War I.
Giffords, a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, also will present five medals to World War II veteran Joseph Schechter of Green Valley.
The presentations will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the congresswoman's Tucson District Office, 1661 N. Swan, suite 112.
Shirley Summers Gillette will accept the Purple Heart Medal for her grandfather, Everett L. Summers. A resident of St. David, he died in 1955 without receiving the medal he deserved. Summers was 23 years old when he was wounded on September 30, 1918 as he fought with the U.S. Army's 113th Field Artillery in France's Argonne Forest. The medal presentation is the culmination of a decade-long effort by Gillette, a first-grade teacher in St. David, to make sure her grandfather receives the Purple Heart.
Schechter served in the Merchant Marines during World War II.