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Feedback: Ogdensburg Man Gets Bronze Star After 62 Years

Story Published: Jan 17, 2013 at 7:47 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jan 17, 2013 at 7:47 PM EDT

81 year old Charles Lake was in an Army infantry division in the Korean War when he was severely wounded - losing an eye and suffering over 100 shrapnel wounds - during an enemy ambush in October 1950.
 
"They knocked out two tanks and I happened to be on one of them," Lake said.
 
But due to a military paperwork error, he never was officially awarded the Bronze Star medal recognizing him for his bravery.
 
"It was some of the worst fighting that any infantry division in this country has ever faced and some of the most brutal," said Captain Dan McCarthy of the U.S. Army.
 
Now more than 60 years later, Corporal Charles Lake was given the prestigious medal by Congressman Bill Owens in a ceremony at Ogdensburg City Hall as family, friends and other veterans looked on.
 
"It is a big deal," said Owens (D. - 21st District).
 
For the most part, Lake never talked much through the years about his Army service during the Korean War or the seriousness of his injuries.
 
It took numerous letters and phone calls over the years and ultimately the help of a Congressman Owens to get through the bureaucracy allowing the dedicated veteran to finally get the Bronze Star he deserved.

"I see a hero because I know it was very hard back then," said Lake's daughter, Kim Goulden.
 
Lake says he plans to put the Bronze Star in a glass display case of his military medals that had always been one short - until now.

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013
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