A Purple Heart for Christmas

Sisters receive a very special holiday gift

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Courtesy Chloe Morrison / Maryville Daily Times

Maryville. Tenn. residents Sue Myers and Fay Taylor, formerly of Williamsburg, received a special gift on Christmas Day, a posthumous Purple Heart in honor of their brother, Fred T. Chatfield, who was killed in the Korean War.

“It means a lot to me,” Myers said. “It shows that he gave his life and everything.”

After being taken as a prisoner of war in 1950, Chatfield died on May 14, 1951, of either dysentery, pneumonia or malnutrition, according to military documents given to his family. His remains have never been returned, and some family members said Friday they doubt they ever will be.

But, to Beverly Sherrod, getting the Purple Heart for her mother and aunt was important and she wanted to find a special moment to present it to them. On Christmas Day, Sherrod and her family surprised the sisters with the medal.

“I felt like after all he went through, he deserved to receive the Purple Heart, no matter how long after his death,” Sherrod said.

About a year ago, Sherrod read an article in the newspaper that said if families could provide documentation that a family member died in the Korean War, they would be awarded a posthumous Purple Heart.

About three months after providing verification, she heard that a Purple Heart would soon be sent to her family. It finally arrived a couple of weeks ago, and Sherrod and family made a plan to present the medal to Chatfield’s two living sisters, Myers and Taylor.

Kevin Sherrod, Chatfield’s great-nephew, asked his friend, Marine Sgt. Neill Sevelius, to help present the Purple Heart to the two sisters.

Kevin said he feels a connection to Chatfield and other members of his family who have served in the military.

“I want to do my part for them,” he said.

Sevelius is a photographer for the Marine Corps, and also works with the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command, an organization that aims to account for all Americans missing as a result of the nation’s past conflicts, according to the group’s Web site.

“It is for being injured in combat,” Sevelius said of the Purple Heart. “Most of the time (it’s awarded to those who make) the ultimate sacrifice.”

At the family gathering on Christmas Day, Myers, 75, and Taylor, 86, were sitting in the living room, unaware of the gift their family had in store.

Kevin called for attention, and the large family turned toward the sisters and Sevelius, who read the certificate that came with the medal.

Family members snapped photos of the sisters, who teared up as they received the gift.

“I’m just so happy to get it,” Myers said. “It seems like we’ve waited so long.”

“He was tall, and he was real good looking,” Taylor said about her brother, prompting laughs from the family.

Taylor said she used to call her brother “Freddy,” but he didn’t like that name.

“He said, “Don’t call me Freddy, you’ll make me sound like a complete imbecile,” and he said, ‘I’m Fred.’ “So I didn’t call him that.”

She said she was happy to have the medal, but she’d rather have him.

Beverly Sherrod was about three years old when Chatfield died, she said.

“All I can remember is there was something going on and it wasn’t good,” she said. “Grandmother and granddaddy were really sad, and I didn’t understand it, of course.”

Chatfield’s niece, Rebecca Morris, said the family has letters from her uncle while he was at war, which provide a unique glimpse into the time period.

Chatfield wanted to save up for a car to drive when he got back from war, she said. The car probably cost about $500, she said.

“He would send money for the car, but he never got it,” Morris said. “About the time he got the money, he disappeared.”

Stories and memories about Chatfield have spread down through generations of the family. Morris’s daughter did a project for school focused on him, spending about 40 hours studying documents about him and letters he wrote.

“It was eye-opening,” Morris said. “There was one where he was writing a letter in the dark. He put a towel up (around him) because he didn’t want anybody to see him writing. It was zero degrees. They were traveling north in Korea. It must have been very dangerous for him at that point in time.”

Morris also said her daughter learned a lot from remembering Chatfield.

“She got an account of the Korean War she wouldn’t have gotten from (a textbook),” she said.

Myers remembered her brother as a mischievous boy.

“He liked to carry a BB gun,” she said. “One time daddy was milking a cow, and he shot the cow with a BB gun.”

Chloe Morrison is a reporter for the Maryville Daily Times