FAIRCHANCE - Retired Army Lt. Col. Chris Straub said he wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for former Sgt. Kerry "Drew" Gaster, one of the soldiers who served under him in Vietnam.
Straub, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East in President George W. Bush's administration, traveled from his home in Virginia to present Gaster with the medals he earned - but didn't receive - 40 years ago.
"I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for you," Straub said as he handed Gaster his Bronze Star on Friday. He also presented Gaster, 60, with his Combat Infantry Badge.
Straub said the war was a stressful time and apologized for the administrative delay that held up Gaster's commendations.
Gaster did receive a Purple Heart after suffering shrapnel wounds in his neck from a grenade explosion while defending Hill 805 in northern Vietnam for five nights.
Straub also was wounded in the battle and received the Purple Heart. He and Gaster were hospitalized together.
Another member of their Delta Company unit in the 101st Airborne Division, Frank Silvus, traveled from his home in Ohio to Caster's home for the presentation of the medals.
U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, helped obtain the medals for Gaster, but was not able to attend the presentation because Congress was in session in Washington, D.C.
During the presentation, Straub described Gaster as a "very brave, very smart infantryman."
He said soldiers were rarely allowed to go to a "rear area" to take a break from fighting and had to survive on whatever they could carry in their rucksacks and ammunition boxes regardless of the weather.
Gaster said the nights the unit spent defending Hill 805 were the most difficult times he experienced in the 11 months he served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970. He was 20 years old then.
He said members of the unit have reunions every two years and remain close friends who call each other when they need to talk about things only brothers in arms would understand.
"Time has come and gone. What you have as a soldier, you never lose," Gaster said. "It's your family. It's as much your family as those living under your roof."
He described Straub, who was a captain in Vietnam, as a great officer who looked out for his men.
"He was a captain at the time and a great officer," Gaster said. "He was always for his men."
There for Gaster on Friday was his wife Cindy, and their sons Kerry, Kris, Chad, along with his wife Erica, and Shawn, along with his wife Julianne.
Also in attendance was Sgt. Jeffrey Reagan of the 110th Infantry unit in Connellsville.
Representing Shuster was Jim Frank, who runs the congressman's district office in Hollidaysburg. Frank said Gaster's health was also a factor in obtaining his medals.
Gaster has pancreatic cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
"Day by day" is how Gaster said he and his family are dealing with the cancer. "We're making it. We're here."
Another medical condition seems to be working itself out. Shrapnel from the grenade that knocked him and Straub out of action remains in the back of his neck near his spine and "little black specs" from the grenade occasionally work their way to the surface of his skin.
November 06, 2009