Globe Resident Receives Purple Heart

On Saturday, April 14, Mr. Joe "Pusso" Perez was presented with the Purple Heart at the American Legion Henry Barry Post #4 for wounds received during the Tet Offensive by Congressman Rick Renzi. "Specialist 4 (then Private First Class) Joe A. Perez was wounded in action on February 2nd, 1968. This was the third day of the ˜68 Tet Offensive. He was deployed with the 25th Infantry Division at Cu-Chi South Vietnam. From 1966 to 1970, the Division fought the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong north and west of Saigon. During the 1968 Tet Offensive the 25th stopped the Viet Cong attempts to seize Tan Son Nhut airfield and participated in the defense of Saigon. He was wounded in the stomach area and had to have his left kidney and spleen removed. The same round damaged his lung and back muscles. A second shot hit his knee. He spent over six months in three different hospitals recovering from his wounds." In addition to receiving the Purple Heart, Mr. Perez also received the following medals, Combat Infantryman Pin, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Medal, US Vietnam Service Medal, Civil Action Honor Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, 25th Infantry Patch, Gallantry Cross w/ Palm (from the Republic of Vietnam), and the Marksmanship Badge. Also in attendance were Father Raul "Rudy" Rosales from Holy Angels, who "made this happen," Arizona Department Commander of the American Legion, Tom Cosgrove, and Tech Sergeant Theresa Patelo, who grew up in the Globe-Miami area and is the daughter of Shirley Rittenbach and the late Gary Rittenbach, and an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, who made a special presentation to local area vets. Cosgove told those in attendance that the "American Legion is for veterans and we look out for veterans." Mr. Cosgrove introduced Congressman Rick Renzi as "the fighting voice for rural Arizona for District 1." Congressman Renzi thanked "those who gave so much and poured so much out so we could be free." Tech Sergeant Patelo informed those present that she had just returned from her second deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqui Freedom and "even though support for this war seems to be dwindling, support for the American serviceman is steady!" Mr. Perez received his medal 39 years after his wounds in Vietnam and Sergeant Patelo fittingly stated she'd "like to think the American public learned a valuable lesson from the way veterans were treated after Vietnam and have come to understand the line between supporting the war and supporting the troops." She thanked all veterans from the "bottom of my heart, especially those from the Miami-Globe area . . . for your sacrifices, for your contributions, for the lessons learned, for forging the way for today's military and most of all, for serving!"