A Knox man who served in the U.S. Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis finally has the service medals he earned more than half a century ago. Joe Perch never received his medals. He contacted Sen. Joe Donnelly’s office for assistance in obtaining them, 54 years later, because he had heard Donnelly was a friend to service members.
Perch says Donnelly’s staff was extremely helpful and kept him in the loop continuously during the process of tracking down his records and completing the necessary paperwork. Within 90 days of making the initial telephone call, Perch had medals in hand.
He describes the experience in detail in a YouTube video produced by Donnelly’s office as part of the “Just Ask Joe” series.
