77 years later, widow surprised with husband’s WWII military decoration awards
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Long after her first husband died in World War II, Pat Hathaway was surprised Saturday with the awarding of military medals that should have been presented decades ago.
“Surprised because it was such a long time ago,” said 99-year-old Pat Hathaway. “He’d be surprised too.”
Pat married U.S. Army Staff Sgt Charles Jennings after meeting and becoming high school sweethearts.
He died toward the end of WWII in 1945 at 25.
The journey to get these awards started 20 years ago for Pat’s daughter Ann Hathaway Boll.
“I knew from a very young age that mom had been married before to Charles and that he had died in the war and all that and time goes on, I get into the family history, genealogy,” said Boll.
It started with searching for her father’s military records, who was in the Navy. She then decided to try and get Charles’s records. Those records were lost in a fire.
The one thing she could get was Charles’s War Department report of death. On there was a note that Charles was entitled to a Bronze Star. Boll said she knew her mom had never gotten that.
After going through a lot of hoops, she was told by the Army that her mom couldn’t be awarded the medal because she had remarried. It wasn’t until Boll contacted Sen. Jerry Moran’s office earlier this year she saw progress. The Bronze Star, a second Purple Heart and other medals arrived earlier this month.
With the help of the local VFW, the medals were presented to Pat at Avita Assisted Living Saturday.
“I’m not sure it’s quite sunk in yet, but she’s going to enjoy it, I have no doubt,” Boll said. “I think she is absolutely overwhelmed with the fact that people still want to honor him after 77 years. Whenever we talk about Charles, she always says he was the love of my life and enjoys looking at pictures from back then.”
Boll said she pieced together that Charles earned the medals because before he died, he took an artillery fragment in the thigh and kept fighting. In the process, it got infected, and he had to go to a field hospital for two weeks to recover before returning to his unit.
“I’m thrilled that she’s still here to get these awards that were so long delayed,” said Boll.
Boll said her mom didn’t have much information about how Charles died either but over the years, and she has been able to learn more about the battle that his unit was involved in and where he died. Boll has been sharing that with her mom as she learned it.
Pat will turn 100 years old next year on St. Patricks Day.
Copyright 2022 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com