BOSTON — Helen Tilgner remembers seeing a scar on her father's left knee when she was 7, and realizing he had won a Purple Heart for being shot during combat in Vietnam.
But she had no idea that her father had won more than 100 medals and awards until this year — 26 years after he died when his helicopter crashed in Malaysia while he was flying for a private medical rescue company.
On Saturday, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., will present Tilgner and her two sons — both in the Army — with the awards won by her father, Chief Warrant Officer Armit Tilgner, more than three decades after he flew helicopter missions in Vietnam.
"I feel like it is recognition that he should have had long ago, to be remembered with honor, and it's a legacy I get to pass down to my sons so they are better aware of who he really was," said Tilgner.
Armit Tilgner was an instructor pilot with the 1st Aviation Brigade's 128th Assault Helicopter Company. He served six tours in Vietnam, winning numerous awards, including four Bronze Stars, five Army Commendation Medals, three Meritorious Unit Commendation medals, two Valorous Unit Awards, and 136 Air Medal awards. But he never talked about his military honors, so his family only knew about the Purple Heart.
Tilgner retired after 20 years in the Army in 1973 and went to work for a private medical helicopter company, transporting sick people from remote villages in Malaysia to hospitals. In 1982, he was killed at age 48 when his helicopter crashed.
Helen Tilgner discovered her father's discharge papers in her mother's house. On them, she saw a list of codes, and asked an old Army buddy of her father's to translate them for her. The codes all stood for medals her father had won.
"Once I got them decoded, I started flipping out," she said. "I had no idea."
She contacted Kerry again, this time to see if he could have her father's medals replaced.
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