Nashua veteran finally receives 6 medals he earned for his service in Vietnam

NASHUA, N.H. — George Andosca served in Vietnam as an Army aviation mechanic, maintaining and sometimes flying in combat observation planes in 1965 and 1966.

"We'd find something that was going on, we'd call in to the Air Force, and they'd send in usually F-100s," Andosca said.

He was awarded a pair of medals when he left the service, but didn't realize he'd earned several more until recently, when he wrote to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's office to update his records.

Shaheen’s office discovered Andosca was due six additional medals, including the Valorous Unit Award.

"What can I say? Somebody must have put me in for them, one of the officers," Andosca said.

Shaheen's office handles several of these cases each year, and she said it's rare to find so many earned medals waiting to be awarded. But when these cases do arise, she said it's not uncommon for them to involve Vietnam veterans.

"So many of our returning warriors from Vietnam did not get a welcome home, so often they didn't think about the medals they were entitled to,” Shaheen said.

Andosca said he encountered that hostility landing in California on his way home from Vietnam.

"People would look at me with kind of disgust. It's much different now. When people learn that you've served, they say thank you for your service," Andosca said.

It took a while, but Andosca now has the thanks of a grateful nation and official recognition of what he did for his country.