Waveland Vietnam Vet Receives Purple Heart | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

Waveland Vietnam Vet Receives Purple Heart

WAVELAND, Miss. (AP) — A Waveland man has finally been presented the Purple Heart he was supposed to have received 46 years.

The presentation was held Tuesday for 67-year-old Kenneth Duncan at Waveland City Hall.

Duncan volunteered for the Army in 1965 and served three tours in Vietnam from 1965-1968.

Duncan, a sergeant and a helicopter door gunner, was injured during the Tet Offensive in 1968. He has just returned to Vietnam to start his third tour. He was wounded when shrapnel a shell exploded near where he was standing.

Two days after processing out of the Army on Sept. 8, 1968, Duncan joined the Merchant Marines and served for another five years.

Later, following 9/11, Duncan worked as an army contractor in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Duncan also received a Merchant Marine Vietnam Service medal.

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