Thirty years ago, veteran Richard Diederich lost all of his military medals in a fire. At first, his response was one of almost thankfulness, for he had seen some action during the Vietnam war serving as a combat medic, and he hoped that maybe by losing his medals, he just might lose the bad memories that came along with that troubling era of his life.
As the years passed on, he slowly began to realize that the bad memories would always be with him, but with a good support system and a loving family, he would do his best to focus on the good memories that came with that time: the friends he'd made, the jokes they would make after spending hours and hours killing the boredom, and the amazing music he listened to while sitting at base camp.
So, one day, Diederich's son decided he was going to do his best to get those lost medals replaced. And, after a bit of effort and some help from Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, the family and the veteran were finally given back what they had all lost so many years ago.
As he gazed upon the medals, along with a bronze star and a purple heart, Diederich realized that life offered good and bad moments. He would do his best to deal with them both as he saw fit. At the end of the day, there wasn't anything he could do about the bad in his life that happened, but those medals represented his and his friend's sacrifice, they represented the pride he has in his country and the thankfulness he has for being alive.
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