LONGMEADOW – More than 30 years ago the home of resident and Vietnam War era veteran Steven Douglas was burglarized on Veterans’ Day and his Purple Heart award was stolen. On Jan. 4 the town of Longmeadow presented Douglas with a new Purple Heart.

“I didn’t expect this today, but I thank you very much,” Douglas told a crowd of more than 20 local veterans and a small group of town officials at the Adult Center on Jan. 4. “Believe it or not, I was burglarized on Veterans’ Day. One of those ironies of life … None of us really came through this with wanting to stand up in a parade and whatever – we just did our thing, did it as well as we could, came back, sat down, and got on with our lives.”

Douglas told Reminder Publications after the ceremony he joined the United States Army at the age of 22 and served in an area known as “The Fishhook” – located in the Kampong Cham Province in southeast Cambodia that protrudes into two provinces in Vietnam. He served with the 9th Infantry Regiment and later with the 1st Air Calvary Brigade.

“I think it’s very nice to be recognized, especially 30 some odd years after the medal was stolen in a burglary,” he added. “You say 50 times, ‘At some point I’m going to have to go back and see if I can get this replaced.’ You never do and you get to a point where your family starts to ask questions about your history and you say, ‘Oops.’”

Veterans’ Services Officer Jesus Pereira said prior to the ceremony Douglas served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War from Nov. 18, 1969 to Sept. 15, 1971. He received other awards, including the National Defense Service medal, the Vietnam Service medal, the Vietnam campaign medal, and the United States Army commendation medal.

He added when many veterans return home they often don’t care as much about the medals they receive compared to returning home.

“As time goes on you start realizing that’s part of your history and part of your past and things that you’ve gone through that very few people can relate to,” Pereira said.

He added Douglas met with him to ask about replacing the Purple Heart.

“The typical channels are to submit through the National Archives and that takes forever, so I requested through [Town Manager Stephen Crane] if we’d be able to purchase one for him, which was a lot faster,” Pereira said.

Pereira presented Douglas with the new Purple Heart medal and Crane also gave Douglas a certificate of recognition in honor of his service to the nation from the town of Longmeadow. Select Board Chair Marie Angelides was also present and thanked Douglas for his service.

“You’re part of the treasure of Longmeadow and that’s our veterans and our veteran families,” Angelides said.