My name is Robert D. Kowell. I'm a member of American Legion Post 1980 in Woodland Park, Colo. This story is about my dad, who was in the Army in World War I.
He was blown up in an ammo truck in France, I believe. He survived the ordeal. He had been sprayed with shrapnel in his back and did not want to go to the medic for care, knowing he would be removed from his unit; so another soldier patched him up and went back to fighting. In 1974, when my dad was admitted to the Veterans Hospital in Denver due to a stroke, in the X-ray of his back the doctor found the shrapnel still in his back from World War I. My dad cared about his country and the soldiers he was fighting with. I had put in for a Purple Heart for my dad, and I don't know if we can find the information from the hospital to prove the evidence of the findings of shrapnel. My brother and I know he deserves the medal. I do hope the president reads this story. My dad was known for helping others and his country. My dad's name at the time of the war was Leo Kowalski; he changed his name during World War II to Leo Amandes Kowell when he was working
for the Army in Alaska.