[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 69 (Monday, April 29, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2479-S2480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to Walt Stine

  Mr. President, a piece of good news. I want to talk about Walt Stine 
from Hartville, OH, an Ohio veteran.
  His story is a reminder of the caring and fundamental decency of the 
people of my State. It is a reminder of our country's veterans' 
comradery and dedication to each other--veterans from Arkansas, 
veterans from Ohio, all over this country.
  Two decades ago, Mr. Stine's friend found a Purple Heart at a flea 
market. He bought it, and he gave it to Walt Stine, hoping his friend, 
a World War II veteran, would know how to return it to its rightful 
owner.
  Mr. Stine then set out on a quest--this was long before the internet, 
making it much harder--to return the Purple Heart to the stranger who 
had earned it, who had received it decades earlier during the Vietnam 
war.
  Mr. Stine said of the Purple Heart:

       It means a lot to me. They don't pass them out in Cracker 
     Jack boxes . . . you really have to earn `em. And I know he 
     earned his, and I want to get it back to him or his family.

  Mr. Stine and his wife, Sandy, tried and tried. They wrote letters. 
They made phone calls. They couldn't find the veteran. The veteran, he 
said, was named Cox Bartelmay.
  Finally, they realized there was a typo in the letter awarding the 
Purple Heart. The veteran's name was actually Coy Bartelmay, but the 
print said Cox Bartelmay, C-o-x.

[[Page S2480]]

  Once they figured out it was a typo, they realized it was Coy 
Bartelmay. He was a Vietnam veteran. He had lost half his leg during 
the war. He was awarded the Purple Heart that Mr. Stine's friend found 
buried in one of the booths at the flea market.
  Tragically, Mr. Bartelmay was killed in a car crash after returning 
home from the war, but his family still lives in Illinois.
  Because of Mr. Stine's dedication, that Purple Heart is now on its 
way back to the recipient's family, the family of the gentleman who 
fought for this country and earned that Purple Heart in Vietnam.
  I want to thank Rob Powers with WEWS in Cleveland for telling this 
story. It is the kind of work that local journalists do every day to 
celebrate what people do in our communities.
  I want to thank Mr. Bartelmay's family for his service and, of 
course, thank you to Walt Stine for his dedication to our country, for 
his service to our country, and to your fellow veterans.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Daines). The majority leader.

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