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Elgin man receives Silver Star after 46 years
Specialist Tate WEB
Tates grew up listening to his father, Wallace N. Tate, and uncles talk about their service in World War II. He would eventually enter the army himself to go into the Vietnam War. Tate was recently awarded the Silver Star Medal and the Mayors Patriotism award for an act of valor in December 1967. - photo by Tenell Felder
One December morning in 1967 during the Vietnam war, an armored personnel carrier with three American soldiers was attacked with rocket propelled grenades. A then 19-year-old Joseph Tate, who was serving as a medic in the infantry unit, pulled the men out. He didn’t think twice about it.