At 89, Lisle vet finally gets his Bronze Star
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Peter Bury was on the front lines during the Korean War, getting shelled mercilessly until his bunker and one nearby were destroyed.
As a forward observer, he used a scope to mark the enemy action, but that device was also damaged by Chinese fire. That's when Bury turned and saw his four comrades under the rubble.
He heard a voice and knew someone was alive. He immediately began digging them out.
“I just had to help,” he said. “I just had to do it.”
One soldier was dead, and two were badly injured. A fourth soldier was shaken up but had survived.
Echoes of 1953 returned to Bury, 89, on Saturday as he received his Bronze Star and the Korean War Service Medal after more than 60 years. The Bronze Star is awarded to members of the military for acts of heroism or meritorious service.
The ceremony had been scheduled at his home at Brookdale, a senior living community in Lisle. But heart issues sent him to Edward Hospital, so the venue was quickly changed with the help of hospital staff members, Ross Bishop Lisle VFW Post No. 5696 and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster's office.
As the national anthem played, Bury stood up from his wheelchair with help from a hospital aide and a walker. He removed his Korean veteran cap and looked at the flag and at the dozens of people who came to honor him. The VFW members saluted him.
Foster pinned the Bronze Star to the left side of Bury's shirt. The other side of the shirt held a heart monitor in a pocket, representing his latest battlefront after surviving some of the roughest days in his life during the Korean War.
“My wife is Korean,” said Foster, of Naperville, who has been married to Aesook Byon since 2008. “She is free today because of you.”
Bury was drafted in 1950 and was soon shipped to Korea. He served with the Army's 58th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Division. He was trained as a forward observer, who watched the enemy and sought to ensure accuracy of artillery, according to the Army website.
After his heroics, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant and discharged in 1953. He received a notice a few weeks later he had earned the Bronze Star. He framed the letter and displayed it proudly at home.
“I waited for that Bronze Star for a long time, and it just never came,” Bury said.
As the years passed, he taught school in Newport, Rhode Island, and married his girlfriend, Gertrude Thompson, in 1954. They had a son and daughter, he earned a degree in library science in Boston and the family moved to the suburbs when he was hired to be director of the Glenview Public Library; he retired from there in 1988. He also did work as a tax preparer and played Santa Claus for about 10 years at the Fox Valley Mall. Gertrude died in 2015.
“He has obviously shown a lot of courage and heroics,” said Bury's granddaughter, Lauren Scott of South suburban Shorewood. “It has been great growing up with him and hearing his stories.”
Bury has been spending more time lately in the hospital with heart issues. He decided a few months ago that he wanted to finally get his Bronze Star and contacted Foster's office for help. Foster's aides discovered that the Bronze Star used to be presented in person in the country where the heroics were done. But Bury apparently was on leave at the time and missed the presentation. The paperwork for his medal later went missing.
“His story is one of dedication and service and it should be celebrated,” Foster said.