Local News

WWII Veteran’s Uniform, Medals Stolen From His Family

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Tony Maples Photography

 

On Tuesday afternoon, a thief stole Louis Read’s WWII 31st Infantry Regiment uniform and medals from his daughter’s backyard. Read, who passed away in 2011, spent over three years in a Japanese prison camp and earned a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and several military bars, all of which were on his uniform.

He was an amazing man who raised a family and became a scientist after he served his country. His daughter, Phyllis Wood, is devastated by the loss. She tearfully told WFAA 8, “it’s like he died again.”

Someone broke into Wood’s backyard storage unit she was using while preparing to move. Her backyard fence was broken and the lock was thrown from the shed while she was out. “Some of his stuff I’ve kept in the house, but his uniform with the medals on them, as well as some other uniforms of his, those were all in the storage unit out back.”

Through this painful vanishing of a memory, Wood simply wants the items returned. She says she wouldn’t ask any questions if they were all to just appear on her doorstep. She’s not looking for the thief/thieves to “pay,” she only wants her father’s WWII uniform and medals back.