The purple heart returned to Richard "Rick" L. Leigeber in a formal ceremony at Cullman VFW Post 2214 on May 4, after he first applied about 25 years ago, and Congressman Robert Aderholt presented the medal, Aderholt wrote in an April 14 Facebook post.
Leigeber served in the US Army from 1967 to 1969 with Company A, 4th Battalion, 23rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade in the 25th Infantry Division, known as Tropic Lightning, and he served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 in the Cu Chi Valley during the Tet Offensive, according to Tribune coverage.
His record listed the Combat Infantryman Badge, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal with 1960 Device, Vietnam Service Medal, 1st Class Gunner for the M60 machine gun and Sharpshooter for the M16 rifle, and Cullman reports note his life membership in the VFW and American Legion and other local veteran work.
Leigeber said the recognition had been "a long time coming" and that he never thought he would be able to get the medal, describing gratitude that it would now be on his record, as quoted in the Tribune.
Deportation Fight Shows Limits Of Military Service As Protection
Sae Joon Park, a 56‑year‑old Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient, self‑deported last June after immigration officials threatened to detain him at a routine check‑in because of a prior removal order tied to criminal convictions, his attorney Danicole Ramos said.
Park earned a Purple Heart after being shot twice, in the spine and lower back, during a firefight in Panama during Operation Just Cause, and he received the medal in a bedside ceremony at the San Antonio Army hospital, as recounted by CNN.
Park later struggled with post‑traumatic stress disorder and substance use that led to convictions, including a 2007 conviction for possession of a controlled substance and a later conviction for second‑degree bail jumping, which immigration law treats as an aggravated felony, the reporting explains.
For 15 years Park had deferred action based on his "equities of being a Purple Heart veteran," Ramos said, until a renewed enforcement stance led ICE to press the standing removal order, producing a deal in which Park wore an ankle monitor and agreed to self‑deport within three weeks, Ramos said.
Immigration attorneys say the Trump administration's enforcement has revived dormant removal orders and sharply curtailed prosecutorial discretion, and Michelle Perez told CNN "Prosecutorial discretion is basically dead," adding officers can now rapidly detain and remove people with prior orders.
DHS responded that US military service does not automatically grant lawful immigration status and cited Park's criminal history as the basis for enforcement, listing offenses including manufacturing or selling a dangerous weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance in its statement to CNN.
Park is pursuing state post‑conviction relief, seeking a pardon from Gov. Kathy Hochul and a reduction of his felony bail‑jumping conviction to a misdemeanor in Queens County, steps his attorneys say could reopen his immigration case, though they warn the path is difficult and uncertain.
