Graham to Present Purple Heart to Korean War Veteran

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Representative Gwen Graham will award a long overdue Purple Heart to Korean War veteran Cpl. Joseph Ed Hutchinson, tomorrow, Tuesday, August 23, at 2:30 PM CT at the City of Parker Community Center.

Cpl. Joseph Ed Hutchinson is a native Floridian, a son of Bay County and graduate of Bay County High School. He answered the call to defend his country and joined the U.S. Army on September 3, 1948, and served in Korea, where he was wounded by shrapnel from an artillery shell. (Full award citation copied below)

Because of errors and complications related to Army records, Cpl. Hutchinson was never able to receive the Purple Heart he deserved . . . until Rep. Graham’s office diligently worked on his behalf to track down his records and help him receive the recognition he deserves.

The ceremony is open to the public and press. Press interested in attending are asked to RSVP to Matt Harringer at Matt.Harringer@mail.house.gov.

Purple Heart Award Citation for Mr. Joe Ed Hutchison

Mr. Hutchison joined the U.S. Army on September 3, 1948, received basic training at Ft. Jackson, SC in September of 1948 and received advanced infantry training at Ft. Lewis, WA in March 1949.  He was assigned to the 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team stationed in Schofield Barracks, HI in April 1949 which was forming to deploy to Korea.  His unit was deployed to the last remain terrain held by the United Nation forces, called the “Pusan Pocket” in July 1950.  The UN forces, which included PFC Hutchison’s unit, began a counter attack that forced the North Korean Army back up the Korean peninsula to the Yalu River, the northern most border of North Korean. 

In November 1950, the 9th People’s Volunteer Chinese Communist Army crossed into North Korea with massed “Human Wave” attacks consisting of 67 thousand men equipped with automatic “burp gun” machine guns, backed by tanks, and self-propelled artillery.  Cpl. Hutchison’s Regimental Combat Team, a part of the IX Corp, 24th Infantry Division, was placed into support of the 1st Marine Division which was encircled during the battle of the Chosin Reservoir in December of 1950.  The Chinese Army eventually overwhelm the UN forces and forced a strategic withdrawal back down the peninsula to the area of the 38th parallel where an armistice was declared. 

During the battles in and around the Chosin Reservoir, Cpl. Hutchison was wounded by shrapnel from an artillery shell and was treated at a battle field aid station, but he continued to fight.  His wounds were treated while enroute on a ship from Inchon harbor to Hokkaido Japan for transfer to the United States.  While in Hokkaido, Cpl. Hutchison was involuntarily extended and began training with a 240mm Howitzer unit for reassignment back to Korea.  However, the armistice held and Cpl. Hutchison was returned to the United States by ship for separation. 

Cpl. Hutchison was awarded three battle stars, the Combat Infantry Badge, and his unit, the 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team, was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation.  Of the 240 men that deployed to Pusan in Pvt. Hutchison unit, only 12 were still alive when the armistice was declared. However, because of the work load of the corpsman on the ship out of Inchon, the number of rapid transfers, his records never caught up with him and he was never awarded the Purple Heart that he earned – until today.