91-year-old twins finally getting medals earned during World War II

Janine Stange
Apr 2, 2018 9:39 AM PDT
1 minute read
91-year-old twins finally getting medals earned during World War II

The Barrett brothers before Richard's medal ceremony. (Screen grab of Fox 4 News broadcast.)

Twin brothers who went to war together are receiving medals 70 years after they took off their combat boots.

Richard and Robert Barrett, 91-year-old veterans of World War II, never knew they supposed to be getting medals nor were they looking for these accolades. A family member happened to discover the oversight after requesting replacement copies of their Army records - the originals had been destroyed.

The crowd gave a standing ovation after Richard received the Silver Star and Bronze Star with additional military honors from Congressman Sam Graves, who had expedited the process for them.

The brothers, who were 18 when they shipped off to war, recalled their time in combat:

"We were just kids when we heard our first machine gun fire and [we said] 'Oh that's great, that's fun, machine gun fire,'" said Richard, "But a little later the Germans started shooting those 88 artillery shells, and things changed after that."

He was also quick to point out that he is 5 minutes older than his brother Robert, and joked, "Of course, I had to take care of him in combat; he was kind of a puny kid."

The Barretts showed humility as they talked with Fox 4 News about being honored for their service:  "It's nice, but we're both kind of humble about it," Richard said. "We don't let it get to be a prestigious deal for us. Awards or no awards, I'd do it again."

"We saw some rough times," Robert added. "We slept on some cold ground, but there are other men that did so much more than we did too."

Robert will receive his medals in a separate ceremony.

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