Park Ridge Purple Heart Recipient Honored In D.C.: Report

PARK RIDGE — A Vietnam Purple Heart recipient who lived in Park Ridge and died in February at age 75, was honored and remembered for his service at the 'In Memory' ceremony June 18 in Washington D.C., NorthJersey.com reported.

Drafted at 19 by the U.S. Army, Don Scholtes spent two years deployed with the 25th Infantry Division to the Pleiku Province in Vietnam, and returned home in 1968. He was awarded a Purple Heart after he was hit by shrapnel in the arm, while fighting, NorthJersey.com reported.

He, along with 500 other Vietnam veterans, including 12 from New Jersey, was added to the "Wall that Heals," a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. that features photos of service members of the U.S. armed forces, the article said.

Scholtes, after retiring from a job with ABC after 35 years and five Emmy awards, spent the last two decades of his life helping veterans apply for benefits they earned. He met his wife Arlene in 1969 and had two daughters with her, Nicole and Jonni, the article added.