COOK- Leo Hively wasn’t sure why he was leaving work early, last Friday. Leo is 96-years-old, still pretty darn sharp, and goes to work every day with his son, Bruce, who owns Arrowhead Paint and Repair in Gheen, where Leo acts as the office receptionist.

But as Leo entered the Bloom and Lahti VFW Post 1757 in Cook, on the pretense of getting something to eat with his son and daughter-in-law, Kathy, he was in for a surprise.

For this World War II veteran, the day would be a reminder of his time serving his country. Leo enlisted in the Navy when he was 16-years-old. His mother lied about his age, telling the recruiter he was 17, and back then, Leo said, children born at home didn’t have official birth certificates. Leo served for a little over six years, and was honorably discharged in 1945.

Over the years, Leo didn’t talk much about his time in the Navy, though he did feel, according to his son, that veterans didn’t get as much respect as they deserved. Bruce and Kathy decided that figuring out how to find his old medals might help him feel that his service was being recognized as important.

“He wouldn’t have come here today if he knew the whole family was coming for the ceremony,” said Leo’s daughter Carol David.

What Leo walked into was a rather unique ceremony, with Rep. Rick Nolan presenting the service medals that Leo had earned for his service over 70 years ago; medals that he had become separated from when he was much younger.

With the Cook VFW Color Guard providing a solemn backdrop, and dozens of three generations of family members filling the VFW hall, Nolan spoke about Leo’s service, the legwork it took to get the Navy to reissue the medals, and the importance of honoring those who had served their country.

“It is important to give the recognition to those who stood up and served,” Nolan said. “It is also important for our children to see us honoring our veterans.

Nolan noted that his office has worked in many cases to help veterans collect the benefits they had earned while in the service.

But in Leo’s case, Nolan said, reissuing his medals at first seemed impossible.

“We were told it was not possible to resurrect his service record,” said Nolan, “to determine what medals had been earned…But we didn’t take no for an answer.”

It took over a year, but with prodding from Bruce and Kathy and work by Nolan’s staff, Leo’s service record, which turned into a file folder that was several inches thick, was re-created.

Rep. Rick Nolan’s office, to date, has assisted nearly 4,000 constituents struggling to navigate complex cases and federal agencies.

Leo served as a Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class. He operated a landing craft, bringing men from the ship to shore and back, while serving in the areas of North Africa, France, and the Philippines. At one point, his landing craft was blown up, but luckily Leo survived with only minor injuries. As the war as winding down, he served on Navy crews that picked up bombs that had been placed in the Pacific Ocean, another dangerous job.

At the ceremony, Nolan pinned three medals and two service pins on Leo’s shirt: the Navy Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Navy Discharge Button, and the Honorable Service Lapel Pin.

Leo grew up in North Dakota, and moved to Cook after both his children ended up settling in the Cook area, his son’s family in Cook and his daughter’s family on a farm in Gheen.

Leo and his wife retired to Florida. After her death, he moved in with Bruce and Kathy in Cook, where he was close to not only both his children, but his seven grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Leo’s brother also served in World War II, but he passed away at the age of 82.