PINE BLUFF -- Melvin Fields went back to war and came home again Thursday morning -- if only in his mind. But this time, he walked away with a hard-earned medal that was never given to him 47 years ago.
Sitting on a couch in the living room of his Pine Bluff home, the 68-year-old veteran conjured up detailed memories of a dark time in 1968 -- the height of the U.S.-led war against Vietnam -- when a mortar round exploded near him as he slept.
The round gashed his head and blew a small hole through his torso. He remembers placing a hand on the back of his head and feeling the life gushing out of him.
"I went in and out of consciousness before they got me out of there. It's been years since I have even thought about that moment, because I just wanted to put it all behind me. Praise God that I am here today."
That day marked the beginning of a decades-long struggle with traumatic stress and physical pain, he said. Through it all, Fields hadn't realized until recently that he never received the Purple Heart for his battle injuries.
"It was some kind of paperwork oversight," he said. "To be honest, I never really gave it much thought."
His wife did, though.
Verdia Fields has been working with U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton's office for several months, documenting her husband's service and his injuries so he could finally receive recognition for his wounds.
On Thursday morning, the Arkansas Republican delivered the long-awaited medal to the Fields home.
"Thank you for your service," Cotton told Fields as he shook his hand and presented him with his Purple Heart, along with a Cold War Certificate and an Air Medal.
Cotton and Fields spoke for about 15 minutes, talking about everything from politics to the senator's father's service in Vietnam.
"We had it rough in Iraq, but I know you guys probably had it rougher in Vietnam," Cotton said.
Fields praised Cotton for his military service as a platoon leader in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006 and later in Afghanistan.
"You are my favorite senator for that very reason," Fields said.
Fields spent more than a year as a gunner on an Army helicopter before being injured. Recalling some of the most harrowing moments of his service, Fields told the senator his helicopter came close to being shot down multiple times during his 25 combat missions.
After the war, Fields said he suffered from terrible mood swings as a result of his trauma. He married Verdia Fields in 1980, and she helped him through some of the darkest times of his life, he said.
Verdia Fields remembers some of her husband's most vivid rages. She said he would throw plates of food across the room because something didn't taste right, and he woke up in the middle of the night screaming someone was trying to kill him.
Dozens of visits to the hospital finally eased the angry episodes, and the pair were better able to settle into a life together in Pine Bluff.
Fields worked in security at the Pine Bluff Arsenal from 1975 until his retirement in 2005. Melvin and Verdia Fields have two grown children and two grandchildren -- a life that Verdia Fields said she praises God for every day.
"God saved him that day in Vietnam for me," she said. "I cannot give enough praise to God for this day. I want to thank everyone in Senator Cotton's office for making this happen. We are truly, truly blessed."
NW News on 08/23/2015