WWII hero honored
Daughter finds father never received Silver Star.

EL RENO — A daughter's curiosity erased 62 years of oversight by the U.S. government, and justly shined light Thursday on one of Oklahoma's World War II heroes.

Emil Larson of Eakly received the Silver Star Award posthumously for gallantry in battle when U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, presented Larson's widow, Nora Jo, the medal at the old Canadian County Courthouse. The ceremony attracted dozens of friends and relatives, including the daughter who only recently discovered her father's citation for the Silver Star.

Like so many other World War II veterans, Larson's medal never arrived in the mail and he never bothered to inquire why.

"We never knew,” said Emily Merrill of Lubbock, Texas, one of Larson's three children. "When he came back from the war in 1945, he bought a farm and went right to work. He didn't want to talk about the war.

"He wanted to get on with his life.”

Merrill began researching her father's travels during World War II in August 2003 to piece together a life he talked about sparingly. What she unveiled left her speechless.

She discovered a citation for the Silver Star for his "indomitable courage and aggressive leadership.”

On April 19, 1945, then-Sgt. Emil Larson and his Company G of the 222nd Infantry Regiment were beaten back by German forces while trying to cross the Regnitz River near Furth in southern Germany.

Finally, Larson, who died in 1989, boldly pressed his squad across the "ruins of a blown bridge and engaged the enemy in a bitter firefight on the opposite bank.” The citation further states: "Locating an enemy machine gun, he fearlessly made his way through a hail of fire to within 25 yards of the enemy gun and threw two hand grenades into the machine gun nest, killing one of the enemy and forcing two others to expose themselves. He then stormed the enemy position and killed the remainder of the crew.”

Larson received serious wounds during the attack.

"I'm happy, but sad at the same time,” said Nora Jo Larson, who still lives on their family farm near Eakly. "He's not here with us to see this.”

Instead, Emil's closest friends and loved ones showed up to pay homage.

"This causes you to realize he left a legacy, one that was honorable and good,” said Annenda Reynolds of Kingfisher, Emil's only other surviving child. "The Bible says a good name is worth more than silver and gold. My father was a good man.”

And now the Silver Star cements his legacy.

"I always knew my Dad had killed men,” Merrill said. "People used to ask him how many men he killed. He'd just say, ‘Sometimes you have to do things for the betterment of more people.'

"This medal is really for all those World War II veterans. Look at how many never got the Silver Star because they never made it home.”